FAITH MADZINGA
The Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC) has urged Parliament to speed up the enactment of the whistleblower protection law.
ZACC spokesperson, John Makamure said the law would protect the whistleblower from being victimised by corruption suspects.
“Whistleblowers are a vital cog in the anti-corruption fight. Without whistleblowers and witnesses there is no anti-corruption to talk about because they provide necessary information to help with necessary evidence to aid our investigation,” Makamure said.
The call comes at a time when some whistleblowers have been harassed and transferred from their working places on flimsy ground.
Some witnesses have refused to stand in the court of law for fear of victimisation.
“So the result has been that some of the cases have crumbled because witnesses have refused to appear before the court derailing the anti-corruption fight,” Makamure said.
Last month, Cabinet approved principles to the whistleblower law and the witness protection law.
“With these two pieces of legislation we hope we will be able to provide comprehensive protection to the whistleblower and witnesses that we all desire”.
ZACC calls upon the attorney general office and the parliament of Zimbabwe to speed up enactment of these two pieces of legislation.
Makamure said: “Our message as a commission is let’s speed up enactment, let’s carry out citizen’s awareness of these important pieces of legislation and then let’s enforce so that we deter corrupt practices”.
Last year, the United Nations urged Zimbabwe to guarantee the protection of whistleblowers to safeguard the public interest and to promote a culture of public accountability and integrity.
