FREETOWN (Reuters) - Police in Sierra Leone have detained a former government
ombudsman on corruption charges, authorities said on Friday, in the first
high-level arrest since a new government took office last year pledging to
tackle graft.
Sierra Leone's Anti-Corruption Commission said in a statement that Francis
Gabbidon, who took office in 2000 and was recently dismissed by President Ernest
Bai Koroma, was arrested on Thursday.
"Gabbidon is now under thorough investigation on allegations of offences
contrary to the Anti-Corruption Commission act," said the statement.
Since taking power in September, Koroma has pledged to fight widespread
corruption in the diamond-producing West African country which is struggling to
get back on its feet after a 1991-2002 civil war which killed some 50,000
people.
Koroma defeated the candidate of the former ruling Sierra Leone People's
Party (SLPP) at a runoff in September but has since struggled to curb high
unemployment and a lack of basic necessities, such as healthcare, education and
electricity.
High international food prices, especially for the country's staple food of
rice, have forced many middle-class Sierra Leoneans to cut back to one meal a
day, residents say.
News | Africa
- Reuters.com
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