Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4) executive director Cynthia Gabriel said the plan would not work unless proper whistleblower protection measures were first put into place.
“The reward is good, but it will work only if the whistleblowers are well protected after they lodge the reports,” she told FMT, adding that some people might not be as interested in the reward as they were in genuinely wanting to curb corruption.
The activist’s response came after Sabah MACC director Sazali Salbi said government servants who reported suspected cases of corruption to the Commission would receive a reward in the form of a cash incentive, the same amount of the bribe involved.
However, the ringgit-to-ringgit incentive would only be awarded once the suspect was convicted of the crime.
Sazali added that an immigration officer and policeman had so far received rewards for reporting corruption.
“This would encourage civil servants to report such activities and help curb the incidences of corruption among them in the state.”
Cynthia had previously said that the culture of reporting wrongdoings was discouraging and risky as whistleblowers were harassed and detained.
She also called on the MACC to improve their integrity and public trust before expecting others to come forward with information about suspected cases of bribery.
“Right now the MACC suffers from a credibility deficit due to a lack of independence,” she said, in referring to the Commission’s refusal to investigate the “elephant in the room”, which were the 1MDB and Scorpene submarine controversies.
Meanwhile Sabah MACC is prosecuting the former Sabah Water Department director Awang Mohd Tahir Mohd Talib for 12 counts of money laundering charges, involving RM56.9 million.
The case, dubbed the “Sabah Watergate scandal” became public after raids were conducted at Tahir’s home and office where investigators found RM48 million in cash at both places.