Corruption fight: GII tells govt to establish & resource Whistleblower Reward Fund



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The
Ghana
Integrity
Initiative
(GII),
the
national
chapter
of
Transparency
International
(TI) has
called
on
the
government
to
establish
and
resource
the
Whistleblower
Reward
Fund
as
provided
for
in
the
Whistleblower
(Amendment)
Act,
2023
(Act
1103).

GII
also
asked
the
government
to
increase
public
education
on
the
law
to
encourage
victims
and
witnesses
of
corruption
to
report
corruption.

Public
entities
such
as
the
National
Commission
on
Civic
Education
(NCCE)
and
Commission
on
Human
Rights
and
Administrative
Justice
(
CHRAJ),
as
well
as
civil
society
organisations
(CSOs),
must
also
increase
public
awareness
among
the
citizenry
on
the
provisions
of
the
laws
to
ensure
that
citizens
are
empowered
enough
to
report
corruption,”
GOO
added.

“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,”
GII
said
in
a
statement
on
the
occasion
of
the
8th
Africa
Union
Anti-Corruption
Day,
Thursday,
July
11.

The
AU
Anti-Corruption
Day
celebration
is
celebrated
annually
on July
11
,
with
this
year’s
theme
being
“Effective
Whistle-blowers
Protection
Mechanism:
A
Critical
Tool
in
the
Fight
Against
Corruption.”

The
GII
stated
that
Ghana
passed
a
Whistleblower
Act,
2006
(Act
720)
that
provided
legal
protections
and
incentives
to
all
persons
who
report
corrupt
practices
and
other
illicit
activities
that
militated
against
the
development
and
growth
of
the
country.

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
2
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.
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
offenses
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.