The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) on Monday said that it will begin to reward whistleblowers who shall provide it with information leading to the successful prosecution of corrupt individuals.
ZIMRA said that the whistleblower will receive 10 per cent deducted from revenue paid by the person being investigated. In a notice issued on Monday, the tax collector said:
The Commissioner-General may, with the approval of the Minister, award to any person, not being an employee of the Authority or a near relative of an employee of the Authority, a monetary reward for information provided or any measure taken which results in detection of smuggling or any other offence against any of the Acts specified in the First Schedule, and the recovery of revenue which would otherwise have been lost.…The amount to be awarded in terms of the mentioned Section 34B of the Revenue Authority Act is at a rate of ten per cent of the recovered revenue.
The revenue has to be paid first by the person investigated before the whistleblower is paid. The 10% reward is deducted from the revenue paid by the person being investigated.
ZIMRA also promised to protect the whistleblower and to use the evidence given by the whistleblower only to guide investigations and not to be availed to the person or entity being investigated.