From international law to communities’ everyday lives, whistleblowers drive positive change at all levels. In early 2022, Transparency International Nepal’s ALAC received a whistleblower report that the construction of a new building at Banskharka Secondary School had been left unfinished. However, the former school principal and management committee had allegedly released payment to the contractor and given clearance on the completion of work. Seeing as that was not true, local community members asked the school for information, but received no further details.
Transparency International Nepal quickly established that the construction was incomplete and sent evidence to the local education office and the central government body that funded the work, calling for urgent action. In response, officials asked the school to provide contractual details of the project. At a subsequent stakeholders’ meeting, the new school principal and management committee agreed to oversee the completion of the building within six months. In January 2023, Transparency International Nepal carried out a joint technical evaluation of the new building with local and central education officials, observed by school representatives and local stakeholders who all agreed the completed work was satisfactory, therefore, enabling the school’s students to start benefitting from additional resources.
Source: Transparency International https://www.transparency.org/en/blog/whistleblower-stories-individuals-safeguarded-public-interest-exposing-misconduct?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=weekly-17-01-2025
