By: Martina George, Public Education Officer
The Anti-Corruption Commission through its Prevention Department on Tuesday, 4th November 2025, engaged key stakeholders from the Medical Stores, Hospital Management Teams and the Western Urban and Rural District Councils, at the Commission’s Conference Room, Integrity House, Tower Hill, Freetown.
The engagement focused on monitoring the procurement of drugs, receipt management and distribution in selected government hospitals and related institutions. The objective of the monitoring exercise is to review and assess both centrally supplied drugs from medical stores and locally procured drugs in health facilities.
Speaking at the meeting, the Deputy Commissioner, Augustine Foday Ngobie, emphasized that ACC cannot achieve its principal mandate to lead the fight against corruption alone, hence it continues to seek support, cooperation, and compliance in upholding integrity and accountability in public service delivery.
He said that the medical sector plays a critical role in the fight against corruption and urged representatives present to serve as anti-corruption ambassadors, while promoting efficiency, transparency and accountability especially within the country’s health system.
In his closing admonition, the Deputy Commissioner encouraged all participating institutions to pay keen attention to ensuring that the monitoring exercise go as smoothly as possible. “Your collaboration and commitment would make this fight much more effective, and help reduce corruption-related practices to the barest minimum in Sierra Leone,” he emphasized.
The Director of the Prevention Department, ACC, Rashid Turay, stated that the Department is mandated to examine systems, practices and procedures in government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), and to identify and address loopholes that may create opportunities for corruption.
He however mentioned that, in recent years, the Commission has not conducted comparative analysis of the systems previously reviewed across various institutions.
This he said created gap that the current monitoring for compliance exercise seeks to address by assessing the extent to which institutions comply with established standards and procedures.
He concluded that overall, the exercise seeks to identify, address and control weaknesses, enhance compliance, promote transparency and accountability in drug management across the health sector.
Delivering a brief presentation, Ibrahim Sorie Kamara-Kay, Head of Monitoring and Compliance Unit, ACC, established that the exercise stems from persistent public concerns and documented system gaps in drug procurement, storage and distribution within public health facilities.
He referenced past audits and monitoring engagements that revealed several red flags for corruption, including poor documentation and missing records, expired or diverted medical supplies, weak inventory tracking, informal charges levied on patients, among others.
Mr. Kamara-Kay further explained that the monitoring exercise will cover drugs management from January to September 2025, targeting institutions such as the Kingharman Road Hospital, Macauley Street Hospital, Rokupa Government Hospital, Lumley Government Hospital and the Waterloo Government Hospital.
He said that the process will adopt a mixed-method approach which includes documents review, key informant interviews with pharmacists, procurement staff and finance officers.
