Belling the corrupt: Whistleblowers need to be protected

NAB chief says draft law to be presented before cabinet for approval soon

ISLAMABAD: It was essential to protect whistleblowers in order to encourage reporting of misconduct, fraud and corruption.

This was stated by National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry while addressing the officers of the accountability body at NAB Headquarter, a statement said on Friday.



Chaudhry said that in view of the importance of whistleblowing protection, the anti-corruption watchdog had drafted the “whistleblower protection act”, which had been forwarded for legal vetting to the Law Ministry.

After vetting the proposed law and finalising its draft, the ministry had sent it Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

The NAB chief said that the PM had approved the Whistle Blower draft bill and it would now be presented before the cabinet for its approval before placing it in the legislature for discussion and final approval.

“We all have firm faith that such efforts will prove to be a roadmap towards corruption free society wherein citizens will have the luxury to get access to information relevant to governance and will have a check on public authorities,” Chaudhry said.

It will also highlight the importance of having whistleblower protection law and encourage the public at large to come forward and blow the whistle wherever there is misuse and abuse of authority so that it can be prevented.

Talking about corruption in Pakistan, Chaudhry said that the 2016 report from Transparency International (TI), Pakistan’s ranking in the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) had improved by over nine points.



He added that Pakistan was considered as a role model in South Asian countries in its efforts against corruption. Moreover, he said that according to the CPI, corruption in the country had been declining since 2013. Besides TI, the independent national and International watchdogs such as PLIDAT and World Economic Forum had also appreciated Pakistan’s efforts to curb corruption in the country.

He said that NAB was trying to create awareness about the ill-effects of corruption and corrupt practices and inculcate in a sense of moral integrity.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 29^th, 2017.