WHISTLE BLOWERS ACT – A VITAL TOOL TO FIGHT CORRUPTION IN PNG

The Parliament’s enactment of the Whistle Blowers Act to protect our people who are giving evidences and information on corruption in Papua New Guinea is a welcoming news for our democracy.

The Whistle Blowers Act protects people who report against corruption and corrupt dealings from within their organization from facing disciplinary actions against their actions.

WHISTLE BLOWERS AT WORKPLACE

Whistle-blowers are often viewed by their employers as traitors to the organisation. They can be subjected to harassment from their superiors or demoted to idle positions where they are effectively denied chances to engage in substantial work – possibly lasting until they reach the mandatory retirement age. (The National July 2019)

Whether this Bill gives that protection to whistle-blowers, though, is far from certain.
Welcome news is that journalists will also be covered in the course of their work report on corruption. Also covered will be private citizens and public officers. (The National July 2019)

Whistle-blowers, however, take the risk of facing stiff reprisal and retaliation from those who are accused or alleged of wrongdoing. (The National July 2019)

To be effective, these laws cannot leave what constitutes protected activity up for interpretation.
Most times whistle-blowers are penalised for not using proper channels to make their disclosures, when doing so would require the whistleblower to trust the company or agency whose conduct he is exposing. (The National July 2019)

The definition of proper channels should therefore be broadened to include the media.
Often the media are a whistle-blower’s only real option, and exposing the unethical or illegal behaviour to the public is crucial.  (The National July 2019)

The law should prohibit employers from giving such unfair treatment to workers for blowing the whistle, but it is essentially toothless to stop them in the absence of penalties for violators. The law when enacted should be made crystal clear what kind of activity is protected, or under what circumstances. (The National July 2019)

Employees of conscience who see those in a position of authority abuse their power have a moral duty to speak out, and deserve legal protection for their public service. Whistle-blowers should be seen as essential to a functioning democracy. (The National July 2019)

It is one of the legislations that the country and the people have been crying for Parliament to enact so it protects the people who wants to report and fight against corruption.

The Act, once passed, will shield those who stand up, often at great personal risk, for the sake of truth and the public interest. (The National July 2019)

The Bill aims to provide protection to whistleblowers who make public any corruption, criminal activity or wrongdoing by those in power. (The National July 2019)

WHO BENEFITS FROM THIS ACT?

Whistle-blowers are a vital tool in keeping a check on official misconduct.

Wikipedia says a whistleblower (also written as whistle-blower or whistle blower) is a person who exposes any kind of information or activity that is deemed illegal, unethical, or not correct within an organisation that is either private or public. (The National July 2019)

WHAT THE TIPNG SAYS ABOUT WHISTLE BLOWERS ACT

According to the Transparency International of Papua New Guinea (TIPNG) the 2009 Commission of Inquiry into the Department of Finance has, among its recommendations, called for the introduction and enactment of whistle-blower legislation to boost the fight against corruption in PNG.

There have been cases in the PNG bureaucracy over the years where whistle-blower civil servants were terminated from their employment (Tokunai, 2011). In February 2017 the Department of Defence sacked 9 staff for revealing details of the controversial Manumanu land deal (Yapumi, PNG Loop, 2017). TIPNG defended the terminated officers and urged bureaucrats who are witness to corrupt activities to speak out (Wiseman, 2017).

The draft of the 2015 Organic Law on the Independent Commission Against Corruption has a section dedicated to protecting whistle blowers. It states that a person is not liable to any civil or criminal action, including disciplinary proceedings, if the person in good faith gives or provides information to assist the commission.

In August 2017, Constitutional Law Reform Commission secretary Dr Eric Kwa, in his address at the 2017 PNG update forum held at the University of Papua New Guinea, proposed the creation of whistle-blowers law to allow the leaders of public servants to speak out about corruption without fear of being punished (Sii, Post Courier, 2017).

He said that the legislation has been outstanding for 42 years, and they were preparing a draft to be presented to the government (Sii, Post Courier, 2017). Dr Kwa stated that, “public service leaders face the issue of always answering to politicians, and they face the dilemma of either keeping their jobs or telling the truth, adding that some of them cannot find any other job outside of the public service” (Sii, Post Courier, 2017).

PNG WHISTLE-BLOWERS SILENCED BY LACK OF APPROPRIATE LAWS

https://www.pngattitude.com/2015/07/png-whistle-blowers-silenced-by-lack-of-appropriate-legislation.html

The whistle-blower is expected to initially use internal organisational mechanisms to report wrong-doing. This may include the immediate superior, more distant superiors or a designated integrity officer.

If the issues raised are swept under the carpet and not acted upon, then the whistle-blower can report to external integrity agencies such as Task Force Sweep, the Ombudsman Commission, the Public Service Commission or the Auditor General.

Sometimes such agencies are referred to as the fourth arm of government. There is consensus within the international community that anti-corruption legislation and measures need to be be monitored by specialised bodies with adequate powers, resources and training.

The whistle-blower is also able to pass information to a member of parliament to raise the issue in parliament if it is a serious matter that may jeopardise the public good.  

If all these avenues are exhausted, or are perceived not to be effective, and there is no sign of redress, then the media may be a good avenue to expose problems.  In Papua New Guinea, the Post Courier is more objective than The National but, due to threats and coercion by politicians and their henchmen, all reporting is more subjective nowadays.

Recently social media has caused some discomfort to the corrupt fat cats who occasionally threaten to sue or introduce laws to control the media, just like what they want to do to the judiciary through the Judicial Conduct Bill a year back.

There are various types of wrongdoing and they can be categorised as illegal, unethical, dangerous or inefficient. Illegal acts include corruption, subverting the course of justice and theft.

Unethical conduct includes patronage and breaching public service values, such as soldiers or police working for corporate interests or running their own security businesses using state issued firearms and other equipment.

Dangerous activities include polluting rivers and land, unsafe work practices like exposing workers to asbestos or using the same syringe to inject everyone without cleaning or changing it.

Inefficiency covers practices as people sitting on their bum and surfing Facebook during working hours or clocking off at 1 pm and going off to the Lamana Hotel to sit in front of the poker machines with a calming glass of rum and ice.

There’s also waste - irrational economic decisions that provide no value for money in the discharge of government activities.

All these vices should be reported, recognising that the motive for whistle-blowing must be public interest and not personal or political advantage.

Some people argue that the motive behind whistle-blowing is irrelevant when there is ample evidence of illegality and unethical behavior.

The argument goes that if one uses the established mechanisms to discredit a hated rival then it is still legal as long as the allegations can be substantiated with ample evidence in a court of law.

A Whistle-blower Protection Act would shield whistle-blowers from reprisals and offer immunities from liability but PNG has never thought of this.

In the best interests of people, the government should also enact a Public Interest Disclosure Act to encourage and enable public servants to raise suspected wrongdoing within the public service.

Government departments, state-owned enterprises and the criminal justice system would have responsibilities under such legislation to investigate suspected wrongdoing and take appropriate action.

The Ombudsman Commission with other integrity agencies would have a key role in the monitoring and oversight of a Public Interest Disclosure Act and could provide assistance to whistle-blowers and agencies.

In PNG, the impediments to whistle-blowing can be minimised with the passage of such appropriate legislation. Legal protection, anonymity and a supportive ethical culture are the basics of effective and honest organisation which will encourage people to pursue justified whistle-blowing.

At the moment, the main impediments are fear of reprisals from superiors and colleagues, the absence of legal protection and delays in getting results.

Modern digital technology makes whistle-blowing easier but the PNG government has not supported this fourth arm adequately in the past, probably because there is much to hide and there is fear of the consequences of instruments like a Whistle-blowers Protection Act and a Public Interest Disclosure Act. 

In the next part, I will discuss responsible reporting by media organisations as a lot of witnesses of corruption will be running to the media for exposure.