Protection on the way for whistleblowers

There is little protection for whistleblowers in the public service until the Independent Commission against Corruption (ICAC) law is passed, says Constitutional and Law Reform Commission Secretary Dr Eric Kwa.
Kwa, however, said there was some respite in the public service general orders to protect whistleblowers.
Two senior public servants in the Department of Agriculture and Livestock and the Cocoa Board were sidelined for speaking out against alleged malpractices.
“The key provision of the ICAC bill is on whistleblower protection,” Kwa told The National.
“Initially, the Minister for Justice and Attorney-General Davis Steven directed the CLRC to draft a single legislation on whistleblower protection, separate from ICAC.
“Once we established the status of ICAC, and when we agreed on the draft proposal, we agreed that whistleblowers are covered under the ICAC bill.
“We don’t need to have a separate legislation. We can depend on the ICAC bill. Once it’s gone through, that will provide very strong protection to whistle blowers.”
Kwa said it was important that whistleblowers are protected.
“If somebody reports on a corrupt deal, how can we protect this person?” he said.
“If it’s to do with a very serious corruption case, should we provide witness protection?
“All these issues, we hope, will be worked through as soon as the Organic Law on ICAC is passed.”
Kwa said that in the meantime, public service general orders provided some protection for whistleblowers.
“I am seeing a lot of public servants reporting on illegal or corrupt practices,” he said.
“I’m very sorry at the moment that we cannot really protect them, although I’m sure that the general orders do provide for ethical behaviour, so we have a code of ethics in the general orders.
“For me, if a public servant raises an issue against me, it would be in the best interest of a leader like me to allow the investigations to continue and we deal with the person.”