An Ubuntu/Hunhu Appraisal of the Ethics of Whistleblowing

The study appraises the highly contested concept of whistleblowing in the field of business ethics through the philosophy of ubuntu/hunhu. To unpack some of the controversies around whistleblowing, the following questions are raised: What is whistleblowing? Is it different from backbiting or mere reporting or wrongdoing? What are the positive and negative implications of whistleblowing? Is it an alien concept among the Shona? In the process of grappling with these questions, the book unravels the nature of whistleblowing and ubuntu/hunhu. All this is done through desk interrogation of both Occidental and African ethicists like DeGeorge, Larmer, James, Buchholz and Rosenthal, Mkhize, Gade and Mangena, just to mention a few. Developing from the Shona concept of kurova bembera, this work shows that whistleblowing is not an alien concept among the Shona. In fact, the study brings to the fore the benefits of whistleblowing in safeguarding African collectivism, and dynamism in ubuntu/hunhu acculturation as it appraises the hybridised practice of whistleblowing. It also shows the fact that the ubuntu/hunhu ethics hinges on the ancestry worldview, with the departed forefathers of the Shona being the authors, implementation policing agents, and guardians of the ethical values, norms, and traditions. Although this book the merits and moral compatibility of whistleblowing and ubuntu/hunhu among the Shona, it also acknowledges the moral dilemmas faced by whistle blowers. To this end, an evaluation of the whole book and recommendations are proffered at the end of this work, chief among the recommendations being the constitutionality of whistleblowing and globalisation