Whistleblowing laws gain traction across Africa
Across nations of Africa, it has long been recognised that widespread corruption in many countries has been a major contributing factor in inequality and a barrier to progress. In 2016, of the top ten most corrupt countries ranked by Transparency International, five were in Africa. In these circumstances, the ability for ordinary citizens to expose wrongdoing without fear of the consequences is a crucial public good. And along with high levels of corruption, there is an ever-increasing determination to root out the problem with strong protections for public interest whistleblowers.In world terms, one of the earliest adopters of whistleblowing legislation was South Africa, which is one of the few countries worldwide with a comprehensive whistleblower law.
The Protected Disclosures act of 2000, soon after the end of Apartheid paid tribute to the culture of an open and accountable civil society which the post-apartheid government wished to foster. The challenges have been great, and even in 2016 the country has not quite reached the top one third of ‘least corrupt countries’. Research in 2014 showed that only 3 in 10 south africans felt safe blowing the whistle, demonstrating that good laws are only one part of the solution to the problem of entrenched corruption.
In 2017, two more African nations are pressing ahead with protections and encouragement for public interest whistleblowers. Nigeria implemented a whistleblowing policy towards the end of last year which, among other measures, promised a reward to whistleblowers of between 2.5% and 5% of any monies recovered by the government. Following this, some truly stunning amounts of looted money have been discovered by investigators due to whistleblower tipoffs, including an anonymous account containing $US136 million early in the year, and a more recent $9.2m in cash allegedly owned by a former Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Mr. Andrew Yakubu. This month, the Nigerian government has passed legislation to extend legal protections to whistleblowers, including anonymity and government protection from retaliation.
Tunisia is also in the process of implementing new whistleblower protections. A draft law was passed by the Tunisian Assembly of People’s Representatives in February which would, among other measures, not only provide protection for public interest whistleblowers but also implement penalties for those who retaliate against them. The law has not yet been implemented, and some commentators have expressed frustration with its slow passage through the legislature.
Blueprint partners Plateforme de Protection des Lanceurs d’Alerte en Afrique (PLAAF) are a recently formed organisation dedicated to the protection of whistleblowers across Africa. With the work of many such organisations we hope to see the further spread of whistleblower protections across the continent, and an end to the culture of corruption and impunity.