Anonymous Members of Staff
National Investment Board Secretariat
Commissioner/Prosecutor
Anti-Corruption Commission
Tower Hill Freetown
Dear Sir/Madam,
Whistle Blower Alert: Corruption At NIB Secretariat
By virtue of section 77(1) of the ACC Act 0f 2008 as amended in 2019, we wish to report corrupt activities going on in the National Investment Board Secretariat. We wish to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals. What follows below is a series of corrupt activities that have taken place at the National Investment Board Secretariat since Dr Edward Hinga Sandy assumed office.
1. The Deputy Executive Director Ms Mahawa Sandy does not have the qualifications she claims to have.
Ø In her CV which we believe is with the Human Resource Department she claims to hold a B.A in Economics from Hofstra University in 2007. However, her name does not appear on the 2007 graduation list of Hofstra University. That includes the list of those who graduated in absentia. See Hofstra University’s 2007 graduation list pages 26 to 47 www.hofstra.edu/pdf/
2. The Deputy Executive Director also claimed on her CV that she holds a master’s degree from Salford University at Zurich. There is no Salford University at Zurich.
3. The Director of Strategic Policy and Planning Mr. Joseph Gbonda also claims on his curriculum vitae that he is a chartered accountant and holds an ACCA Certificate. ACCA is the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. Both accounting students and certified accountants can hold ACCA membership. Mr. Joseph Gbonda has failed to produce a certificate to show he indeed passed all the ACCA exams to be called a Chartered Accountant
Ø The activities of 1, 2 and 3 contravene section 128(3) of the ACC Act of 2008 as amended in 2019 thereby committing an offence of conferring an advantage on themselves. It also contravenes Section 1 (1) of the Forgery Act of 1913 “Making of false document in order that it may be used as genuine”.
Ø Being that these issues of fake degrees at the NIB are stated in the NIB Annual Report, it is reasonable to conclude that Dr. Edward Hinga Sandy has failed to address the issue which action contravenes the Notice of Parliamentary Motion in 2023 that recommends 10 year imprisonment and/or fine for a head of institution who fails to report such fraud.
4. Sometime in October, Dr. Edward Hinga Sandy in connivance with the Deputy Executive Director, Ms Mahawa Sandy, Mr. Joseph Gbonda and Ms Michaella George illegally canceled a legitimate contract signed to implement a UNDP project to do an institutional review. The institutional review was meant to verify the qualifications of staff members. Dr. Sandy informed the staff in a meeting that he canceled it because the institutional review will not favor some senior staff members of the NIB Secretariat
5. The Deputy Executive Director Ms Mahawa Sandy illegally attempted to withdraw funds from the consolidated fund by illegally making a payment request to the Ministry of Finance using the NIB letterhead without the knowledge of the vote controller. Ms Mahawa Sandy was not a vote controller.
6. Dr. Edward Hinga Sandy has recently signed an NIB government check to Ms Mahawa Sandy to the tune of over Le 140,000,000 for an unauthorized trip which Ms Mahawa Sandy took towards the end of 2022 when Dr. Sandy was not the vote controller. Documents at the Secretariat’s finance office show that the trip was unauthorized. The document will show that at no time was a request made to the NIB Secretariat to nominate Ms Mahawa Sandy or any other person for that trip. There is no documentation to show that NIB Secretariat was even notified of such a trip. There is also document showing that the vote controller informed Ms Mahawa Sandy that there was no funds in the NIB budget to finance a Non NIB Trip. However, Bank of Sierra Leone documents show that a check for over Le 140,000,000 was recently cashed at Bank of Sierra Leone.
7. Dr. Edward Hinga Sandy has instructed the procurement officer to come up with procurement documentation to cover the corrupt activity as no procurement was done by NIB Secretariat at the time of the said trip
8. Dr. Edward Sandy has also recently withdrawn the sum of Le 59,000,000 and is presently asking staff members to produce procurement documentation of overpriced sundries to cover it up.
9. Dr. Sandy, Ms Mahawa Sandy and Ms Michaella George have embarked on staff intimidation, threatening to sack staff and demote Directors because of the previous whistle blown about the fake qualifications of the Deputy Executive Director Ms Mahawa Sandy
10. Lastly Ms Michaella George Chief Operations Officer and her family relocated to New York with her husband Mr. Abass Kamara of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation who is on official transfer as Second Secretary to Sierra Leone’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations. Their house is reportedly on the market for rent, and she sold their vehicle. She is yet to tender her resignation.
We trust the ACC will rescue the image of the NIB by investigating these infractions at the Secretariat. A hard copy of this email will be delivered to your office.
Yours Patriotically
Whistleblowers of NIB Secretariat
