Freetown — As part of its commitments to the fight against corruption in the country, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Sierra Leone Investment and Export Promotion Agency (SLIEPA).

The MoU would enable the two institutions to share some relevant information that has to do with corruption and also capacitate SLIEPA.

ACC director of systems and processing review department, Neneh Dabo said SLIEPA has been indentified as one of the institutions that would help drive the corruption fight forward.

She said the private sector has been branded as the engine of growth but that if the landscape was not proper, the sector would not be able to thrive.

Chief executive officer of SLIEPA, Patrick Caulker said the partnership with the ACC was something that they were very keen and eager to go forward with.

"We deem it very necessary to partner with the ACC in the fight against corruption. We will work with them to uphold this fight," he said.

Caulker urged the anti-graft agency to pursue rigorously the mandate given them to fight the menace in the country, while assuring them of his organization's total commitment to the MoU.

"The ACC is a tool for business and protection. We are currently facilitating over 1,000 large-scale entities in the country," he noted.

Acting commissioner of ACC, Morlai Buya Kamara said his commission values its partnership with institutions because "the fight against corruption is not a one man show, but should be collective".

"It is very crucial that the relationship is cemented between the two institutions for the better. We are on record to have taken steps to clean up the environment for continued investment in the country," he said.

Kamara assured that the ACC will continue to consider SLIEPA as a value partner to ensure the MoU is actualized to the fullest.

The acting commissioner encouraged people not to be afraid of the commission as they are only striving to build a corrupt-free society.