Addressing staff of the Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Food Security (MAFFS) at their Agriculture Road Office in Makeni, ACC Public Education Officer Abdulai Saccoh underscored the significance of the engagement noting that it is intended to establish another tier of partnership with MAFFS on the Pay No Bribe campaign. Saccoh shed light on the crucial nature of the ministry’s work as it strives towards ensuring food security. He emphasized that the institution’s mandate cannot be achieved when bribery is accepted as part of their day to day activity. He informed his audience that bribe does not only limit to money but rather it amounts to anything of monetary value. The Public Education Officer stated that the campaign leverages on PNB institution to take actions deem necessary to address this menace internally.
Updating them on the trend of bribery in PNB targeted MDAs, Saccoh revealed that since the launched of the campaign there have been steady and sustained progress made by both the Anti-Corruption Commission and its partners in addressing areas of concerns highlighted on the PNB data monthly report. The Public Education Officer catalogued a number of interventions each MDA has taken in delivering effective services to the public. He urged citizens to continue to speak against the act of bribery wherever they are.
Giving an overview of PNB campaign, ACC Public Education Officer Abdul Karim Bangura said it is a sustained and strategic approach to tackle bribery in public sector institutions in order to improve service delivery. Bangura informed his audience that PNB is a reporting platform that provides Sierra Leoneans an opportunity to report incidence of bribery anonymously. He further stated that the campaign is not prosecution focused; rather, it seeks to invoke administrative actions or systems review and policy reforms, to address bribery in these MDAs namely; education, health, water, energy, Sierra Leone Police and judiciary.
The Public Education Officer stated that the campaign has provided citizens an interactive forum to report incidence of bribery using the various PNB channels such as PNB free line 515, on all telephone networks, the website: www.pnb.gov.sl, or on the mobile application in Krio, Temne and Mende.
