FREETOWN – The Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Segepoh Solomon Thomas, has warned all Members of Parliament to urgently declare their income, assets and liabilities to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) or face administrative sanctions.
Addressing MPs in the well of Parliament yesterday, Speaker Thomas said the ACC has written to Parliament and the letter has been forwarded to all parliamentary groups.
“Leaders of Sierra Leone, political leaders of Sierra Leone to always declare your assets. A letter was sent to me by the ACC and that letter was forwarded to your groups. I hope you saw the letter that was forwarded to me. So please I urge honorable members to quickly declare – please declare your assets quickly so that you are not sanctioned,” the Speaker said.
Why MPs Must Declare
The warning is not new. Under Section 119(1) of the Anti-Corruption Act 2008 as amended by the Anti-Corruption (Amendment) Act 2019, every public officer in the following categories must declare:
– Persons holding elective offices (including all 149 MPs)
– Persons appointed by the President
– Public officers Grade 7 and above
– Any officer below Grade 7 with fiduciary or financial responsibilities
– Paramount Chiefs and Court Chairmen
The law requires declaration within 3 months of assuming office, every 2 years thereafter, and within 3 months of leaving office. For 2026, the ACC opened a new digital portal built with DSTI and set the declaration window from 20th April to 20th July 2026, later extended to 21st August 2026.
Failure to declare is a criminal offence under Section 122A(1).
What Are The Sanctions?
According to ACC Operations Coordinator Patrick Sandi and ACC Public Notices:
1. 14-day Default Notice – ACC issues a written notice to the defaulter
2. Salary Withholding – 1-month freeze if you still fail to comply
3. Suspension – 3 months suspension without pay
4. Dismissal – Removal from public service after 6 months (for MPs, salary withholding applies continuously as Constitution protects removal, but benefits and privileges can be blocked)
5. Fine and Jail – On conviction, fine of not less than Le20 million (old Leones) and/or not less than 1 year imprisonment, and under the 2019 Amendment, up to 5 years or Le50 million fine.
In 2024, after similar warnings, 1,541 public officers were sanctioned. Compliance later rose from 91.3% to 99.54% by December 2024 after salaries were frozen.
For the current 2026 exercise, ACC reported as of 18th August 2026, 13,036 out of 16,144 targeted officers (80.7%) had complied across 224 MDAs. The Commission is now pushing for 100%.
The Speaker’s intervention comes as Parliament faces public scrutiny over absenteeism, with Speaker Thomas recently announcing he will introduce a performance assessment system and send attendance records to political parties to guide award of symbols for 2028.
The ACC portal remains assets.anticorruption.gov.sl.
