Roughly ten years after the end of the ruthless Sierra Leone Civil War (1991-2002), Sierra Leone

continues to face overwhelming challenges of feeble governance, widespread poverty and systemic

corruption, which reduces sustainable development and long term economic reconstruction efforts.

Corruption in particular has proven the most abundant, compromising citizen’s access to public services

such as healthcare, education and policing.

Corruption over the past couple decades has been extensive from the local to the national level in

Sierra Leone. Inefficient elected officials, low salaries, stagnant legislation, and excessive bureaucratic

regulations, offer many opportunities for bribery and extortion. Citizens would routinely report having to

make informal payments to access public services such as medical care, school services, and court verdicts

further depleting their per capita disposable income. Many companies were exposed to corrupt public

officials when making deals, discouraging outside companies from relocating in Sierra Leone. Due to the

abundance of business malpractice in the country, interested companies would become discouraged to

make long term investments. Long term yields remain unpredictable and are further complicated by the

growing amount of domestic bribery and extortion.

There are many facets of Sierra Leone’s economy that have been impacted by corruption. One of

the most notable sectors is the natural resource sector. Sierra Leone relies primarily on its abundant

mineral, marine, and natural resources. These resources include diamond mines, timber, iron ore, and gold

which represent an overwhelming majority of the country’s export revenue. Unfortunately, these resources

have failed to translate the few resources this country can offer into economic growth. The government

and a major mining company have undermined villager’s access to food and prevented workers from

challenging malpractices (Mining Boom, 2014). As a result, residents lost their ability to cultivate crops

and engage in income generating activities that once sustained them (Mining Boom, 2014). As one of the

poorest countries in the world Sierra Leone relies heavily on the foreign aid of other more affluent

countries and external sources of revenue. As aid is often distributed, it comes with its own inherent

corruption risks. The country lacks the overall human capital and financial resources to manage and

monitor donor funded projects. Given this, donor funds become particularly vulnerable to corruption.

Furthermore, another sector affected in Sierra Leone is the judiciary. Powerful corrupt individuals

occupy high ranking positions, providing them with many opportunities to manipulate the justice system

to their personal benefit or to evade law enforcement (World Report, 2011). This is reflected by the

miniscule amount of investigations and prosecutions against these suspicious officials despite known

involvement by fellow officials and the general public. Scarce resources as well as low paid and under-

qualified personnel obstruct the institution’s ability to deliver justice services in an independent and

impartial manner, allowing corruption to exacerbate. Global Integrity also reports that human right groups

continuously draw attention to the fact that people pay illegal fees to court officials for reduced bail and

lighter sentences (Chene, 2010). Judicial presence outside the capital city remains limited, with only a

single judge appointed to each of the country’s 12 districts. This creates a surplus of delays and backlogs,

while law enforcement officials outside the capital are given considerable discretion.

Moreover, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) was established in 2001 as an independent

commission to investigate government corruption. The ACC has since convicted many high ranking

officials such as the Minister of Health and Sanitation and Defense Director of Procurement (World

Report, 2011). The head of the ACC himself has even fallen under scrutiny for potential corruption

charges. After the election of President Koroma, the powers of the ACC have been strengthened under the

Anti-Corruption Act of 2008 with the appointment of a human rights lawyer to head the department

(Chene, 2010). A hotline and tips website has been established to allow members of the general public to

anonymously report any suspected corruption. Since 2010 approximately 13 high level officials have been

prosecuted and removed from their positions including vice president chief of staff and members of the

country’s legislature (Chene, 2010). In addition, the ACC was able to recover close to 2 Million US

dollars for the government and anti-corruption regimes.

Chene, Marie. "Overview of Corruption and Anti-corruption in Sierra Leone." U4. Transparency

International, 22 Sept. 2010. Web. 15 Nov. 2015. http://www.u4.no/publications/overview-of-

corruption-and-anti-corruption-in-sierra-leone/

Sierra Leone: Mining Boom Brings Rights Abuses." Human Rights Watch., 19 Feb. 2014. Web.

14 Nov. 2015. https://www.hrw.org/news/2014/02/19/sierra-leone-mining-boom-brings-rights-

abuses

"World Report 2011: Sierra Leone." Human Rights Watch., 24 Jan. 2011. Web. 15 Nov. 2015.

https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2011/country-chapters/sierra-leone