Whistleblowers to be protected by law
Anti-Corruption Commission director-general Paulus Noa has commended the government on the tabling of the Whistleblower Bill.
The long-awaited bill, which provides for a series of incentives for whistleblowers, was tabled in the National Assembly on Thursday.
Noa said the tabling of the bill was long overdue and a milestone for Namibia in its quest to unearth all forms of corruption.
“There have been a number of Namibians who claimed that they were not comfortable to come forward and report corrupt practices because there is simply no legislation that protects them,” he said.
He expressed the hope that the bill included all inputs raised during stakeholder meetings.
“If a person assisted government to recover large amounts of money then it only makes sense that they are rewarded with a portion of the money,” he said.
When he tabled the bill, justice minister Albert Kawana said he believed that its speedy passing would go a long way towards fighting corruption, poaching, drug trafficking, human trafficking, environmental degradation, money-laundering and other crime in Namibia.
The bill provides for the establishment of a Whistleblower Protection Office which may consist of a commissioner, deputy commissioners and other staff.
Section 9 of the bill covers the establishment and functions of the Whistleblower Protection Review Tribunal.
In order to cut costs, it is proposed that the members of the tribunal should serve on a part-time basis.
The tribunal would be empowered to review the decisions of all those entrusted with the administration of the new legislation.
Kawana added that there was a serious need to protect information disclosed by whistleblowers because if such information was disclosed before the matter was disposed of according to legal procedure, the integrity of such person may suffer irreparable damage even if he or she was eventually cleared of the allegation at the end of the legal proceedings.
“Indeed, it is likely that innocent politicians, businesspeople and other public figures may be falsely targeted by their rivals,” he emphasised.
The bill also makes provision for the appointment of ethics and integrity officers to which a whistleblower can report improper conduct of any person within big institutions.
Clause 5 of the bill prohibits any detrimental action taken against a whistleblower for disclosing improper conduct, which includes intimidation or harassment of any whistleblower who is an employee.
“Interference with lawful employment includes dismissal, suspension, redundancy, demotion, refusal of transfer or promotion as a result of the disclosure of improper conduct, transfer against such an employee's will, change of working conditions or taking of disciplinary action against such an employee,” Kawana explained.
The bill also makes provision for the fining of a person who intentionally makes a disclosure knowing or believing that the information contained in the disclosure is false or untrue.
Such a person would be sentenced to a maximum fine of N$100 000, or 20 years' imprisonment.
JEMIMA BEUKES
The long-awaited bill, which provides for a series of incentives for whistleblowers, was tabled in the National Assembly on Thursday.
Noa said the tabling of the bill was long overdue and a milestone for Namibia in its quest to unearth all forms of corruption.
“There have been a number of Namibians who claimed that they were not comfortable to come forward and report corrupt practices because there is simply no legislation that protects them,” he said.
He expressed the hope that the bill included all inputs raised during stakeholder meetings.
“If a person assisted government to recover large amounts of money then it only makes sense that they are rewarded with a portion of the money,” he said.
When he tabled the bill, justice minister Albert Kawana said he believed that its speedy passing would go a long way towards fighting corruption, poaching, drug trafficking, human trafficking, environmental degradation, money-laundering and other crime in Namibia.
The bill provides for the establishment of a Whistleblower Protection Office which may consist of a commissioner, deputy commissioners and other staff.
Section 9 of the bill covers the establishment and functions of the Whistleblower Protection Review Tribunal.
In order to cut costs, it is proposed that the members of the tribunal should serve on a part-time basis.
The tribunal would be empowered to review the decisions of all those entrusted with the administration of the new legislation.
Kawana added that there was a serious need to protect information disclosed by whistleblowers because if such information was disclosed before the matter was disposed of according to legal procedure, the integrity of such person may suffer irreparable damage even if he or she was eventually cleared of the allegation at the end of the legal proceedings.
“Indeed, it is likely that innocent politicians, businesspeople and other public figures may be falsely targeted by their rivals,” he emphasised.
The bill also makes provision for the appointment of ethics and integrity officers to which a whistleblower can report improper conduct of any person within big institutions.
Clause 5 of the bill prohibits any detrimental action taken against a whistleblower for disclosing improper conduct, which includes intimidation or harassment of any whistleblower who is an employee.
“Interference with lawful employment includes dismissal, suspension, redundancy, demotion, refusal of transfer or promotion as a result of the disclosure of improper conduct, transfer against such an employee's will, change of working conditions or taking of disciplinary action against such an employee,” Kawana explained.
The bill also makes provision for the fining of a person who intentionally makes a disclosure knowing or believing that the information contained in the disclosure is false or untrue.
Such a person would be sentenced to a maximum fine of N$100 000, or 20 years' imprisonment.
JEMIMA BEUKES
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