Whistleblowing – an insurance against corruption, fraud, malpractices
We were pleased to hear that the President having realised the value of eradicating corruption, fraud, waste, bribery and malpractice in the public sector has declared his campaign towards building a country free of fraud and corruption and called for proposals, ideas and support from the professionals and the general public. As a precursor to this, a special meeting had been held by the Presidential Secretariat at the Department of Information last week with a view to setting up an action plan. This project titled “National Movement Against Waste and Corruption” undoubtedly would gather a significant momentum countrywide and all national minded citizens would render their unstinted support in this endeavour. In this strategy , the value of installing a Whistleblowing Policy cannot be over-emphasised.
I have been a crusader for this worthy cause in the last two decades and single-handedly made a valiant effort to popularise this concept and the valuable support I received from the Sunday Times (Business) must be placed record. My article on the subject of ” Whistleblowing – a failure of Organizational Culture” hit the Business Editorial page of the Sunday Times as far back as 18th November 2007. It is a matter for regret the valuable insights contained in my proposals appeared to have escaped the attention of the governmental authorities and policy makers in the last 11 years.
Notwithstanding the first publication, the Business Times published several of my articles on the same subject regularly as a national obligation and all these publications appear to have fallen on deaf ears.
I am of the considered view that the installation of a Whistleblowing Policy in the National Action Strategy should find a prime place in this national drive, if the Presidential Secretariat is genuinely interested in the eradication of this countrywide malady. The sustainability of other control measures have little impact and do not serve as a deterrent, as the corruption in the public sector has grown into cancerous proportions. Hence institutionalising the whistleblowing policy across the board is the need of the hour and the employees, trade unions, civil society, general public and other stakeholders must be inculcated on this aspect. This is a tall order as it involves adequate training and commitment of the policy makers.
Now that the President has declared his dedication towards building a country free of fraud and corruption, I believe, the onus is in the hands of the Presidential Secretariat to sustain this gigantic task. It must be noted here that large scale environment destruction and pollution went unabated, until the President took over the Ministry of Environment and his timely intervention for the eradication of corruption from the fabric of the society is a bold step in the right direction.
J.A.A.S.Ranasinghe
Colombo.