Beneficiaries of the Productive Social Safety and Youth Employment (PSSYNE) project in Waterloo, Western Rural District, have commended the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) for its diligent and uncompromising monitoring of the project. They made this commendation in a post-payment meeting held on Thursday, 2nd November, 2023, at the Western Rural office of the Ministry of Social Welfare, Waterloo.
The PSSNYE which is a 42-Million dollar project support from the World Bank and UNICEF is implemented by the National Commission for Social Action (NaCSA) with the ACC in charge of its Grievance Redress Mechanism (GRM) component. The project includes Emergency Cash Transfer, Youth Employment etc. and is set to target 35,000 beneficiaries in 11 districts in the country.
”I want to thank NaCSA and the ACC for ensuring that we receive these monies. The money met me in a dire situation and I was not even able to pay for my daughter’s fees to take the BECE Exams. The moment I confirmed receipt of the alert I cashed out the money and made immediate payment,” Susan Funikimbo, a beneficiary said at the meeting, whilst noting her appreciation of the money, which became a great deal of help to her.
Christiana Kenny, another beneficiary, commended the World Bank, UNICEF, NaCSA and the ACC, noting that the money paid to them helped her and other beneficiaries to pay school fees and settle other domestic issues.
Kadija Barrie, a beneficiary who is physically challenged, disclosed that she received the money at a time when she had nothing, and even food was a challenge. She added that her rent which was due compounded the issues that were miraculously relieved when she received 2,660,000 (Old) Leones in her phone. She thanked the Government of Sierra Leone, the ACC and NaCSA for being so concerned about them, and called for continued support.
Public Relations Assistant of the ACC, Alex A. Bah, thanked the beneficiaries for sharing their testimonies, adding that he was happy that the project was achieving its intended results. He added that the ACC’s handling of the GRM component of the project is to ensure that integrity is injected in the entire implementation of the scheme, with strict adherence to the project manual. He said the Commission takes record of any concerns or grievances from beneficiaries and other stakeholders and ensure they are addressed.
He therefore encouraged them to embrace integrity and eschew any act of corruption. “Corruption is a cancer all of us must fight to defeat or its brunt will be felt by all, especially poor people. I therefore encourage you all to exercise your civic responsibility by resisting, rejecting and reporting corruption,” Mr. Bah advised. He gave them the Commission’s toll-free lines of 077-985-985 or 077-986-986, and assured them of prompt actions and interventions and protection against any reprisal.
ACC’s Project District Coordinator, Western Rural, Elizabeth Charles, in her admonishment, commended the beneficiaries for their patience and trust reposed in the Commission. She assured the few beneficiaries that did not receive their monies as a result of misplacement of sim-cards or other issues that the Commission recorded in its earlier verification exercise, that they would certainly be paid. She disclosed that a second tranche payment will also be made to them and therefore advised them to safely keep the sim-cards distributed to them.
Communications and PR Consultant, ACC, Oswald Hanciles, expressed his delight for the engagement with the beneficiaries, adding that he was yearning for such a platform to get a first-hand insight into the impact of these monies meant to alleviate poverty. He promised to write and share their stories reflecting their plights and impact of the project.
A question and answer session climaxed the engagement.
District Coordinator Elizabeth Charles addressing disabled beneficiaries.
Beneficiaries at the meeting
Group photo with the beneficiaries at the end of the engagement
