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| Dr Brima Kargbo, Sierra Leone's Chief Medical Officer |
By Kemo Cham
The first report
on Sierra Leone’s anti bribery campaign has exposed how bribery is hindering the
progress of the government’s highly praised partial health insurance scheme
targeting vulnerable members of society.
The ‘Pay No
Bribe (PNB)’ implemented by the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) with donor
support found that 1, 258 people reported to have been forced to pay bribery to
access the services for the free healthcare between October and December 2016.
The report
released last week was the first of the UK-funded initiative launched last year
which was designed to tackle corruption in the public service. The project
which is funded by the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID)
uses technology to fight what is said to be the largest form of corruption in
the country.
Citizens are
asked to report if they have been asked to pay bribe by a public official,
whether or not they paid it, and if they met a honest official.
The
ministries of Health and Education, two water providing parastatals, and the
police, are being sampled in the pilot project. Service beneficiaries are able
to make their complaints via a toll free 24-hour line, text messaging, or by downloading
a free app and lodging a verbal complaint. All of the complaints are done
anonymously.
Officials
say campaign was designed not with the intention to prosecute anyone, rather it
is intended to gauge the trend of corruption in certain departments so that its
outcome informs the appropriate policies to fight the menace.
A total of
7027 reports were received during the period under review, out of which 5602,
representing 79.7 percent, reported paying a bribe. 885 reported not paying a
bribe, and 540 reported meeting honest a honest person.
The Sierra
Leone Police was ranked the highest in terms of calls by the public over demand
for bribe with 48. 7 percent of the complaints made against the Traffic
Division of the force.
The health
sector was ranked the second highest, with 23.2 percent calls coming from
beneficiaries who complained health officials demanding bribery for services.
That’s followed by the education sector with 22 percent of complaints, 4.6
percent for electricity, and 1.3 percent for water.
In October
77 calls were made about the health sector, in November 586 calls were made,
while in December 595 calls were made, according to the report. A village in
the eastern Kenema district called Nongoma reportedly made the highest single
calls about the health sector.
Among the
callers 211 people reported meeting an honest heqalthcare official, with 164
reportedly not paying a bribe to receive services.
The free
healthcare initiative was established in 2010 in response to high rate of
maternal and infant mortality.
Various
reports have indicate that it has saved my lives since its inception, but the
programme has been overshadowed by persistent reports of malpractices like corruption,
particularly by unscrupulous nurses.
“Corruption
remains a significant challenge to our country’s development,” Saidu Conton
Sesay, Presidential Chief of Staff, who heads the President’s (post-Ebola) Recovery
Priorities, under which this project fall, said in a statement released
alongside the report.
He added:
“It (corruption) diverts resources that should go into healthcare, education
and infrastructure and erodes trust in public institutions.”
The ACC has
urged the Health ministry to display service charters in health facilities
nationwide to enable citizens identify which services are free and the cost of
those that are paid for.
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