Legal protection of whistleblowers in Zambia

Abstract

Zambia has witnessed unprecedented campaign in the fight against corruption since President Levy Mwanawasa ascended to power in 2001. High profile cases involving former senior government officials, including former President Frederick Chiluba, have been prosecuted before the Zambian courts. Most corruption scandals that took place under the government of Chiluba were noticed by public officers, but they were too scared to blow the whistle. This is because there is no law in Zambia that protects employees against retaliation or victimization for exposing wrong doing within their work places. A cross-section of the Zambian community has started demanding for the enactment of specific laws aimed at protecting employees who blow the whistle to expose corruption. The research analyses the current legal position in Zambia concerning the protection of whistleblowers. It also provides a comparative study of selected countries arovmd the world which have well-developed whistleblower protection legislation. And finally, it recommends for Zambia to adopt a two-faceted approach in dealing with whistleblower protection laws by enacting a stand-alone statute, as well as the infusion of specific provisions on whistleblower protection in selected existing statutes such as the Employment Act and the Labour and Industrial Relations Act.