Dear Editor: How to silence a whistleblower—a TTCB case study

“[…] They are usually someone who purports to possess some high moral or ethical standing (red flag number one)… It is usually good to ignore them—they typically run out of breath.

“However, when they go public that’s when the whistleblower becomes a problem. They have no business telling the board or the police or the public about our business, even if $500,000 odd dollars may or may not be missing…”

The following Letter to the Editor on the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) decision to fire treasurer and whistleblower Kiswah Chaitoo was submitted to Wired868 by Rajiv Hemant of Palmiste:

The recent events at the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board have taught me quite a few lessons which I can now share with the national community. It even inspired me to possibly write a book entitled, How to Silence a Whistleblower – A TTCB Case Study. 

Here is a summarised version of the lessons learnt:

Identify the Whistleblower: Identifying the whistleblower is simple. They are usually someone who purports to possess some high moral or ethical standing (red flag number one). This person is usually chattering away about some fraud or mismanagement or misappropriation taking place.

It is usually good to ignore them—they typically run out of breath. However, when they go public that’s when the whistleblower becomes a problem. They have no business telling the board or the police or the public about our business, even if $500,000 odd dollars may or may not be missing.

Ensure the country has no Whistleblower Protection Laws: You are in the clear in Trinidad and Tobago, as the Government attempted to pass such a law in 2019. The UNC opposition vehemently opposed it and the bill was killed, offering no protection to whistleblowers to date.

Silence the whistleblower: Now that you have established the whistleblower and the fact that they have no legal protection—you simply get the board to support firing this person. It’s as simple as a majority decision and he is out.

Now you don’t have to deal with him, constantly in your head reminding you about that missing or misappropriated money. Problem solved.

Of course, this was written in satire, but it points to a very serious problem at the TTCB and in our country as a whole.

A whistleblower in the form of its treasurer and a chartered accountant, Mr Kiswah Chaitoo, not only alerted the board on misappropriated money but informed the fraud squad. This was his duty, which he carried out courageously.

Last week, the board of the TTCB fired him for his actions, while the perpetrators may well be laughing all the way to the bank.

Whistleblower protection and whistleblower legislation is needed in this country at this time and the public needs to ask some serious questions to the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board.

As for me, I have lost all confidence in them.

Editor’s Note: A release from the TTCB stated that “the motion of no confidence in the Treasurer of the TTCB was successfully carried because of his role in leaking the TTCB’s internal affairs into the public domain, without the necessary approval.

“Both the alleged perpetrator and the Treasurer broke the rules and the conduct of both individuals has left us very saddened and disappointed.”

The TTCB is led by Cricket West Indies vice-president Azim Bassarath.

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