PUBLIC PERCEPTION OF CORRUPTION IN SIERRA LEONE

There is no society in the world where corruption has not reared its ugly head. In Sierra Leone, there have been series of military coups and even a ten year civil war and corruption was cited as a reason for these occurrences. Two Anti-Corruption Acts have been enacted but despite the passing of the acts in 2011, Sierra Leone was ranked 134th out of 182 ‘Most Corrupt Countries' by Transparency International Index. The objectives of the study were: to assess the perception of the public service employees and the public on the efforts made at curbing corruption in the public service. The study was conducted in the Western Area of Sierra Leone and Interview Guides were given to stakeholders including public officials and members of the public on the research objective. Secondary data was obtained from a Justice Development Programme study which analyzed the level of perception of corruption as perceived by the public. The findings of the study were that the majority of stakeholders still perceive corruption as high among public officials. Reasons attributed for a high perception of corruption were: the low salaries being paid to public officials; the lack of special courts and judges on anti-corruption cases and the non-independence of the Commission. Recommendations included: appointing an independent committee to appoint Commissioners of the Anti-Corruption Commission to ensure that it operates completely independent and giving higher salaries to public officials commensurate with the salaries received by the staff of the Anti-Corruption Commission. Fighting against corruption in the public service is not an easy battle and all stakeholders must come on board to make sure that it is a success story