Sierra Leone arrests former officials on corruption charges

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone – Sierra Leone’s anti-corruption commission says a former vice-president and former minister have been arrested as the West African nation’s new leader takes aim at graft.

Commission spokesman Abubakarr Turay says former Vice-President Victor Foh and former Minister of Mines and Mineral Resources Minkailu Mansaray were detained Thursday.

The arrests are related to allegations of corruption linked to a pilgrimage last year to the Muslim holy city of Mecca. Mansaray was head of the Hajj committee, while Foh, a supervisor, is accused of mishandling some funds withdrawn from the $800,000 Hajj account.

The two were members of former President Ernest Bai Koroma’s administration.

The arrests came after a transition team presented a report to new President Julius Maada Bio outlining investigations into practices by Koroma’s administration.