American reality TV host, Oprah Winfrey, says "Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody's going to know whether you did it or not."

According to the reggae legend, Bob Marley, "The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively." Renowned British civil servant, Stephen Lovegrove would say "Integrity is a life where your beliefs and intentions are aligned with your words and actions."

The Cambridge English Dictionary defines Integrity as the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles that you refuse to change. However, one of my all-time favourite definitions of integrity is the one by Charles Marshall which states that "Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is looking".

Integrity is not a garment, but if you have it- or lack it, people can see it. 

Corruption, on the other hand, is defined by Transparency International as "the abuse of power for private gain." According to the transparency watchdog, it involves "public servants demanding or taking money or favours in exchange for services; politicians [or people in position of trust] misusing [public funds or] money; corporations bribing public officials to get lucrative deals."

The World Bank, describes the scourge as "a form of dishonesty or criminal offence undertaken by a person or organisation entrusted with a position of authority."

We all know that, the Anti-Corruption Act of 2008 (as amended in 2019) does not provide a definition of the term 'corruption'. The Act however outlines a list of offences and practices which constitute an act of corruption. They include; Failure to Declare Assets, Bribery, Misappropriation of Public/ Donor Funds/Property, Corrupt Acquisition of Wealth, Unexplained Wealth, Bid Rigging, Impersonation, Failure to Declare Assets, etc.

Ending corruption requires us all to institute and mainstream integrity in our places of work, lifestyles, educational institutions and communities.

A Canadian non-governmental organisation, Commissioning a Lifestyle of Integrity, in their book titled 'Integrity: The Best Foundation', identifies six pillars of integrity: Trust, Influence, Truth, Honour, Dignity and Authenticity.

By trust, you keep to your words and values. Influence means using your skills for the benefit of others and the nation. By truth, you stay truthful to God and man. Honour means showing respect to others. Dignity means you live a lifestyle of decorum and decency. Authenticity requires you to have a pure heart. All these pillars go hand in hand.

The book also makes reference to Dennis Cook's categorization of Integrity:

Category 1- Stay out of trouble Integrity- here you try to stay out of trouble because of the consequences of getting caught in unholy acts.

Category 2- Selective Integrity'- this refers to people being selective- do some things right while also engaging in wrongful acts.

Category 3 –Step-by-step Integrity'- Here, people are 'intentional about developing [their] character...[as] it takes dedication and devotion to advance [it].'

Category 4 –Sustainable Integrity'- this "refers to people with established character [who] practice integrity and guard their reputation'. 

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) notes that "Fighting corruption and promoting integrity in both the private and public sectors are critical to fostering an environment of trust and accountability, and conducive to sustainable and inclusive economic development."

According to UNESCO, "Facilitating our students' learning about integrity in school can help empower the next generation to prevent corruption. Indeed, it is through education for public integrity that the behavioural norms and values for society that challenge corruption and support integrity are passed on."

The OECD recommends ways tertiary and secondary institutions could help imbibe the values of intercity in students and pupils; they include providing educational support to lecturers/teachers, students/pupils in educational institutions on issues of integrity and mainstreaming such issues in their curriculums. Let me hasten to state that the ACC has been doing far much more in this area. Through our Public Education and Outreach Department, we have established Integrity Clubs and Accountability Now Clubs in many schools and tertiary institutions across the country. The clubs are a breeding ground for integrity ambassadors.

With these clubs, we engage lecturers, teachers, students and pupils on the values of integrity, accountability and transparency. 

The Commission also has its regular 'Meet the School' and 'Meet the University' Campaigns.These campaigns often target schools and tertiary institutions across the country, and they are used to convey anti-corruption messages. Various offences in the Anti-Corruption Act 2008 (as amended in 2019), especially offences related to academic malpractices, are highlighted and extensively discussed during these engagements. 

The conduct of public lectures, especially in tertiary institutions, is another method often employed by the Commission to promote and instil integrity in young people. Like the one we are currently having here today, the Commission has held several similar lectures in various tertiary institutions in the country. 

Through our Prevention Department, the Commission has also conducted systems and processes reviews of various public sector institutions, including the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education, the Ministry of Technical and Higher Education and educational institutions such as the University of Sierra Leone, which constituent colleges include IPAM. The main aim of these interventions is to build institutions that are not only free from corruption, but ones that are effective, efficient and that can properly deliver proper services to citizens. Coupled with our systems and processes review interventions is the formation of integrity management committees in public institutions. The IMCs, as we often call them, are meant to mainstream integrity and other anti-corruption measures in public institutions, including public educational institutions like IPAM. 

In the last six years, we have also made the Assets Declaration regime far more effective and efficient. The primary aim of declaration of assets, income and liabilities with the Commission by elected and appointed public officers, officers within grade 7 and above and those with fiduciary responsibilities, is to instil integrity in public life. It is another means of telling public officers to live within legitimate means.

All these actions and interventions highlighted are often referred to as the carrot approach in the fight against corruption. We have also often used the stick approach in our anti-corruption campaigns. This involves enforcement through investigation and prosecution of individuals who blatantly disregard best practices and standard procedures in the handling of public resources.

We have also often pursued and recovered stolen public funds and other resources and returned them to the people of Sierra Leone, followed by other severe consequences like barring those engaged in such corrupt acts from holding public offices.

These multi-faceted strategies have helped us in the recovery of over 50 billion (old) leones in the last six years. They have also helped us made marked improvement in the mandatory 'Control of Corruption' indicators in the Millennium Challenge Corporation scorecard, with an outstanding. average score of 70 percent in the last six years. As the country is celebrating the granting of 480 million dollars grant by the US government, the ACC is proud to have a played a pivotal role in the attainment of this grant.

We are also proud to state that the most recent Afrobarometer Survey Report, Round 9, 2021/2023, covering 39 countries, has ranked Sierra Leone Government's Performance in fighting corruption with a Score of 58 per cent, far above the 39-country average of 29 per cent. Sierra Leone is also ranked as one of ONLY Six (6) African countries with majority approval of their government’s stellar performance in fighting corruption.

In the previous years, Sierra Leone has moved 22 places upwards in the Transparency International's Global Corruption Country Rankings, from 130 in 2017 to 108 in 2023.

Mr Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, the country is currently putting together its fifth generation of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy with more focus on prevention. As we often say, _*'Prevention is better than cure'. Most highly ranked transparent countries in the world prioritized robust prevention measures in the fight against corruption. I assure you that in the next years of the fight against corruption, we can only be ranked better.  

Corruption affects everybody. But you can also agree with me that young people have been particularly affected by the consequences of unchecked corruption. This is why I am often delighted to see young people championing the cause of eradicating corruption in the country. I pray, we all put hands on deck to give corruption the blow that it deserves.

By Francis Ben Kaifala Esq.

Commissioner of the Anti-Corruption Commission of the Republic of Sierra Leone