By: Sylvanus Blake, Deputy Director, Public Education, and Outreach Department, ACC
The Deputy Commissioner of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), Augustine Foday Ngobie, has joined field staff of the ACC to commence a comprehensive round of on-the-spot post-implementation monitoring of phase one of the Green Public Works (GPW) sub-component of the Government of Sierra Leone, UNICEF, and World Bank Productive Social Safety Net and Youth Employment (PSSNYE) project. This is part of the Commission’s drive to sustain its ‘leadership from the front’ model, which has continued to epitomize the relentless efforts by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to addressing all accountability issues in the implementation of the multi-million dollar PSSNYE and other social safety net projects and programmes.
The week-long exercise, which commenced on Friday, 19th of September 2025, will see teams from the ACC visiting, engaging, and sourcing information from beneficiaries of the GPW project in the five cities of Bo, Kenema, Makeni, Kono, Bonthe, and Port Loko, on the roll-out of the project, the recruitment, and cash payment processes. The Commission will record any grievances or complaints from the entire project.
On the 19th and 20th of September 2025, Mr. Ngobie was seen actively engaging with ACC field staff and beneficiaries in Kenema and Bo in the Eastern and Southern Regions of Sierra Leone respectively to ensure the effective and transparent implementation of the PSSNYE project.
As head of the ACC-manned Grievance Redress Mechanism (GRM) under the PSSNYE, the Deputy Commissioner assured stakeholders that any suspected corruption-related grievances will be addressed robustly and without delay. He encouraged beneficiaries and community stakeholders to feel comfortable in communicating suspected grievances to the ACC teams and assured them that no one will be exposed to risk for reporting to the ACC, as there are strong witness and informant protection schemes. He urged beneficiaries and partner institutions to adhere to the integrity, best practices, and core objectives of the project.
“I was out with our ACC teams when in July 2025, beneficiaries were line-listed and enrolled into this very GPW project, monitored its roll-out, and we are out again, as we have always done and will continue to do, to talk with you all and gather your experiences and grievances, if any. We want to know how the implementation of the GPW went. Please feel free to talk to the ACC teams. Your concerns will be addressed and you will not suffer anything for telling us your feed-backs. Such feed-backs are key to the work we do, and other partners in this PSSNYE and other similar projects need to know how you feel. These projects are for you, and all resources meant for you, must be given to you without any hindrances,’’ Mr. Ngobie stated.
It could be recalled that the first phase of the second sub-component of the GPW project that was implemented in six cities excluding Freetown, where the pilot phase was held, targeted unemployed and unskilled youth, women, and persons living with disabilities from poor and vulnerable households. The initiative sought to reach 3,000 urban youth aged 18–35 and provided them with informal employment and income-generating opportunities.
Initially launched in Freetown by the Freetown City Council, the first phase of the GPW has been replicated in the six regional cities of Bo, Kenema, Makeni, Kono, Bonthe, and Port Loko (with 500 beneficiaries each). The project design mandates that 15% of beneficiaries must be persons living with disabilities, residing within their respective municipalities.
In Kenema City, the Deputy Commissioner was joined by Honorable Ibrahim Koroma of Constituency 18, Gorama Mende Chiefdom, in the Kenema District, who was full of praises for the exemplary leadership that the ACC and other stakeholders have continued to provide in the implementation of the PSSNYE and other safety net programmes and projects. He stated that with the robust involvement of stakeholders like the ACC, the PSSNYE project is among the few projects that have produced life-changing effects on beneficiaries without any corruption risk. He encouraged the ACC, World Bank, NaCSA, and other stakeholders to continue investing resources. “I am not surprised that only the targeted individuals were enrolled and benefited from the project. There is no space for dishonesty in this project,” Hon Koroma stated.
