A Research Fellow for Governance and Legal Policy at the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), Victor Brobbey, has said it is erroneous to describe sacked Attorney General, Martin Amidu, as a whistleblower and for that matter does not deserve to be fired.
President John Evans Atta Mills gave Mr. Amidu the marching orders on Thursday after he �misconducted� himself at a meeting that was supposed to serve as a platform for him to substantiate an allegation he made against an unnamed colleague minister involved in �gargantuan crimes. �
Some anti-corruption campaigners have argued that the A-G should not have been fired because he was playing a role similar to a whistleblower.
However, the CDD fellow believes Mr. Amidu�s conduct fell short of the requirements for a whistleblower per the Act that sets up such law - Act 720 in 2006.
�He is a whistleblower only in the colloquial sense, but not in the legal sense,� Brobbey stated. �According to the Whistleblower Act he does not qualify as one. �
He added: �A whistleblower is someone who makes certain disclosures to certain types of persons; disclosures on financial improprieties � but has to be made to your employer, chiefs, the police, MPs and does not include statement issued to the public. �
The Parliament of Ghana passed the Whistleblower Act (Act 720) in 2006 as an important anti-corruption tool. The purpose of the Act is to improve the nation�s ability to fight corruption and other forms of unlawful conduct that negatively affect development.
The Act said a whistle can be blown to: an employer; a police officer; the Attorney-General; the Auditor-General; a staff of the Intelligence Agencies; a Member of Parliament; the Serious Fraud office (EOCO), the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice; the National Media Commission; the Narcotics Control Board: a chief and the head or the elder of the family of the whistleblower.
Others include: a head of a recognized religious body, a member of a District Assembly; a Minister of State; the Office of the President; the Ghana Revenue Commission; or a District Chief Executive.
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