Freetown, July 5, 2024 – The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has completed its investigation into allegations that former Chief Immigration Officer (CIO) Andrew Jaiah Kaikai received three vehicles as gifts during his tenure from April 1, 2018, to October 3, 2023.
The ACC began investigating in October 2023 after allegations surfaced that Kaikai had received a Toyota Land Cruiser, Toyota Fortuner, and Benz G. Wagon as gifts. The ACC invoked Section 57(1)(a) of the Anti-Corruption Act No. 12 of 2008, as amended by the Anti-Corruption (Amendment) Act No. 9 of 2019, to request documents from the Sierra Leone Parliament regarding Kaikai’s declarations upon his appointment as Director of the National Drugs and Law Enforcement Agency.
Notices were also served to the Sierra Leone Road Safety Authority (SLRSA) and the shipping line that brought the vehicles to Sierra Leone, requesting vehicle life cards and the Bill of Lading, respectively. The Vantay Clearing and Forwarding Agency was asked for clearing and forwarding documents.
Following a thorough investigation, the ACC concluded:
1. Kaikai disclosed the gifts to the Parliamentary Appointments Committee and in his Asset Declaration Form to the ACC while serving as CIO.
2. Although Kaikai disclosed the gifts, he did not provide details of the source and nature of the gifts due to the absence of a Gift Register at the Immigration Department, as required by the Anti-Corruption Act 2008, as amended in 2019.
3. The ACC acknowledged its failure to establish a standardized Gift Register for public institutions, which would enable public officers to register gifts exceeding Five Thousand New Leones in value, as stipulated by Section 51(4)(a) of the Anti-Corruption Act 2008, as amended in 2019.
4. Vantay Clearing and Forwarding Agency cleared the Toyota Fortuner in November 2022 and the Mercedes Benz G-wagon and Toyota Land Cruiser LC300 in 2023.
5. The vehicles were shipped from Jebel Ali, United Arab Emirates, by Wissam Elhousseim, a Lebanese American citizen residing in Dallas, Texas.
6. Elhousseim confirmed that he sent the vehicles to Kaikai as gifts, as Kaikai was his lawyer in Texas, USA.
Elhousseim provided purchase documents and cooperated fully with the ACC.
Kaikai had declared the gifts in his 2022 Asset Declaration Form and to Parliament, leading the ACC to conclude that the case did not meet the threshold for prosecution.
The ACC stated, “The Commission will work with public institutions to ensure that Gift Registers are established and encourage strict compliance with the provisions of Section 51(4) of the Anti-Corruption Act 2008, as amended in 2019, going forward.”
