ACT THE ANTI-CORRUPTION ACT, 2008 ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS Section PART I - PRELIMINARY 1. Interpretation PART II - ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION 2. Establishment of Commission. 3. Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner. 4. Tenure of Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner. 5. Functions of Commissioner. 6. Remuneration of Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner. 7. Functions of Commission. 8. Public bodies to comply with instructions of Commission. 9. Independence of Commission. 10. Co-operation with other bodies. 11. Departments of the Commission. 12. Directors and other staff of the Commission. 13. Disclosure of assets and liabilities. 14. Confidentiality. 15. Use of independent professionals and experts. 16. Expenses of Commission charged on Consolidated Fund. 17. Funds of the Commission. 18. Estimates, accounts and audit of funds. 19. Annual Reports of Commission. 20. Protection from liability. 21. Proceedings of Commission. PART III - ADVISORY AND OTHER COMMITTEES 22. Advisory Committee on Corruption. 23. Other Committees. 24. Allowances. 25. Proceedings of Committees. PART IV - OFFENCES 26. Corrupt acquisition of wealth. 27. Possession of unexplained wealth. 28. Offering, soliciting or accepting advantage. 1 29. Using influence for contracts. 30. Influencing a public officer. 31. Peddling influence. 32. Bid rigging, etc. 33. Corrupting public officer. 34. Bribery of or by public officer to influence decision of public body. 35. Soliciting, accepting or obtaining advantage for public officer, etc. 36. Misappropriation of public funds or property. 37. Misappropriation of donor funds or property. 38. Impeding investment. 39. Corrupt transactions with agents. 40. Deceiving principal. 41. Accepting advantage to protect offender from legal proceedings. 42. Abuse of office. 43. Abuse of position. 44. Public officer using his office for advantage. 45. Conflict of interests. 46. Treating of public officer. 47. Receiving gift for a corrupt purpose. 48. Protection of public property and revenue, etc. 49. Dealing with suspect property. 50. Bribery in relation to auctions. 51. Gifts. 52. Transfer of proceeds of corruption, etc. PART V - POWERS OF INVESTIGATION 53. Powers of Commission and servants to request information. 54. Information relating to property. 55. Penalty for failure to furnish information and for false answers. 56. Summoning of witnesses. 57. Heads of public bodies, managers to produce statements, etc. 58. Services of notices 59. Restriction on disposal of property, etc. by persons under investigation. 60. Restriction on disposal of property, etc. by third parties. 61. Revocation of restriction notice. 62. Restriction notice to apply to income from property, etc. 63. Surrender of travel documents. 64. Return of travel documents. 65. Permission to leave Sierra Leone. 66. Powers of arrest. 67. Bail and other procedures after arrest. 68. Power to fingerprint and photograph arrested person. 69. Arrest of persons granted bail by Commission. 2 70. Search and seizure. 71. Search of premises. 72. Responsibility for seized property. 73. Admissibility of things produced or found. 74. Unlawful disclosure of investigation. 75. Identification for investigating officer 76. Impersonation of officer of Commission. 77. Duty to report acts of corruption. 78. Referrals to Commission. 79. Particulars of reports. 80. Commission may decline investigation. 81. Protection of informers. 82. Protection of witnesses. 83. Additional measures to protect witnesses. 84. Power to obtain assistance. 85. Protection for assisting Commission. 86. Penalty for false report. 87. Application for attachment order. 88. Forfeiture of property if suspect has absconded. PART VI - PROSECUTION OF OFFENCES 89. Procedure. 90. Bail for accused person. 91. Admissibility of accused’s declarations and statements. 92. Evidence of pecuniary resources or property. 93. Certificate as to official emoluments, etc. 94. Burden of proof. 95. Impossibility of achieving purpose not defence. 96. Person giving or receiving bribe not regarded as accomplice. 97. Presumption of corruption. 98. Forfeiture of property of persons convicted. 99. Property tracking and monitoring order. 100. Offences in relation to property tracking, etc. 101. Limitation on forfeiture of property. 102. Appeals. PART VII - MUTUAL ASSISTANCE 103. Co-operation with foreign State. 104. Power of Commissioner to obtain search warrant. 105. Property tracking etc., for foreign State. 106. Freezing and forfeiture of property in international co-operation. 107. Request to be accompanied by an evidence order. 108. Limitations on compliance with request. 3 109. Requests to foreign States. 110. Issuing evidence order against person resident in foreign State. 111. Evidence pursuant to requests. 112. Authentication of documents. 113. Form of requests. 114. Contents of requests. 115. Request for forfeiture. 116. Request not to be invalidated. 117. Asset sharing. 118. Offence of interference with mutual assistance orders. PART VIII - INTEGRITY IN PUBLIC LIFE 119. Public officers to declare assets and liabilities. 120. Examination and publication of declaration. 121. Power to investigate particulars in declaration. 122. Offences in relation to declarations. PART IX - MISCELLANEOUS 123. Effect of death of person involved. 124. Effect of death of joint owner of restrained property. 125. Arrangements to avoid operation of Act. 126. Corruption offence extraditable. 127. Obstruction of justice. 128. Conspiracy. 129. Offence by body of persons. 130. General penalty. 131. Court may impose ban. 132. Custom not a defence. 133. Civil proceedings. 134. Suspension of public officer charged with corruption. 135. Suspension of public officer convicted of corruption. 136. Commissioner to report on charges and convictions for corruption. 137. Conduct outside Sierra Leone-offenders. 138. Costs on acquittal. 139. Supplementary funds. 140. Regulations. 141. Repeal and savings. 4 Signed this day of 2008 DR ERNEST BAI KOROMA President LS No Sierra Leone 2008 The Anti-Corruption Act, 2008 Short title Being an Act to provide for the establishment of an independent Anti- Corruption Commission for the prevention, investigation, prosecution and punishment of corruption and corrupt practices and to provide for other related matters. [ ] Date of commencement ENACTED by the President and Members of Parliament in this present Parliament assembled. PART I - PRELIMINARY Interpretation. 1. (1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires- “advantage” includes- 5 (a) any gift, loan, fee, reward, discount, premium or commission, consisting of money or of any valuable security or of other property or interest in property of any description, or other advantage other than lawful remuneration; (b) any office, employment or contract; (c) any payment, release, discharge or liquidation of any loan, obligation or other liability, whether wholly or partly; (d) any payment of inadequate consideration for goods or services; (e) any exercise or forbearance from the exercise of any right or any power or duty; (f) any other benefit, service or favour (other than entertainment), including protection from any penalty or disability incurred or apprehended or from any action or proceedings of a disciplinary, civil or criminal nature, whether or not already instituted; and (g) any offer, undertaking or promise, whether conditional or unconditional, of any advantage within the meaning of paragraphs (a), (b), (c), (d), (e) and (f); “associate”, in relation to a person, means- (a) a person who is a nominee or an employee of that person; (b) a person who manages the affairs of that person; (c) a firm of which that person, or his nominee is a partner or a person in charge or in control of its business or affairs; (d) a company in which that person or his nominee, is a director or is in charge or in control of its business or affairs, or in which that person, alone or together with his nominee, holds a controlling interest, or 6 shares amounting to more than thirty percent of the total share capital; or (e) the trustee of a trust, where- (i) the trust has been created by that person; or (ii) the total value of the assets contributed by that person to the trust at any time, whether before or after the creation of the trust, amounts, at any time, to not less than twenty percent of the total value of the assets of the trust; "Commission" means the Anti-Corruption Commission established under section 2; "Commissioner" means the Anti-Corruption Commissioner appointed under section 3; “Constitution” means the Constitution of Sierra Leone, 1991; "Court" means the High Court; Act No. 6 of 1991 “corruption” means an act which constitutes an offence under Part IV of this Act and includes- (a) any conduct whereby in return for an advantage, a person performs or abstains from performing` any act in his capacity as a public officer; (b) the offer, promise, soliciting or receipt of an advantage as an inducement or reward to a person to expedite, delay, hinder or prevent the performance of an act by himself or by any other public officer in his capacity as a public officer; (c) the abuse of a public office for personal or private gain; (d) the corrupt acquisition of wealth; (e) the possession and control of unexplained wealth; (f) the misappropriation of public funds or property; 7 (g) the misappropriation of donor funds or property; and (h) any offence involving dishonesty in connection with any tax, rate, charge or levy imposed under any enactment; or “corrupt practices” includes- (a) any practice or conduct by any person that adversely affects or could adversely affect, either directly or indirectly, the honest and impartial exercise of official functions by any public officer or any public body; or (b) any practice or conduct of a public officer that constitutes or involves the dishonest or partial exercise of any of his official functions; or (c) any practice or conduct of a public officer or former public officer that constitutes or involves a breach of public trust; or (d) any practice or conduct of a public officer or former public officer that involves a misuse of information or material that he has acquired in the course of his official functions whether for his benefit or for the benefit of any other person “Deputy Commissioner” means the Deputy Commissioner appointed under section 3; "document" includes a tape or video recording, disc or any form of computer input or output and any other material, whether produced mechanically, electronically, manually or otherwise; “economic crime” means- (a) an offence under section 48; or (b) an offence involving dishonesty under any enactment providing for the maintenance or protection of the public revenue; 8 “entertainment” means the provision of food or drink, for consumption on the occasion when it is provided, and of any other entertainment connected with, or provided at the same time as such provisions; “financial institution” includes any person whose regular occupation or business is the carrying out of any activity listed in Part I of the First Schedule to Act No. 6 the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2005 and includes of 2005. activities of the non-financial businesses and the professions listed in Part II of that Schedule; “Government company” means a body corporate in which the Government - (i) directly or indirectly or through any other corporate body, owns or controls not less than twenty five percent of the entire share capital; or (ii) by reason of its financial input through loans, debentures or otherwise, or by reason of the presence of its representatives on the Board of Directors or other governing body, is in a position to influence its policy or decisions; “local council” means a local council established Act No. 1 under the Local Government Act, 2004; of 2004 "official income" means salaries, wages, allowances, pensions, gratuities and other moneys paid to a public officer by virtue of his appointment as a public officer; "public body" includes— (a) Cabinet, any ministry, department or agency of Government; (b) Parliament; (c) the Judiciary; (d) the Armed Forces; 9 (e) the Police Force; (f) the Prisons’ Service; (g) a local council; (h) the Freetown City Council and any other city council; (i) a Government company; (j) a company or other body or organization established by an Act of Parliament or out of moneys provided by Parliament or otherwise set up partly or wholly out of public funds; (k) any commission, committee or other body of persons, whether paid or unpaid, appointed by or on behalf of the Government or local council or by a public corporation or company in which the Government owns or controls not less than twenty five percent of the entire share capital; (l) any commission or committee established by or under the Constitution or by or under any law or by the Government; (m) any educational or similar institution financed wholly or partly from public funds; and (n) any organisation, whether local or foreign, established to render any voluntary social service to the public or any section thereof or for other charitable purposes, which receives funds or other donation for the benefit of the people of Sierra Leone or a section thereof; "public corporation" means a corporation established by an Act of Parliament or out of moneys wholly or partly provided by Parliament and includes a company which is wholly owned by the Government or in which the Government owns or controls not less than twenty five percent of the entire share capital; “public funds” includes- 10