To encourage more whistle-blowers on corruption, PKR strategic director Rafizi Ramli has announced the setting up of NOW, the acronym for National Oversight & Whistleblowers Centre.
Rafizi, who was charged this week for his role in revealing shocking details of the National Feedlot Corporation owned by the family of Wanita UMNO leader Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, said the new NGO has five objectives.
These among others include to monitor on management performance, governance, government and its public interest agencies’ transparency as well as to expose wrongdoings hidden from public view.
NOW also serves to protect informers through a Whistleblower Protection Fund, including assistance in the form of legal cost, compensation over loss of job.
The centre aims to create awareness to encourage more whistleblowers to come forward as well as a training ground for activists to analyse and expose scandals.
Despite assurances from the government to protect whistleblowers on corruption, Rafizi was charged on Wednesday under the Banking and Financial Institutions Act (BAFIA), alongside former Public Bank clear Johari Mohamad, for devulging details of transactions involving the NFC.
“I deeply sympathise with Johari Mohamad who lost his job, threatened, investigated and in the end charged. The bail set by the court and legal cost are of course beyond his means,” said Rafizi.
Rafizi said he believed prime minister Najib Razak would now embark on a witch-hunt of whistleblowers to silence them.
“This witch-hunt is to kill the new culture in the society which encourages whistleblowers to speak up,” he added.
In a symbolic move, NOW will be officially launched a day before Merdeka celebrations, on August 30.
The new NGO welcomes financial contributions from members of the public, who may make their donations payable to NOW's Maybank account at 562441603039 (Oversight and Whistleblowers Sdn Bhd).
-Harakahdaily
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