Sierra Leone Telegraph: 19 February 2019:
The younger brother of former president Ernest Bai Koroma – Thomas Koroma, has entered into an out of court settlement with the Sierra Leone Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), after investigators found that he had misappropriated the sum of $127,547.75 during the reign of his elder brother – president Koroma.
But critics say that the ACC needs to go deeper and wider in their investigations of Thomas Koroma’s business dealings with the former government, led by the APC of which he is a grand chief patron.
Many believe that Thomas Koroma was awarded several public procurement contracts by his brother – the former president, running into millions of dollars, which he partially or totally failed to deliver in line with contract specifications. (Photo: Former president Ernest Bai Koroma).
There are calls for the former president’s younger brother to be charged to court for corruption, based on evidence available at the ACC rather than asked to repay a fraction of what is believed to have been stolen from the state.
But with several former public officials having entered into similar out of court agreement to repay the state, it is unlikely that any senior public officials would be arraigned into court to answer corruption charges.
According to statement published by the ACC today, the agreement signed with Thomas Koroma in November last year – 2018, states that Koroma is to repay $127,547.75.
Since November 2018, Koroma has paid two lump-sums of $40,000 and $14,605.28 respectively to the ACC, leaving an outstanding balance of $72,942.47, which according to the ACC must be fully paid by June 2019:
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