Published in 2024

Legal sources

Executive Summary

Mali ratified the United Nations Convention against Corruption, which provides for the integration of provisions protecting whistleblowers into its national legal framework. However, to date, no protective measures have been implemented by Malian legislation.

Furthermore, the efforts made by Malian authorities to combat corruption seem not to have yet reached the desired level of effectiveness. Several factors, such as a possible lack of political will, as well as the failure to update certain legislative instruments and control mechanisms, may contribute to this situation.

These elements, combined with the challenges posed by the security crisis and a repressive climate towards journalists, are not conducive to the establishment of a legal framework for protecting whistleblowers.

Laws and measures related to whistleblowers

• Ratification of International and Regional Conventions against Corruption

At the international level, Mali ratified the United Nations Convention against Corruption in 2003 on April 18, 2008. This convention, in its articles 32 and 33, requires the State to establish effective protection for “witnesses, experts, or victims” against retaliation they may face as a result of their statements.

Mali also ratified the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption in 2003 on December 17, 2004. This convention also requires the State to adopt legislative measures to protect informants and witnesses of acts of corruption and related offences against retaliation.

Thus, at the international and regional levels, by ratifying these conventions, Mali committed to establishing protective legislation for individuals who disclose sensitive information or illegal acts. However, to date, the country lacks any legal framework in this regard.

• Absence of National Legislation in Favour of Whistleblowers

At the internal level, the Constitution of 1992 does not specifically mention principles such as transparency or good governance. This text is expected to change as a draft Constitution was submitted to the desk of President of the transition, Colonel Assimi Goita, on October 11, 2022. The preamble of the draft indicates that the State “undertakes to take all necessary actions to combat corruption and illicit enrichment and promote transparent governance,” and mentions “transparency” twice. The text was submitted to a referendum in March 2023 and was approved by Malians in June 2023. It is now hoped that these commitments will be translated into concrete actions by the Malian government.

At the legislative level, Law No. 01-079 of August 20, 2001 on the Penal Code, does not provide for any provisions for the protection of whistleblowers. However, the same code dedicates a section to sanctioning the disclosure of secrets. Indeed, Article 130 is worded as follows: “All those who, being depositaries, by status or profession, of the secrets entrusted to them, except where the law obliges them to report, have revealed these secrets, shall be punished by imprisonment of six months to two years and optionally by a fine of 20,000 to 150,000 francs (…).”Article 130 further adds  that the same penalties shall apply to members of all jurisdictions guilty of violating the secrecy of deliberations. When the perpetrator of such acts is a civil servant or an agent of the administration, the penalty is increased to imprisonment for three months to five years and a fine of 20,000 to 240,000 francs. This penalty is accompanied by an additional penalty which consists of a prohibition to exercise any function or public employment for at least five years and at most ten years. Apart from these cases, any suppression, any opening of correspondence addressed to third parties, done in bad faith, shall be punished by the same penalties.

Article 247 of the same code penalises false denunciation and defines it as follows: “the intentionally false denunciation of a false fact, likely to expose the subject to an administrative sanction or judicial proceedings.”

Law No. 92-020 of September 23, 1992 on the Labor Code, contains no provisions protecting whistleblowers. However, dismissal is considered abusive when it is motivated by the “opinions of the worker (…)” (Article L.51).

Article L.293 of Law No. 92-020 concerns labour inspectors and is worded as follows: “Labour inspectors and controllers swear to fulfil their duties well and faithfully and not to reveal, even after leaving their service, trade secrets and in general, the operating processes they may become aware of in the exercise of their functions. This oath is taken before the Court of Appeal for inspectors, before the court of first instance for controllers. Any violation of this oath is punished in accordance with the provisions of the Penal code.

They must treat as confidential any complaint reporting a defect in the installation or a violation of legal or regulatory provisions.”

• The Central Office for the Fight against Illicit Enrichment (OCLEI) and Its Role in Receiving Reports of Illicit Enrichment

Since 2001, Mali has established the Central Office for the Fight against Illicit Enrichment (OCLEI). It is an independent administrative authority with financial autonomy established by Decree No. 01-067/P-RM of February 12, 2001.

Its mission is to implement preventive, control, and anti-illicit enrichment measures at the national, sub-regional, regional, and international levels. According to Article 4 of the decree establishing OCLEI, it is responsible for “(…) receiving complaints, reports, and complaints from individuals or legal entities relating to acts of illicit enrichment.” OCLEI may, based on serious, consistent, and reliable information in its possession, refer the matter to the Prosecutor of the competent Economic and Financial Pole.

However, no protection measures against retaliation are provided for whistleblowers, and OCLEI does not have the power to directly sanction those guilty of acts of illicit enrichment.

• Law on the fight against Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing and its Limited Protection for Informants

Finally, Mali has also adopted Law No. 2016-008 of March 17, 2016 on the uniform law against money laundering and terrorism financing (see 1.2). This law establishes, in Articles 83, certain protection against professional sanctions and civil and criminal proceedings for breach of professional secrecy to individuals or managers who make good faith suspicion activity reports. Article 95 of the law establishes protection for witnesses and anonymous testimony. However, this limited protection does not allow Mali to align with the standards of the UNCAC.

Thus, Mali does not have any specific legislative provisions for the protection of whistleblowers.

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