Passage of Whistleblower Protection Act (LR0019)

Lobby and engaged policy makers for the passage of the Whistleblower Protection act and undertake awareness raising on citizens’ understanding of the act Performance indicators: Passage of act Number or proportion of citizens reached through awareness raising;

For Commitment details, see Liberia Progress Report 2015-2017.

3.1 Passage of Whistleblower Protection Act

(National Legislature, LRC, MICAT, GC, LACC, NIF, with support from CENTAL, CUPPADL, CEMESP; 15 July 2015 - 30 May 2016).

Milestones:

· 3.1.1 Lobby and engaged policy makers for the passage of the Whistleblower Protection act and undertake awareness raising on citizens’ understanding of the act.

Commitment Aim:

The former President of the Republic of Liberia signed Executive Order No. 22[Note43: Liberian Executive Orders, Protection of Whistleblowers (No. 22), http://www.vertic.org/media/National%20Legislation/Liberia/LR_Protection%20of%20Whistleblower%20(No.22).pdf on 18 December 2009. This order aimed to protect anyone who discloses information about actions of impropriety against the public interest in any public or private institution. This commitment aims to move a step forward and foment the political will necessary to pass and enact a Whistleblower Act, currently drafted but stalled in the legislature. Passage of a Whistleblower Protection Act could positively alter government practice by reducing corruption and setting the framework to allow citizens the opportunity to hold public officials accountable without fear of retaliation.

Status

Midterm: Limited

The bill has been submitted to the National Legislature but has yet to be acted upon. The draft is not publicly available and the contents are unknown. According to Andrew Tehmeh, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Information, Cultural Affairs and Tourism (MICAT), there is no political will in the legislature to move forward with the Act. For more information, please see the 2015–2016 IRM midterm report.

End-of-Term: Limited

On 21 June 2017, the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission held a one-day colloquium on the passage of the draft Whistleblower and Witness Protection Bill into law.[Note44: Interview with Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) focal person, December 2017. The event was intended to solicit the support of the National Legislature for the passage of the draft Bill into Law and to raise awareness among CSOs and other state actors on the importance of the Whistleblower and Witness Protection Law in Liberia. However, the passage of the Whistleblower Protection Act has stalled and, according to the government’s self-assessment report, the challenge in implementing the commitment was the lack of political will on the part of the legislature.

Did it Open Government?

Public Accountability: Did Not Change

The bill has not yet been passed by the National Legislature, therefore the status quo of government practice has not changed.

Carried forward?

This commitment was not carried forward.