TENDAI BHEBE
The Transparency International Zimbabwe (TIZ) says the absence of laws protecting whistleblowers has prevented some people with crucial information about corruption from coming forward due to fear of retaliation.
Speaking at the whistleblower protection workshop held in the capital Harare last week, TIZ executive director Tafadzwa Chikumbu (pictured), said the absence of such a law was hampering the fight against corruption.
“So if people feel that they are not protected there is no reason to report corruption because of fear of being victimised and all sorts of threats that come with it and those risks are not only peculiar to Zimbabwe,” Chikumbu said.
He said the TIZ valued the work of whistleblowers in protecting “our public resources and ensuring that we have a culture of transparency accountability and integrity in our institutions so this is not just something that we focus on”.
The workshop for media practitioners, civil society organisations and legal practitioners, was organised by TIZ in partnership with the Platform to Protect Whistleblowers in Africa (PPLAAF), and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF).
Speaking at the same event, Pusetso Morapedi, the PPLAAFP Southern Africa director, said protection of whistleblowers was essential as they face risks.
“For some it’s actually life ending, while for others it’s a life of torture where you lose your house, and at times your children have to leave their schools.
“The question is what do we need to do to push for whistle blowing,” Morapedi said.
Recently, the Zimbabwe Anti Corruption Commission said it has received numerous reports where whistleblowers and witnesses were being harassed by their superiors who are accused of corruption.
