The term whistle blower in its simplest form means, the process of witnessing a crime and reporting to the appropriate authorities. In a country with a working system, there are structures put in place to protect the safety of whistle blowers. Whistle blowing in its ordinary form, it is not a profession because in most cases, it is usually attributed to the media personnel whose primary duty is to serve as watch dogs and disseminate information concerning atrocities committed by any individual or division in the society.
But that is not all what whistler blowing is, it is the right of every citizen of a country or should I call it a duty. One of the few reasons why my country has decayed beyond repair, it is because most people believe the affairs of the country is none of their business. Everyone is struggling with one form of political apathy or the other, the fear of being victimised or lack of political education has obstructed most citizens from performing their duties, this is very common among the uneducated.
It might seem ok in the surface but the more we refuse to get involved in the governing of our nation, either through election or any other means, we keep granting unqualified individuals the privilege of gaining power. Whatever the consequence of their inadequacy, we all have a share in it, it doesn't really matter if you supported the government in power or not, because feigning ignorance is not considered a credible excuse in the face of Minister of "Shege" when it is going round giving everyone their share.
Like i said earlier, fear is one the reasons why people would witness a crime and they would say nothing about. In fact, I don't blame them, I have seen whistle blowers suffer great consequences just because they stood as witness of a crime. As honourable as being a whistle blower is, it comes with serious danger. The fact is, for anyone committing a crime, they are aware of their actions but they are hoping they would never get caught. The moment someone witness this crime and the person decides to do the needful by reporting to the authorities, everything changes.
For whoever committed the crime is in trouble because there is someone that can attest to the fact that they committed a crime. The only way for the criminal to avoid being punished by the law is to find a way to make sure the witness doesn't report the crime they witnessed or even if they have reported the crime, the criminal can still try as much as possible to make sure that the witness is not available to stand as a witness against them in court.
There are various ways a criminal can get this done, firstly they have to discover who the whistle blower is, before or after the crime has been reported. Depending on the kind of evidence the whistle blowers has, that would determine the credibility of the whistle blower. What does it mean? let say, someone witnessed a crime but without being able to get any evidence that ties the criminal to the crime scene, then all the witness have is just an eye witness account of the crime reported. We all know, an eye witness account without substantial evidence, is not enough to convict a person.
There must be other built up evidence to support the eye witness report, for the criminal, all he or she needs to do is either to prevent the eye witness from making a report or make them disregard their report by paying them off or threatening them or silencing them permanently. In case whereby the whistle blower also have an evidence of the crime committed, a photograph or video recorded that ties the criminal to the crime scene, then it is a different game entirely.
A criminal can still try to pay a whistle blower off but in my country, where we have a lot of politicians with their own private assassination team, silencing the whistle blower permanently always seems like the most effective choice. Which means it is left to the security agencies to protect the wellbeing of the whistle blower and their family. Not just this, let say the criminal is not aware of who the whistle blower is because the security agency were able to protect the identity of the whistle blower till the case goes to court.
If the case warrants the whistle blower to come forward or not, even after the person that committed the crime has been convicted, it doesn't mean the whistle blower and their families are safe. Most criminals always find ways to get back at the whistle blowers in whichever way they can. Depending on the connection of the criminal, throughout the whistle blowers' life, he or she will live in a state of terror. Even in a country with a good working system, most whistle blowers still end up dead or worse.
So it is not even a matter if something will happen to a whistle blower, it is a matter of when. What measures should security put in place to protect whistle blowers? whatever means necessary because from that moment onward, they are no longer safe. Is whistle blowing meant for everyone? truth be told, I don't think it is. Before you become a whistle blower please consider the nature of the country you are in, the government, the security personnel because from the moment you blow the whistle, your life will never remain the same.
This write-up was inspired by weekly featured content titled Whistle blowing in hive learners community.
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