President Bio Suspends Officials Indicted In Corruption Probe

President Julius Maada Bio of Sierra Leone has suspended officials including public servants indicted by the Commission of Inquiry into financial abuse by the previous governments, particularly the last administration of former President Koroma.

Particularly affected by the directive from the president is the Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Dennis Vandy, and the Vice President’s secretary, Baba Fortune.

Their suspension, as well as those of others, was announced by Hon. Mohamed Rahman Swaray, the Sierra Leone Minister of Information.

Recall that the Commission of Inquiry report had read: “The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology was the most recklessly managed Ministry within the period under review and was run as a cartel and criminal enterprise by Dr. Minkailu Bah and his collaborators, the Permanent Secretaries, except Prince Emmanuel Oldman Cole, resulting into massive misappropriation and or loss of humongous sums of monies, both in Leones and in United States Dollars…..”

“Dr. Minkailu Bah, the former Minister from 2008 to 2018 together with Mr. Mani Koroma, Dennis Vandy, and Umaru Conteh, former Permanent Secretaries in the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology were involved in gross abuse of their offices in the reckless manner in which they dealt with the finances of the Government under their care and failure to provide leadership and supervision of the Ministry or Department or Agency put under their charge.”

In its recommendations, the commission’s report stipulates that Dr. Minkailu Bah, Dennis Vandy, and their alleged co-conspirators must pay back tens of millions of dollars – jointly and severally into the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Government of Sierra Leone.

But since the publication of the commission of inquiry report and the government’s White Paper, Dennis Vandy has protested his innocence. Speaking to the Global Times last Monday, he said he was never given the opportunity to hear the allegations made against him.

“I was in this country throughout the sittings of the Commissions…I was never invited…I was never notified of being a Person of Interest…Above all, I was never interviewed by anyone working for the Commissions”, Mr. Vandi protested.

“I have studied the report carefully and found out with dismay that I was wrongfully indicted for every bit of malfeasance which took place at the Ministry of Education from 2007 to 2018…I served as Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education from 29^th March to 31^st August 2016…I was never invited to the Commissions, and I was never declared as a Person of Interest to the Commissions”.

Many other former public officials are also claiming they were never invited for questioning by the COI but today president Bio has decided to suspend all civil servants and public officials accused by the COI “of acting improperly with respect to the use of public funds”.

They have all been given up to three months to appeal the decision of the commission of inquiry, with effect from the date of publication of the COI report.