Challenges of Whistle Blowing as a Corporate Governance Control Tool in the Zimbabwean Banking Sector During 2000-2008

The objective of the research was to determine why employees avoid whistle blowing facilities established by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and the Tip-Off Anonymous. Employees were aware of these unethical wrongdoings in the banking sector, the existence of these facilities could have alerted regulatory authorities and served the collapse of more than ten financial institutions. Of greater concern was loss suffered by innocent unsuspecting depositors. Data was obtained through a comprehensive questionnaire to randomly selected 104 managers and 208 employees from the banking sector. Data from the questionnaires were augmented by structured interviews. Descriptive statistics and qualitative and content analysis of open statements were used to analyze the data. The study showed that whistle blowing was known as an effective corporate governance control tool. Evidence gathered from the study points to lack of whistle blowing policies which could have contributed to silence or anonymously reporting wrongdoing in the banking sector. It also concluded that the whistleblowers’ facilities lacked the confidence of whistleblowers which has seen them being ineffective. This study recommended for legislation of a national Whistleblowers Protection Act, creation of confidence building in the operations of whistleblowers’ facilities, who should provide necessary guidance on independent legal advice.