S Leone orders corruption probe

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/africa/7141891.stm

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Sierra Leone's new president has asked the country's anti-corruption body to probe ex-government ministers and other senior officials for alleged graft.

Ernest Bai Koroma said this would set an example by making all accountable.

He made the announcement after being presented with a an audit into the state of corruption in Sierra Leone.

The report has not been published but a copy seen by the BBC reveals widespread mismanagement in key areas such as health, tax and security.

Mr Koroma won elections in September on an anti-corruption ticket.

The BBC's Umaru Fofana in the capital, Freetown, says some Sierra Leoneans have welcomed Mr Koroma's announcement as a step in the right direction.

Others think it will further polarise the country, which remains politically divided since the presidential election.

Sierra Leone, one of the poorest countries in the world, is very slowly recovering from a decade of brutal war that ended in 2001.