Africa-Press – Botswana. In reaffirming its commitment toward deterring corruption, the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) commemorated the 8th African Anti-Corruption Day and shared their successes over 30 years since inception.
The commemoration which was held on Wednesday in Gaborone was facilitated under the theme, Effective Whistleblowers Protection Mechanism: A Critical Tool in the Fight against Corruption.
Delivering keynote address on behalf of the acting President of Botswana, Mr Slumber Tsogwane, Minister of Labour and Home Affairs, Ms Annah Mokgethi said in line with the theme, for any anti-corruption initiatives were whistleblowers as they play a significant role in exposing and addressing corruption.
Ms Mokgethi said through whistleblowers courage and integrity they shed light on misconduct and illegal acts that undermine societies and economies.
“In the modern age whistleblowing is one of the most important and permanent process by which governments are kept accountable they are meant to serve. It is vital for public accountability and integrity across all organizations and societies,” she said.
Notably, Ms Mokgethi said whistleblowing was also a useful tool for improving internal management organisations to make them more accountable as it could be an early warning indicator for employers that some processes needed to be fixed. With the amount of suffering whistleblowers often endure, Ms Mokgethi said society had a duty to ensure that they were supported and protected.
She said the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption (AUCPCC) acknowledged whistleblowing as an essential tool in the fight against corruption.
This convention, she said obligated state parties, protects whistleblowers and ensured that citizens could report corruption without fear.
Ms Mokgethi said the AUCPCC, the SADC protocol against corruption and the United Nations Convention against Corruption had provisions that placed obligations on state parties to protect whistleblowers.
She added that these international instruments required state parties to foster an enabling environment for whistleblowers, ensuring protection from retaliation as well as promoting transparency and accountability in the fight against crime and corruption.Ms Mokgethi said Botswana has made significant strides in establishing whistleblower’s protection mechanism by enacting the whistleblower Act of 2016, which provides a way a person may disclose conduct adverse to the public interest.
More importantly, she said the act prohibits any form of discrimination against whistleblowers within their respective workplaces.
“Botswana has not been spared from this plight of corruption, much like our international and African counterparts we have had our fair share of corruption scandals,” she said.
Nevertheless, Ms Mokgethi said Botswana was unrelenting in the fight against corruption and has set a high standard for transparency and accountability, adding that over the last decade the country’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI) score has been favourable out-performing most of its fellow African states.
Botswana has consistently remained in the top three rankings of the transparency international index within the African continent and has been fluctuating on her international standing by 1 or 2 points in the past three years, she said.
Ms Mokgethi said the 2023 CPI Botswana’s current score was 59 out of 100, ranking 39 globally and third in Africa behind Seychelles and Cape Verde, hence the need to improve her overall position on the international stage.
Additionally, Assistant Minister for State President, Ms Boitumelo Gofhamodimo, highlighted the significant strides made by the anti-money laundering unit under the DCEC, resulting in the seizure of assets valued at approximately P170 milliom Botswana’s commitment to combating corruption and protecting whistleblowers underscores its position as a regional leader in promoting transparency and accountability, setting a benchmark for others to follow.
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