A proposed bill in Parliament seeks to heavily reward whistleblowers whose revelation successfully leads to the recovery of assets.
According to the Whistleblower Protection Bill, they are to get 10 percent of the cash or the value of the asset. The bill will ensure that whistleblowers get rewarded for their role in uncovering a scheme, or illegal acquired wealth.
"A whistleblower whose disclosure results in the recovery of any amount of money or asset shall be rewarded from the fund-where where the money is recovered, with ten percent of the money recovered,” read part of the bill.
The bill further stated that the Commission on Administrative Justice would be tasked with rewarding the whistleblowers.
In some instances, the Commission may give non-monetary rewards depending on how the entity deems fit.
“Notwithstanding…the Commission may in cases where it is just to do so, grant monetary reward to a whistleblower whose disclosure does not fall within sub-section 1(a) or (b),” part of the bill states.
Taxpayers' money will also be inclusive in the Fund, alongside donations, grants or gifts from nongovernmental organisations.
The proposed bill comes as the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) created the i-Whistle platform whereby individuals may expose tax cheats.
The initial reward, if their disclosure led to the recovery of taxes, had been capped at Ksh2 million or five percent of the recovered funds.
However, this was raised to Ksh5 million after Treasury amended the KRA act through the 2021 Finance Bill. The order came from President Uhuru Kenyatta.
“This will improve the trust and confidence of taxpayers in the tax system as well as allowing the State to dramatically reduce revenue leakage and recover taxes that had been lost,” the President stated during the virtual 17th edition of the Taxpayers Day, on November 6, 2021.
