Press Releases

A US expert on ‘whistle blowers and witness protection in Dar

August 22, 2006

A US anti-corruption speaker Thomas Devine, who is an expert on whistle blowers and witness protection, is visiting Tanzania to discuss with Tanzanian anti-corruption stakeholders on how to protect whistle blowers and witnesses.

The expert will conduct a workshop in Dar es Salaam for about 100 participants who include stakeholders from representatives from civil society, revenue authority, lawyers, university lectures and journalists. There will be five local co-presenters from the Police Force, Human Rights Commission, Attorney General’s Chambers, Legal and Human Right Center and Prevention and Corruption Bureau (PCB).

The Minister for Good Governance Phillip Marmo will officially open the seminar to be held at the Courtyard Protea Hotel.

According to a statement from the US Embassy in Dar es Salaam, the seminar will be a good opportunity for stakeholders and policy makers to share experiences on protection of whistle blowers and witnesses particularly at this time since the government of Tanzania is drafting an Anti-Corruption bill.

The statement said the Embassy decided to invite Thomas Devine to the country because Tanzania has recently improved its corruption levels enough to qualify for “threshold” status under the Millennium Challenge Account. This means the government of Tanzania will be receiving US government funds to help implement its plan to move into full MCC eligibility.

Closing the seminar, the US Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM), Purnell Delly said the US government values and supports Tanzania’s initiative to fight corruption and this is why an American expert was invited to share strategies for enacting whistle-blower legislation.

“But whistle-blower protection is not just simply designed to protect those with the courage to point out problems. Whistle-blower protection must be designed to actually encourage employees to dig these problems out,” Delly said.

The DCM added that corruption scares off investors, denying the country the biggest catalyst we have to lift this nation out of poverty and onto the road to sustainable development. “These are among the many reasons we would like to thank Thomas Devine for coming here today to help us blaze this path,” he said.

Tanzania currently ranks 88th out of 159 countries on the 2005 Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index. The index is based on the views of members of the foreign and local business community on the extent to which corruption and red tape undermine business confidence and profitability.

The expert will have presentations and discussions with representatives from the judiciary, human rights commission, police, attorney general’s chambers, law reform commission and PCB. He will also meet with the technical committee on drafting the Anti-Corruption Bill as well as the ethics secretariat.