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Shielding our whistle-blowers

27 Sep 2021

At a moment when the country is trying its hardest to deal with the scarcity of several essential food items and fight arbitrary price increases by businessmen, a large-scale irregularity at the state-run Sathosa has come to light. The alleged irregularity, which is said to be a multi-million rupee fraud, was revealed by a brave act of an ordinary employee. Sathosa Chairman Rear Admiral (Retd.) Ananda Peiris told the media that he had received a tip-off from a female employee at Sathosa, who had claimed that four persons had illegally obtained and sold two containers of garlic, which, according to reports, weighed 56 tonnes. Actions taken on the basis of this information have now led to an official investigation. The Sathosa employee’s simple but prompt and fearless action against the irregularities taking place within Sathosa should not be just another incident to revel in and forget in a matter of several weeks; it is an example set by an ordinary person who did what needs to be done, and in recent history, Sri Lanka has not seen such brave acts from either the Government or the public. The actual takeaway from this incident should be that any determined person can help thwart large-scale corruption. However, the unfortunate reality is that we show a great deal of enthusiasm when celebrating another’s bravery, but when our turn comes around, what we show is a great lackadaisicalness. It is not because the public lacks the motivation to see corrupt officials and politicians being held accountable for their actions. In fact, the fact that it is the taxpayers’ money that is being stolen and squandered by these corrupt parties is a good enough reason. The real question is whether there is a safe environment for whistle-blowers to expose what they know. No ordinary person would want to fight people of power and stand to risk their careers, possibly even their lives. The fear of retaliation, and the lack of legal and institutional protection available to whistle-blowers, is to blame for this. A number of countries have dedicated national laws to protecting whistle-blowers, and some countries have other laws or provisions intended to protect them. Even though institutional policies, laws, and practices for the same purpose are rare, if there are laws, they are more than enough to make whistle-blowers feel safe and have hope that the risk they take would bear fruit. However, legal and policy changes do not mean mere protection from criminals. When it comes to such protection, legal provisions also need to be in place to provide some kind of relief to those who are involved in such offences but are willing to reveal the whole truth about what they were a part of, or are aware of. Sri Lanka has not paid adequate attention to implementing this mechanism, which is known as “plea bargaining”, even though it is a common practice in many countries, where it is implemented with the aim of encouraging offenders to come forward and reveal larger crimes committed by bigger criminals. The responsibility, however, does not lie only with a public determined to see a country free of corruption. Politicians and high-ranking officials have not only a larger responsibility, but also a better ability, to reveal the illegal deeds of their peers, underlings, and superiors or predecessors. Unfortunately, their ability and willingness to do the same has been consumed by their personal interests. Most of the time, the revelations made by such prominent figures about the irregularities committed by people they know are intended to gain personal, political, and monetary advantages. In this context, we can say that, as much as legal and policy protection is required, there should also be a massive attitudinal change as well. People willing to come forward against irregularities should be able to not only avail themselves of legal protection, but also feel a sense of safety and trust. When that happens, bigger crimes and bigger criminals would be revealed; and who can say what may come out of the woodwork.


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