FRANCIS BEN KAIFALA
Francis Ben Kaifala is the Commissioner of the Anti-Corruption Commission of Sierra Leone. Before this, he was Senior/Managing Partner in the Firm Kaifala, Kanneh & Co. situated at Top Floor, 81 Pademba Road, Freetown. He is a household name at the Sierra Leone Bar and had served as the Public Relations Officer and Spokesman of the Sierra Leone Bar Association in the year 2012–2013. He is currently also the President of the network of Anti-Corruption Institutions in West Africa (NACIWA).
As Head of the Anti-Corruption Commission of Sierra Leone, his result-oriented leadership has favorably led that institution to be awarded, for the first time in its 18-year history, “Best Public Sector Institution of the Year 2019” at the National Development Awards 2018 and “Outstanding Commission of the Year” by the National Youth-led Awards with record-breaking recovery of corrupt properties and funds and convictions. Sierra Leone has now passed the Millennium Challenge Corporations’ Control of Corruption Scorecard from a failing position of 49% in 2017 (before his appointment) to a respectable pass of 71% in 2018 and increased to 79% in 2019 and 81% in 2020 – the country's first ever back-to-back pass of the MCC Control of Corruption Scorecard; Afro Barometer Corruption prevalence dropped from over 70% in 2015–2017 to an all-time low of 43% in 2018 and further to 40% in 2020; Similarly, according to Afro Barometer Corruption Perception survey of 2018, Citizens’ belief in government’s effort in the fight against corruption jumped from an all-time low of 40% to over 66% in 2018; and according to Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index, Sierra Leone moved one space up in the CPI rankings in 2018 and thereafter jumped by 10 spaces to 119 in 2019 with its highest ever score recorded (33) that year. Sierra Leone now ranks No. 1 in West Africa and 3rd in Africa in Transparency International’s rankings of Government effectiveness in the fight against corruption. Moreover, the ACC has a very high conviction rate. Unprecedentedly, the ACC was able to recover domestically over Le 25 Billion (about $2,500,000.00) of lost funds through corruption and corrupt practices and returned to the People of Sierra Leone for the provision of social services with almost Billion Leones already committed to be recovered after completed investigations (This recovery rate within one year is more than what the ACC had ever recovered in its 18 years prior existence as a whole before the appointment of Commissioner Kaifala). Also, Prosecutions are now moving faster and investigations covering all spheres of public life with no room for impunity. Generally, the citizens’ confidence in the fight against corruption and the results being produced by the ACC is at an all-time high since Mr. Kaifala assumed office.
He is a bilingual Lawyer. He has vast experience in Corporate/Commercial Litigation and practice in the Superior Courts of Judicature of Sierra Leone. He is also very active at the Criminal Bar and has been involved in several high-profile “white collar” criminal cases. He has experience in dealing with general and specialty contracts and has received Continued Professional Development training in various areas of the Law including Arbitration, Mediation, Oil and Gas, International Human Rights Law, Advanced business transactions, investment, etc.
Francis is a product of the Sierra Leone Grammar School and Fourah Bay College - University of Sierra Leone, and the Sierra Leone Law School. He holds the interdisciplinary LL.M (Master of Laws) in Law and Economics jointly awarded by the School of Law and the School of Economics and Finance at Queen Mary, University of London, in London, United Kingdom. He is also an alumnus of the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship Program in the US and graduated with the LL.M (Master of Laws) in Comparative Constitutional Law, Administrative Law and International Human Rights at the University of Texas at Austin, in the United States of America. He was Human Rights Scholar at the Bernard and Audre Rapoport Centre for Human Rights and Justice in Austin, Texas where he engaged in enriching human rights work, experience, and training in that prestigious institution.
Francis has won several Awards including “Obama Africa Leader 2019”, “West Africa’s Young person of the Year 2019” by Confederation of West African Youths; “Sierra Leone’s Public Servant of the Year 2019” by the AWOL (National Achievement Awards); The Bai Bureh Heritage Award for “Inspirational Leadership in the Fight Against Corruption”; Diaspora Focus Award 2019 for “Extraordinary Leadership in the Fight Against Corruption”; “100 Most Influential Young Africans 2019” by the Pan African Youth Forum; “100 Most influential Young Africans” by the Official Most Influential African Movement “Sierra Leone’s Best Public Sector Leader of the Year 2019”, “Patriotic Personality of the Year 2019”, “West Africa’s Young person of the Year 2019” by Confederation of West African Youths; African Achievers Award 2018 for “Excellence in the Fight Against Corruption”, Heirs Africa “Seal of Integrity Award 2018 for Excellent Leadership in the Fight Against Corruption” Eminence Africa “Achievement in Law Award 2018 for Leadership in the Fight against Corruption”; “10 Most Outstanding Sierra Leoneans 2018” by Chosen Generation Sierra Leone, “HeForShe Ambassador Award” for Outstanding Support to Women and Girls, “Best Public Sector Leader of the Year 2018”, “Exemplary Leader of the Year”, Ecomedia Award for “Excellence in Professional Service 2018”, Council of Chief Executive Officers and Business Executives’ “Professional of the Year 2017”, National Leadership Awards’ “Emerging Leader of the Year 2017”, “Lawyer of the Year 2016”, “Young Lawyer of the Year 2015”, Auradicals Awards 2011 and 2016 for “Exemplary Service to Humanity”; and received various Recognitions including Ovation magazine’s “100 Most Outstanding Sierra Leoneans 2019”, “50 Most Influential Young Sierra Leoneans 2018”, Ovation magazine’s “100 Most Influential Sierra Leoneans 2017”, Ovation Magazine's “Top 100 Most Influential Sierra Leoneans 2016”, Institute of Leadership, Entrepreneurship and Development’s “Top 50 Most Influential Young Sierra Leoneans 2017”, Salone Times Newspaper “Top 10 Sierra Leoneans 2016”.
References
This article "FRANCIS BEN KAIFALA" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:FRANCIS BEN KAIFALA. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
