By: Sylvanus Blake, Public Relations Officer, ACC
The Deputy Commissioner of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), Augustine Foday Ngobie, has embarked on another round of on-the-spot monitoring of the Green Public Works (GPW) sub-component of the Government of Sierra Leone and World Bank-funded Productive Social Safety Net and Youth Employment (PSSNYE) project.
On 18th and 19th July 2025, Mr. Ngobie was seen actively engaging with hundreds of would-be beneficiaries, ACC monitors, NaCSA field staff, city council officials, councilors, and other stakeholders at the St. Andrew’s Secondary School Compound in Bo and the Kenema City Council Hall in the Southern and Eastern regions of Sierra Leone respectively. As always, he was visibly on the ground, ensuring that the project is being implemented transparently and effectively.
This latest series of unannounced working visits aimed to provide visible leadership, real-time monitoring of social safety net initiatives, and reinforce the ACC’s zero-tolerance stance on corruption. The visits also served to collect feedback and grievances from beneficiaries and stakeholders alike.
As head of the ACC-managed Grievance Redress Mechanism (GRM) under the PSSNYE, the Deputy Commissioner assured stakeholders that any suspected corruption-related grievance would be addressed robustly and without delay. He urged beneficiaries and partner institutions to adhere to the integrity, best practices, and core objectives of the project.
“I am out again, as I have always done and will continue to do, to gain first-hand insights, find facts, reassure you all, and encourage both our teams and you our esteemed beneficiaries to strictly follow the standards set. No one will be disadvantaged. No one will receive benefits they are not entitled to. Corruption has no place in this PSSNYE project. We are vigilant, be warned,” Mr. Ngobie stated emphatically.
The second sub-component of the GPW project, currently being implemented in urban areas, targets unemployed and unskilled youth, women, and persons living with disabilities from poor and vulnerable households. The initiative seeks to reach 6,000 urban youths aged 18–35 and provide them with informal employment and income-generating opportunities.
Initially launched in Freetown by the Freetown City Council, the GPW is now being replicated in the six regional cities of Bo, Kenema, Makeni, and Kono (with 700 beneficiaries each), and in Bonthe and Port Loko (with 600 beneficiaries each). The project design mandates that 15% of beneficiaries must be persons living with disabilities, residing within the respective municipalities.
Each city council has signed an individual Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with NaCSA, the lead implementing agency on the project’s roll-out. The GPW will be delivered through community cleaning programs, public space management, and enhanced waste collection, including the procurement and use of tricycles.
During an engagement in Bo, the NaCSA District Coordinator, Charles E.G. Macarthy, emphasized the importance of Mr. Ngobie’s unannounced visits, describing them as both crucial and energizing. He noted that local stakeholders, including the Community Identification Committees (CICs), ACC monitors, Bo City Council technical staff, and councilors, are working collaboratively to ensure transparency and fairness in the identification, registration, and enrollment of beneficiaries.
“Only the targeted individuals will be enrolled. There is no space for dishonesty in this project,” Mr. Macarthy affirmed.
In Kenema, Mr. Ngobie was also received by the Mayor of Kenema, His Worship Thomas Baio, who was similarly on site to monitor the registration process.
Similar oversight visits and stakeholder engagements are scheduled for the remaining regional cities of Makeni, Kono, Bonthe, and Port Loko.
