LECTURE EIGHT

WHISTLE BLOWING IN GHANA

 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

At completing this unit students should be able to:

• Define whistle Blowing and relate it to
procurement
• Know who a whistle blower is and what such
person does
• Know the content of Ghana Whistle Blowers Act
2006
• Know the relationship between whistle blowing
and ethics
 Definition of Whistle Blowing

• Whistle blowing means calling attention to

wrongdoing that is occurring within an
organization.
 Who is a Whistleblower?
• Whistleblower is someone who informs
an appropriate outside person or agency
about illegal or unethical behaviour that
they have encountered (within the
organisation or outside) during the course
of their job.
 Who is a Whistleblower?
• Whistleblower is someone who informs an
appropriate outside person or agency about
illegal or unethical behaviour that they have
encountered (within the organisation or
outside) during the course of their job.
• Whistleblowers are expected to exhaust all
reasonable options to address the issues
within their organisation before taking it to
outsiders.
 Why do People become Whistle
blowers?
People typically become whistleblowers
when:
• they feel their organisation is either
indifferent to or supportive of the illegal or
unethical behaviour, or
• when they are worried that voicing their
concerns within the organisation will lead to
some form of revenge from the organisation
or individuals working there.
 FOUR WAYS TO BLOW THE
WHISTLE
• reporting wrongdoing or a violation of the
law to the proper authorities, such as a
supervisor, a hotline or an Inspector General
• refusing to participate in workplace
wrongdoing
• testifying in a legal proceeding
• leaking evidence of wrongdoing to the media
 Ghana’s whistleblowers Act,
2006
• Ghana’s whistleblowers Act, 2006 is an act
that provides for the manner in which
individuals may, in the public interest
disclose information that relates to unlawful
or other illegal conduct or corrupt practices
of others.
• To provide for the protection against
victimisation of persons who make these
disclosures;
 Ghana’s Whistleblowers Act,
2006
• To provide for a Fund to reward individuals
who make the disclosures and to provide
for related matters.
 Disclosure of impropriety
• 1. (1) A person may make a disclosure of
information where that person has
reasonable cause to believe that the
information tends to show:
• a) an economic crime has been
committed, is about to be committed or is
likely to be committed;
 Disclosure of impropriety
• another person has not complied with a law or
is in the process of breaking a law or is likely to
break a law which imposes an obligation on that
person;
• (c) a miscarriage of justice has occurred, is
occurring or is likely to occur;
• (d) in a public institution there has been, there is
or there is likely to be waste, misappropriation
or mismanagement of public resources;
 Disclosure of impropriety

• e) the environment has been degraded, is

being degraded or is likely to be degraded;
or
• (f) the health or safety of an individual or a
community is endangered, has been
endangered or is likely to be endangered.
Disclosure of impropriety
Despite any other law to the contrary, a
disclosure of an impropriety is protected if:
• the disclosure is made in good faith,
• the whistleblower has reasonable cause to
believe that the information disclosed and an
allegation of impropriety contained in it are
substantially true
• If disclosure is made to persons or
institutions specified as follows:
 Persons and Institutions to Disclose
Information to
• an employer of the whistleblower;
• a police officer;
• the Attorney-General;
• the Auditor-General;
• a staff of the Intelligence Agencies;
• a member of Parliament;
• the Serious Fraud Office;
• the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative
• Justice;
• the National Media Commission;
• the Narcotic Control Board;
 Procedures For Making A Disclosure

1) A disclosure may be made in writing or orally.

(2) The disclosure shall contain as far as practicable
(a) the full name, address and occupation of the
whistleblower;
(b) the nature of the impropriety in respect of which
the disclosure is made;
(c) the person alleged to have committed, who is
committing or is about to commit the impropriety;
(d) the time and place where the alleged impropriety
is taking place, took place or is likely to take place;
 Procedures For Making A Disclosure

• e) the full name, address and description of a person who

witnessed the commission of the impropriety if there is
such a person;
• (f) whether the whistleblower has made a disclosure of the
same
• or of some other impropriety on a previous occasion and if
so, about whom and to whom the disclosure was made;
and
• g) if the person is an employee making a disclosure about
that person's employer or a fellow employee, whether the
whistleblower remains in the same employment.
 Whistle blowing and Ethics

• Whistle blowing has to do or linked (to)

with ethics because it represents a
person’s understanding, at a deep level,
that an action his or her organization is
taking is harmful—that it interferes with
people’s rights or is unfair or detracts from
the common good.
• Whistle blowing also calls upon the virtues,
especially courage, as standing up for
principles can be a punishing experience.
 Whistle blowing and Ethics

• Even though laws are supposed to protect

whistle blowers from retaliation, people
who feel threatened by the revelations can
shun the whistle blower, marginalizing or
even forcing him or her out of public office.
• On the other hand, there have been occasions
where the role of whistle blower has actually
thrown people into higher office and has
earned the respect of constituents.
• An ethical organisation should support
whistle blowing with due process and
protection for the whistleblower.
• It has to acknowledge that it cannot micro-
manage every person working on or
connected with its activities, so has to
encourage its employees to police each other.
 Whistle blowing and Ethics

• It has to prevent its whistle blowing

procedures from being used maliciously or
unkindly on false grounds.
• Investigating claims made should be part
of the ethics officer’s duties, and ruling on
them should fall within the ethics
committee’s responsibility.
 How government/Institutions can encourage whistle
blowing

• companies should encourage internal whistle

blowing so that problems are solved within
the organization before employees feel they
must go outside to get action.
• The same is true for government bodies,
which need to know about problems early—
before illegal contracts must be renegotiated.
How government/Institutions can encourage whistle blowing

• Create a policy about reporting illegal or unethical

practices, which should include:
– Formal mechanisms for reporting violations, such as
hotlines and mailboxes’
– Clear communications about the process of voicing
concerns, such as a specific chain of command, or the
identification of a specific person to handle complaints
 How government/institutions can
encourage whistle blowing
– Clear communications about bans on
retaliation
• Get endorsement of the policy from top
officials
• Investigate and follow up promptly on all
allegations of misconduct.
• Report on these investigations to the council
or board.
 How government/institutions can
encourage whistle blowing

• Elected and administrative leadership must

encourage ethical behaviour and hold
everyone within the organization to the
highest standards, including the disclosure of
activities that would have a negative impact
on the public’s business.
 END OF LECTURE EIGHT

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS