GII calls for effective Whistleblower Protection Mechanism to combat corruption

The Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), the national chapter of Transparency International (TI), joins the African Union in commemorating the 8th Africa Union Anti-Corruption Day, emphasizing the crucial role of whistleblowers in the fight against corruption.

GII commends the African Union for recognizing the importance of whistleblowers and urges the government to establish and resource the Whistleblower Reward Fund, as mandated by the Whistleblower (Amendment) Act, 2023 (Act 1103).

The GII stressed that the fund is essential for incentivizing citizens to report corruption and ensuring their protection.

A GII document obtained by the Communication for Development and Advocacy (CDA Consult), [email protected], which is a development communication advocacy non-governmental organisation based in Tema, Ghana, has revealed.

The 8th African Union Anti-Corruption Day is being anchored on the theme “Effective Whistleblowers Protection Mechanism: A Critical Tool in the Fight Against Corruption.”

The GII document signed by Mrs. Mary Awelana Addah, the Executive Director, stressed that “despite legislation, including the Whistleblower Act, 2006 (Act 720), the Witness Protection Act, 2018 (Act 975), and the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) Act, 2017 (Act 959), fear of retribution remains a significant obstacle to corruption reporting.

The Act empowers victims and witnesses of corruption to disclose information about observed corrupt or unlawful activities and offers protection and rewards to whistleblowers.

Following over two decades of implementing the Whistleblowers Act, the Parliament of Ghana amended the Act in 2023 to widen the funding streams to enable the establishment of the Whistleblower Reward Fund as provided by the Act, the GII noted.

Also, Section 72(3) of the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) Act 2017 (Act 959) acknowledges the witness protection provided for in the Whistleblowers Act in addition to the protection provided for in sections 72(1) and 72(2) of the OSP Act.

Furthermore, in 2018, the Parliament of Ghana passed the Witness Protection Act, 2018 (Act 975) which establishes a Witness Protection Programme for endangered persons who, as a result of providing information to law enforcement agencies about corruption and other offences, are exposed to the risk of harm or threats.

However, despite all the legislation passed on Whistleblower Protection, the 2019 Global Corruption Barometer survey reports fear of retribution among the citizens, hence low corruption reporting in the country, the GII stated.

GII calls on the government to establish and resource the Whistleblower Reward Fund as provided for in the Whistleblower (Amendment) Act, 2023 (Act 1103) and increase public education on the law to encourage victims and witnesses of corruption to report corruption.

GII also called on public entities such as the NCCE and CHRAJ, as well as CSOs, to increase public awareness among the citizenry about the provisions of the laws to ensure that citizens are empowered enough to report corruption.

Finally, GII calls on citizens to fulfill their civic responsibility of reporting corruption. Let us all work to renounce, reject, and report corruption to promote national development.