Anti-Corruption Commission(ACC), in a press release dated 26th August 2022, has revealed that the commission, on 23rd August, 2022, through its non-conviction-based asset recovery process, recovered the total sum of One Hundred and Eighty-Seven Million, Nine Hundred and Four Thousand, Eight Hundred and Three (Old) Leones (Le: 187,904,803.00) cash which is money the Audit Service Sierra Leone flagged as inappropriately paid from the Freetown City Council (FCC) funds, by the Council to the Head of the Mayor’s Delivery Unit. It said money is paid to the Commission by Interested Persons through their civil recovery process, following negotiations in that regard.
Giving a background on what led to the payment, it said the Release dated 11t May, 2022, from the ACC, that the Commission had concluded the investigation into the Freetown City Council (FCC), relating to issues highlighted on the Council in the 2019 Auditor General’s Report concerning payments of Council funds to a staff of the Mayor’s Delivery Unit. It added that the payments totaling Le 187,904,803) according to the 2019 Audit Report, were paid to the Head of the Mayor’s Delivery Unit (MDU).
The Commission confirmed that in its investigations money paid to Head of the Mayor’s Delivery Unit were not consistent with the Local Government Act of 2004 and other regulations relating to the utilization and management of public funds and resources. It, therefore, recommended a civil recovery process, with the payment of the aforesaid sum of money, thus, the civil recovery process has been completed and the file has now been closed.
