*New Evidence Shows Petroleum Regulatory Agency (PRA) illegally deposited public funds to First Lady and President’s Foundation*
New evidence from financial records of Sierra Leone’s Petroleum Regulatory Agency (PRA) shows that the public institution illegally deposited public funds to the private bank account of the Maada and Fatima Bio Foundation held at the Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) in Freetown.
The said funds totaling Le155 million were paid in three transactions into the Maada and Fatima Bio Foundation’s GTB Account #201 312 6282 110 in complete violation of the public finance laws and the ACC Act. The said deposits were carried out on diverse dates between 10th December 2019 and 10th December 2020.
Letters and other organizational documents from the Office of the First Lady examined by the Africanist Press show clearly that Madam Fatima Bio used the name of the president and her own office to generate funds from MDAs and members of Freetown’s business community in exchange for contracts, political appointments, business favors, and meeting opportunities with the president, in complete violation of the anti-corruption laws of the country.
Section 31(3) of the Anti-Corruption Act of 2008 forbids the peddling of influence in return for any kind of advantage or public benefit. The law makes it a serious offense for “any person who solicits, accepts, or obtains an advantage from any other person for himself or for any other person in order to make use of his influence, real or fictitious, to obtain any work, employment, contract, or other benefit from a public body.”
Africanist Press found that the funds from the PRA were part of billions solicited from MDAs in the name of the Hands off Our Girls Campaign, but they were never deposited into official bank accounts set up by government officials for the program at the Rokel Commercial Bank (RCB) and the Bank of Sierra Leone (BSL).
We discovered that the PRA is part of several MDAs, including NASSIT, that deposited hundreds of millions to the private bank account of the President and the First Lady’s Foundation in FY2019 and FY2020.
Evidence shows that a number of MDAs, private businesses, and several individuals were directly asked through letters to give money in the name of the Hands Off Our Girls Campaign. We discovered that payments made by MDAs in response to these request letters were all directly deposited into the GTB Account of the Maada and Fatima Bio Foundation and the funds were all drawn from GoSL Accounts operated by the respective MDAs.
The Maada and Fatima Bio Foundation is registered as a charity in Sierra Leone and the United Kingdom. The Foundation describes itself as an organization committed to preserving the dignity and safety of girls though advocacy, capacity building, and awareness creation.
However, fundraising documents and financial records reviewed by the Africanist Press continue to show that the First Lady used her husband’s status and influence to raise billions of Leones between November 2018 and December 2020 in the name of Hands Off Our Girls campaign, but the donated funds were all diverted into the Maada and Fatima Bio Foundation.
Stay tuned to the #AfricanistPress for more details on the Petroleum Regulatory Agency (PRA) and its financial operations.
For now, please find below transaction details showing evidence of funds paid into the Maada and Fatima Bio Foundation in FY2019 and FY2020 from public funds allocated to the Petroleum Regulatory Agency.
ALPHA BAH, AFRICANIST PRESS
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