Silencing a Whistleblower

This book examines how insufficient policies can lead to the alleged abuse of power in organisations. When independent ethical structures and processes are missing or weak, practices of abuse, misconduct and cover-ups can easily arise at the leadership level. Even organisations that specialise in good governance are no exception, as illustrated by this case study on arguably the world’s most influential anti-corruption NGO, Transparency International (TI).

Written by the former Managing Director of Transparency International, this book chronicles its ethical breakdown over a 5-year period starting in 2015. By comparing TI’s whistleblower policies with its internal whistleblower practices, it demonstrates how the organisation gradually became trapped in a vicious cycle of secrecy, corruption and lies.

The author chronologically tracks TI’s practices, drawing on 12 whistleblower complaints filed with TI since 2017, as well as communications with TI, international donor agencies, and other international civil society organisations from 2015 to 2020 to do so. The chronological format aptly reveals the snowball effect that ethical weaknesses can create over time, as well as the emotional warfare that whistleblowers are typically subjected to. The unfolding chronology also shows what it means to be a whistleblower for an organisation that avoids public transparency, reporting on and scrutiny of its own practices.

"​Former Managing Director Cobus de Swardt has written a compelling story of abuse of authority and unethical conduct at the apex of the very organization expected to safeguard accountability in governments and corporations around the world. As Silencing a Whistleblower reveals, Cobus de Swardt’s disclosures were and are a milestone in the accountability world because of the institutional hypocrisy he exposed."Beatrice Edwards, former Executive Director of the Government Accountability Project (GAP)

“Cobus de Swardt’s must-read account of his travails in Transparency International (TI) as he tried tirelessly to blow the whistle on leadership abuses is a tragic, yet vitally important warning.  Even those organizations avowedly dedicated to openness, accountability and integrity, must be constantly vigilant to ensure that they do not fail their most able and dedicated employees.”
Frank Vogl, Co-Founder and former Vice Chair, Transparency International 

“Cobus de Swardt — one of the world’s major anti-corruption fighters — has written a sad book. For many of us Transparency International was a model of transparency and integrity. Angel Gurria, the Secretary General of the OECD, was right, when he said, that (the TI we knew) was the world’s ethical conscience. With the Board elected in 2014, however, this proud organization experienced a dramatic ethical breakdown. An essential part of this book is about the firing of TI‘s longtime MD, and how TI denied him its self-proclaimed rights of a whistleblower. What is particularly tragic is that the organization has even since not managed to right the wrong.  I am grateful that Cobus de Swardt found the courage to tell this story, because we need a strong TI in this world where everything, and it seems even the pioneers of transparency, are undermined by corruption.”
Mark Pieth, Professor of Criminal Law and Criminology, Basel University and former Chair of the OECD Working Group on Bribery in International Business Transactions from 1990-2013

“As a Co-founder of Global Witness I have worked with TI for over twenty-five years to help tackle the scourge of corruption, and I continue to be a fan of TI’s skill, dedication and collaborative approach. The NGO movement is no more immune to a whole host of problems than any other sector; however the onus is on us, as charities and not for profits with a public mission, to deal with those problems quickly, transparently and fairly as soon as we know about them. Cobus’ book tells the story of a ‘palace coup’ marked by a series of seemingly rather inept Machiavellian manoeuvres at board level within the TI Secretariat, followed by a cover up which breached TI’s own policies, especially with regard to the treatment of whistle-blowers. The cover up continues and is the only reason this book needed to be written. We need TI more than ever before, but we need a TI that lives up to the high standards it champions. I hope the board of the TI Secretariat will now take the remedial action they should have taken several years ago.”
Patrick Alley, Co-Founder of Global Witness

“It was not an easy decision for me to endorse this book. Some may argue that Cobus de Swardt‘s  meticulous and grim account of hypocrisy and wrongdoing in TI-S will hurt the organization I served for 18 years. I have concluded  that it is precisely in TI’s best interest that this sad story should be told and read. Good organizations must learn from their mistakes however upsetting this process is. TI owes a great deal to Cobus de Swardt for undertaking this unrewarding work with high personal sacrifices.”
Miklós Marschall, various Senior Executive positions in Transparency International from 1999-2016

“Cobus de Swardt provides a very moving and in-depth account of a fundamental dissonance in Transparency International between its projected image of accountable governance and the manner in which he was treated as a whistleblower. In essence Transparency International is not what it purports to be and in dealing with its own whistleblower, it has made a mockery of the high standards of compliance it expects of global institutions. Read this book to discover the intricate details of the ethical crisis in Transparency International.”
Fred Hendricks,  Emeritus Professor,  Rhodes University

"Transparency International (TI) has been the global anti-corruption organization for nearly three decades. Its effectiveness is critically tied to it leading by example. It is against this background that Cobus de Swardt's whistleblower account is so upsetting. It speaks to his unwavering integrity — and TI leadership's lack thereof. The world needs Transparency International now more than ever before. But only with a major reform of its ethical infrastructure will it be able to ‘walk the talk’ and be a trusted force for greater accountability and moral leadership.”
Christiaan Poortman, former Director of Global Programmes, Transparency International

“As the long-standing head of Transparency International, Cobus de Swardt, directed the work of TI in more than 100 countries. He also developed an international reputation as a leading authority in the global fight against corruption. One cannot overstate the impact he has had on the lives of millions of people worldwide.  That is why I read with great trepidation his book, Silencing a Whistleblower.  I could not put the book down; it reads like a riveting mystery novel of high intrigue. From one page to the next, I could not believe what was happening. I was totally engrossed as such troublesome events unfolded, particularly the TI Board’s total disregard for even the most commonly accepted norms of behaviour.  What is truly marvellous about this book is that it chronicles a unique tale about courage in the face of the intractable arrogance of people in power. Unfortunately, I was under the mistaken impression that the very purpose of TI was to combat such corruption; instead, we learn it now lies at the very heart of the organization. What a pity!”
Mark E. Meaney, Ph.D., Scholar in Residence, Social Responsibility and Sustainability Faculty Director, UN Programming, Leeds School of Business, University of Colorado at Boulder

Cobus de Swardt has served as (global) Managing Director of Transparency International for 10 years, and prior to that, as an academic at universities on four continents. Throughout his career he has sought to combine his professional expertise with social activism; his TEDx speech is an example. As an activist, he was imprisoned in South Africa under the Apartheid Detention laws. He learned a great deal from the experience, also about his weaknesses and the need to critically reflect on his own actions. Taken together, his professional expertise, personal experiences and his deep belief in social justice and moral integrity are what led him to write this book.