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The Anti-Corruption Commissioner, Francis Ben Kaifala has clarified the role of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to be distinct from supervising public examinations. Kaifala was speaking during a special Civic Town Hall on quality education.
The Commissioner, however, stressed that the ACC remains committed to protecting the integrity of Sierra Leone’s education system, it is not an examination-invigilating institution.
“We basically militarised the process because at the time nobody was willing to listen to us,” the ACC Commissioner said during the Town Hall.
He added that the ACC has since taken a more supportive approach, allowing institutions with specific mandates to take ownership of public examinations while the Commission intervenes where its statutory mandate is triggered. “To say we have to take charge of exams, no. That is not our role. We only provide support.”
Commissioner Kaifala emphasised that the ACC can support, investigate and hold perpetrators accountable, but protecting the integrity of public examinations is a collective national responsibility.
The ACC has been offering enforcement mechanisms through their Elite Scorpion Squad. Over the years, the squad has apprehended pupils and school authorities engaged in examination malpractice. While some members of the public has praised the ACC’s approach, some employed critical stance often citing the Commission’s parading of four teachers at the Cotton Tree in 2019 as a human rights violation.
