The office of the Attorney General has drafted a new bill that entitles whistleblowers to 10 per cent of money or assets recovered from stolen loot.
The proposed bill will create a Whistleblower Reward Fund financed mainly by the exchequer and donors, from which whistleblowers will be paid.
“A whistle-blower who makes a disclosure which leads to the arrest and conviction of an accused person shall be rewarded with money from the Fund,” reads part of the Bill.
The draft of the bill is under scrutiny by various stakeholders including the Attorney General and the Director of Public Prosecutions offices, civil society groups and Parliament, according to the Star.
The government started contemplating of rewarding whistleblowers in 2015, proposing a 15 per cent reward of recovered money or penalty.
This was the year President Barrack Obama visited the country, and it is reported that it was part of his discussions with the Kenyan government.
The Bill grants whistleblowers immunity from civil or criminal liability for disclosing confidential information in addition to being protected from reprisal.
“No employer, person acting on behalf of an employer, or any other person may discharge, demote, suspend, transfer, threaten or harass, directly or indirectly, or in any other manner act adversely against, a person in the terms and conditions of employment because the person provided information in accordance with this Act,” the Bill reads.
Employers or anyone punishing whistleblowers will be guilty of an offence punishable by a fine of Ksh10 million or jail term not exceeding 14 years or both upon conviction.
The whistler-blower will be required to report to the Whistleblower Commission or designated institutions including the presidency, parliament, judiciary, security officers, clergy, lobby groups and public officers about improper conduct amounting to various malpractices.
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The malpractices include gross misuse of public resources, criminal offences, bribery and other economic crimes.
In case one reports to an institution without powers to investigate, the institution is bound to keep it confidential and not sell the information out.
“Any person to whom a disclosure is made and fails to keep the disclosure confidential commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding Sh10 million or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 14 years or both,” the Bills reads.
However, the whistleblower’s protection would be revoked by the commission in writing if found to have been disgruntled after participating in the malpractice, gives false or frivolous information.
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