In early 2016 CommsConsult was asked to research and write a communications strategy for the Anti- Corruption Commission in Sierra Leone, to launch the ‘Pay no bribe’ campaign.

The DFID funded ‘Pay no bribe’ initiative is an innovative reporting mechanism that provides an anonymous platform by which citizens can report instances of corruption to the Anti-Corruption Commission.

CommsConsult associate Nicola Woods travelled to Sierra Leone to conduct thorough mapping of the communication context and to collaboratively draft a strategy that made use of alternative communications tools and tactics, such as street theatre and social media. The strategy had to be mindful of the media literacy and penetration of different communications platforms across Sierra Leone, as well as the impact of the Ebola epidemic upon the operation of the information landscape.

While it might be assumed that a successful information campaign would lead to lower incidences of corruption, this project encountered an interesting and unexpected challenge; namely, that the more successfully anti-corruption messages are disseminated, the more corruption is reported.

CommsConsult aimed to mitigate the effects of this in the strategy, enabling communication between a wide range of stakeholders, facilitating dialogue and thus promoting greater understanding of the statistics as they emerged.

  • Project Type: Communication Strategy
  • Lead Unit: Strategic Communication
  • Client: Coffey
  • Location: Sierra Leone