High Court Convicts Former SLRSA Officials in Major Corruption Case

The High Court of Sierra Leone has delivered a landmark judgement in a corruption case involving senior former officials of the Sierra Leone Road Safety Authority (SLRSA), reinforcing the country’s ongoing efforts to strengthen accountability in public service.
Justice Cosmotina Jarrett on Tuesday convicted and sentenced the former Executive Director of the SLRSA, Dr. Sarah Finda Bendu, and the institution’s former Procurement Manager, Mr. Victor Labour, after finding them guilty on multiple corruption-related offences linked to the misappropriation of more than Le 2 billion in public funds.
The two were charged by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) with offences including misappropriation of public funds, conspiracy, and failure to comply with procurement and financial management procedures. According to the court, the offences were committed between 2016 and 2017 and involved payments made to two clearing and forwarding agencies for services that were never rendered.