Letter from Toronto By Opiyo Oloya

Dear voter -- In the US, the whistle-blower is actually protected for exposing fraud THERE is nothing more infuriating than seeing a bunch of crooks steal millions from the taxpayers and get away with it. Such is the feeling one is left with as the junk helicopter saga unfolds before Justice Julia Ssebutinde, and the men (all of them are men to date) who concocted the lies wiggle and dance away from responsibility. It makes one wonders what else they have gotten away with without facing the consequences of their sordid actions. Could the crooks have been stopped before they defrauded the government and, by extension, the people of Uganda for millions? The answer is affirmative for the simple reason that these men rely on other people in order to carry out their theft. Someone, somewhere knew that Consolidated Sales Corporation was a dummy shell constructed for the sole purpose of defrauding Ugandans. But, someone somewhere was either too scared or simply unwilling to take the crooks on, and now we have this mess. Indeed, in many jurisdictions around the world including countries like the US, South Africa, Canada, and Britain, governments are relying more on ordinary people to become whistle-blowers in the fight against corruption. Whistle blowing can be defined as disclosure by an employee of confidential information relating to some danger, fraud or other illegal activity connected to the workplace. By exposing a potential fraud or fraud in progress, the whistle-blower brings to an abrupt end the illegal activity, thus saving the tax-payers millions of dollars and, in certain cases, saving lives. In the United States of America, the whistle-blower is actually protected and rewarded for exposing fraud. Under the False Claims Act, any person who knows that an individual or company has financially defrauded the federal government, can file a lawsuit to recover damages on behalf of the government. The whistle-blower does not need to have personal knowledge of the fraud to file a False Claims Act case. The lawsuit can be based on information learned from a friend, a spouse, a relative and so forth. The interesting point is that the US government immediately takes over from the whistle-blower, conducting the investigation and paying for the eventual lawsuit. The law entitles the whistle-blower 15 to 30 percent of any monies recovered from the crooks. Indeed, over the last three years, many Americans citizens have successfully blown the whistle on fraud in the health-care industry. In 1998, a former worker in a medical lab in Maryland collected $1.3 million for exposing fraud. That same year, Brent Hicks and his wife Linda collected $2.5m for whistle-blowing on Blue Shield-a medical insurance company in Pennsylvania. A month later, the US government joined a group of whistle-blowers suing Columbia/HCA Health-care and Quorum Health Group. The lawsuit alleged that the two giant companies planned to defraud the US government of billions of dollars over 14 years by submitting false expense reports. The whistle-blowers stood to share $1bn if the lawsuit was successful. While the US may be unique in compensating whistle-blowers, other jurisdictions provide various protections for would-be whistle-blowers. In Britain and Canada, the law protects whistle-blowers from an angry employer who often attempts to fire the employee who blew the whistle. In addition, British whistle-blowers rely on support and advice from Public Concern at Work, an organisation that encourages would-be whistle-blowers to come forward. In South Africa where corruption is endemic, Parliament passed the Open Democracy Bill, which provides legal protection for whistle-blowers. Section 63 of the Bill protects a person who discloses information showing corruption, contravention of the law or dishonesty in a government body. However, whether in the US or South Africa, the most striking thing about the whistle-blower law is that it relies on ordinary citizens to patrol the nation, to provide the extra eyes for the government at no cost at all. Moreover, it can be extended to cover all aspects of life - reporting on shopkeepers who overcharge, environmental polluters, police officer who take brides, corrupt officials who receive kick-backs, the petty government clerk who demands "chai" before processing the passport application forms. The application is endless. This is where all Ugandans currently registered to vote can come in. Before pledging any support to the current crop of candidates running for parliament, every citizen must ask the candidate whether he or she supports a whistle-blower bill. If the answer is no, then the voter must look for another candidate who favours such a bill. By enacting such a bill, Parliament will be sending a strong signal to the big crooks that their days of freeloading are over and out. So, voter, do your duty and give a death kick to corruption. It's time you get involved - it's your money that's being looted. Ends