In an apparent bid to build the capacity of local councils in the country, the Anti-Corruption Commission of Sierra Leone has in the first phase of regional training started a two day training program for administrators and councilors in Bombali, Tonkolili and Koinadugu districts in the north and Kono district in the east.
This was revealed in a press release today (Monday November 1) from the commssion in Freetown.
Speaking at the opening ceremony at the Makeni City Council Hall this morning, the Chairperson, Deputy Mayor of Makeni City Council Isatu Fofanah thanked ACC for choosing Makeni as the centre for the training and urged participants to take it seriously.
Makeni is the largest city in the north of Sierra Leone and capital of the northern region.
A representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Local Government and Rural Development, Josephus E.L Kpangay praised ACC for organizing the training in the regions and stated that the Ministry is supportive of the programme while encouraging participants to be "attentive and participate fully."
He noted that such training will build their capacity in policy formulation and implementation.
The Head of Policy and Ethics Unit of the Anti-Corruption Commission, Mr. Nabilla Musa Kamara said the training is about fighting corruption using the prevention approach.
He said the National Anti-Corruption Strategy identified inability to understand, formulate and implement government policies as a major corruption issue in Local Councils.
Explaining the rationale for the training, Kamara emphasized that policy guides decision making and that lack of clear policies is a recipe for corruption.
He said administrators and councilors must be "judiciously" involved in the policy formulation and implementation process to avert corrupt practices.
The representative of the Makeni Paramount Chief , Mr. Ben Bella, expressed gratitude to ACC for choosing Makeni as the training centre.
He lamented that corruption had been a menace that has eaten deep into the development of the country.
Pa Bella encouraged the participants to make the best use of the training so that they will always be on their guard to prevent corrupt practices.
The training is facilitated by Dr. Michael Kargbo, Lecturer, Institute of Public Administration and Management .
The training ends tomorrow Tuesday 2nd November 2010.
The ACC got a new boss recently following the resignation and departure for the United States of former head and human rights lawyer Abdul Tejan-Cole. The new head is lawyer Joesph Kamara (photo) who was a prosecutor at the Special Court for Sierra Leone.
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