The ground-breaking Whistleblower Protection Bill was passed in the National Assembly last evening without amendment, although there was opposition to the formulation of a commission to act as the governing body.
After eight presentations and a rebuttal from the Minister of Legal Affairs, Basil Williams SC, the Bill was passed by acclamation, although opposition members had argued strongly for the document to go to a select committee to be revised.
Formally the “Protected Disclosures Bill”, the document, in Clause 4, makes provisions for the establishment of a Protected Disclosures Commission, which would be tasked with receiving, investigating and dealing with disclosures of “improper conduct”.