A licence to leak
A Touch Of Nokoko by Kofi Akumanyi
Speaking to the press afterwards, he said his acquittal means that "my judgement about what is in the national interest has been shown to have been right and the way ministers inside the Ministry of Defence conducted themselves in the early part of 1984 was against National interest." The Civil Service, he said, was, not in the last resort at the "beck and call" of Ministers.
In a Daily Mail comment on the issue, the point was rightly stressed that whatever Mr Clive Ponting's civic conscience may have dictated, the constitutional convention and practice dictate that Civil Servants cannot serve two masters equally. They must respect Parliament but their contractual obligation is to the government; to the Ministers of the crown. Anybody who does not like the arrangement is at liberty to quit. The question then arises. Should the government have prosecuted him?
Mrs Thatcher, the Prime Minister, characteristically, wanted the erring civil servant taught a lesson which would be an eye-opener to potential information leakers (that is if the Sarah Tisdall case had not hit the right chord). Unfortunately a British jury, vetted for good measure, and after a summing up by the Judge which clearly held ominous outcome for Mr Ponting, acquitted him.
This case is quite interesting from the African perspective for quite a few over there where even the simplest decisions affecting the tiniest corner of the realm are, by force of habit, usually bred out of ill-motive shrouded in secrecy, government ministers would never dream of prosecuting anybody in open court. There are well-trodden paths to disciplinary action against such traitors.
An archaic rule book popularly known as The General Orders (G.O.) drawn up by the colonial civil service nearly a century ago and which, in spite of the changes in the administrative set-up over the years, have rendered huge chunks of the G.O. clearly dysfunctional, are immediately conjured up and slapped on the offender. The highest form of disciplinary action is instant dismissal.
Going by the Clive Ponting case, however, the flanks of government ministers are now wide open for battering by employees who may question or disagree with decisions. Consider the following scenario. There has been another leak of vital information to the press about government's plans on the sinking pound sterling. The Prime Minister calls the Minister in charge and demands to know why he could not keep a tight lid on the department after the Ponting case especially since the instruction/directive has gone out to all Ministers to keep vital documents personally under lock and key.
INVESTIGATION
Mr Minister, very agitated, summons his Principal Secretary to think of a strategy to find out who did that and punish him. The preliminary investigations zero in on Ms Julie Fist, the confidential Secretary."Ms Julie Fist, I believe you've read the papers this morning and the information on government's plans about the pound has had quite a devastating effect on the financial market. What do you know about it?"
"Know about it, Sir? I know nothing about it."
"Well, let me put it this way. Even though no names were mentioned does the journalistic 'a source close to the ministry of finance' phrase suggest anything to you?" asks the Principal Secretary.
"I don't know what you're talking about. If you're suggesting that the news was leaked from here, then I suggest that you cross-examine everybody," she replies in a defiant tone.
"Ms Fist, I'm suggesting to you that in the scheme of things in this department and considering the new security measures we set up to eliminate leakages, you are obviously the best candidate for the job."
"I protest my innocence. I don't think I'll stand here and take this kind of smear tactics from anybody. I'm a faithful and hard working civil servant who would not dream of doing anything to jeopardise Her Majesty's Government unless … unless”
"Yes, unless what?" the two ask almost at once.
"Unless my conscience tells me that it's in the interest of the public to do so.”
"Is this an admission of guilt?"
"This isn't an admission of guilt but an acknowledgement of my responsibility towards the poor British worker whose pound in his pocket is shrinking while the government looks on unconcerned," she says.
"Well, Ms Fist, you're being offered a chance to resign your post or be fired for breach of the Official Secrets Act," the Principal Secretary announces solemnly.
"Resign or be fired, eh? You've got to be joking, Sir."
"Ms Fist, we don't want to make this a public issue, do we? There is no point in playing to the gallery again on this issue. The government has had enough humiliation so let's have your resignation letter by 12.00 pm today. The Minister who has been quiet all this time says and gets up signifying the end of the discussion.
"Well, sir, may I make one suggestion?"
"Yes, Ms Fist."
"Going by a previous case referred to in the legal circles as the State vrs Clive Ponting (1985), I would like to go to court and be tried by a jury!"
