‘Don’t use Whistleblowers Act to accuse falsely’
Efua Yankson, the Deputy Chief Investigator
for the Commission of Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), has
cautioned the citizenry not to use the Whistleblowers Act, Act 2006 (Act 720)
as a means of getting back at people by accusing them falsely but was
instituted by the government to curtail bribery and corruption amongst others.
“As citizens, if we see any unlawful or
corrupt act we are at liberty to report the person or persons to the
appropriate authorities such as the Police, CHRAJ, Economic and Organised Crime
Office and other anti-graft agencies,” she said.
Madam Yankson cautioned at a day’s education and
sensitisation community engagement on ‘Corruption, accountability, probity and
transparency’ under the auspices of the
National Commission for Civic Education(NCCE) in collaboration with the
European Union(EU) for the Assakae community in the Western Region.
The engagement was aimed at promoting good
governance by reducing corruption and improving accountability, probity and
transparency in compliance with existing legal provisions to also educate and
sensitise the participants on the need to safeguard the environment from
degradation as outlined in the Sustainable Development Goals.
Madam Yankson
stressed on the need for the Whistle Blowers Act which safeguarded the security
and confidentiality of the citizenry and challenged them to be bold to report
unscrupulous people to the right authorities and desist from using it as a
means of accusing people falsely.
Madam Princess Antwi from the Department of
Social Welfare, who spoke on sexual abuse, defined abuse as treating a person
in a manner they are not comfortable with and urged parents to report cases of
abuse to the Department of Social Welfare, Domestic Violence and Victim Support
Unit (DOVSU) of the Police Service and the police for investigation and
prosecution.
Moses Kojo Baffoe, the Director of NCCE, for
the Effia Kwesimintsim Municipal Assembly, observed that the objective of the
Accountability, Rule of Law and Anti Corruption Programme was to promote good
governance, rule of law and help reduce corruption.
Police Chief Inspector Kwabena Oti Boateng, who spoke on the topic: ‘The police, key to development’, noted that a nation without peace, unity and security could not progress and it was the duty of the police to provide security for the citizenry and insisted that “protection is a shared responsibility, hence the need for the public to assist and support the police in discharging its duties”. -gna.org
