TENDAI BHEBE IN BULAWAYO
Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Ziyambi Ziyambi, has revealed that Attorney General’s office is drafting a Bill to protect whistle blowers.
Recently, Cabinet approved the principles of the Bill. Once passed into law, Ziyambi, who spoke at a African Parliamentarians Network Against Corruption in Bulawayo this week, said it will help stem corruption.
“The Attorney General’s office has been given instructions to draft the Bill and the office is therefore seized with the matter,” Ziyambi said.
He added: “The purpose of this legal framework is to facilitate the disclosure of conduct adverse to the public interest in the public and private sectors.
“Its main aim will be to protect whistle blowers through prohibiting their detrimental treatment as a result of whistleblowing by providing a framework within which public interest disclosures shall be dealt with.”
Currently, the existing laws that facilitate the whistleblowing in Zimbabwe include the Revenue Authority Act [Chapter23:11], Public Entities and Corporate Governance Act [Chapter10.31], Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act [Chapter 09:07] and the Money Laundering and Proceeds of Crime Act [Chapter9:24].
Ziyambi said these pieces of legislation, however, were inadequate hence the need to provide specific legislation.
He said protecting whistle blowers would contribute to an environment of trust, tolerance and accountability.
“Protecting whistle blowers will contribute to an environment of trust, tolerance and accountability and in the case of public interests, enhance the capacity of Zimbabwe to respond to wrongdoing within state entities.
“Where an employee within the public or private sector has identified wrongdoing, they may be uncertain of what to do with the information, where or to whom to report, or whether they are protected once information is provided. A clear policy that provides for the procedures and guaranteed protection associated therewith is important for the employee to decide to disclose information that exposes wrongdoing,” he said.
“The enactment of this law will signal a radical shift in individuals’ willingness to be part of the fight against corruption in our nation.”
The enactment of the Bill will also be in line with international best practices as Zimbabwe is a signatory to several conventions aimed at combating the scourge of corruption within the public and private sector.
