ANONYMOUS WHISTLE BLOWER PLATFORM
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USER MANUAL
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If you find something is still not clear after reading this manual, kindly feel free to reach K.R.A through the following contacts for further clarification.
0203343342, 0202817700
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS ... 2 LIST OF FIGURES ... 3 SCOPE OF DOCUMENT ... 4 INTRODUCTION ... 5 DEFINITION OF TERMS ... 6CHAPTER I- THE LANDING PAGES... 7
SECTION A: Structure of landing page ... 7
SECTION B: Anonymous accounts and sign-in ... 8
SECTION C: Structure of post-sign-in landing page ... 10
SECTION C-2: User Account Menu ... 12
SECTION D: Whistle-blowing/Making a report ... 12
SECTION D-1: Selection of violations that apply, identification of possible fraudster(s) and involvement of the authority’s agents(see ‘collusion’ in glossary)... 13
SECTION D-2: Stepped description of violation(s) ... 15
SECTION D-3: Document uploads ... 16
SECTION D-4: Optional Reward ... 17
CHAPTER II- MANAGING PREVIOUS WHISTLES ... 18
SECTION A: Listing whistles and viewing a whistle of interest ... 18
SECTION B: Adding information in reference to a whistle of interest ... 20
SECTION C: Communication between the authority and the whistle-blower with respect to selected whistle ... 20
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LIST OF FIGURES
Figures
Description
Fig 1 The landing page before login
Fig 2 The login form
Fig 3 (a), (b), (c), (d) ,(e), (f) a). Activate creation of anonymous account b). Results of activating link
c). Generated anonymous code d). Password fields for user input e). Account creation is now allowed
f). Account is created with the credentials used
Fig 4 (a), (b) a). Means of reverting to login page
b). Sign in with anonymous credentials
Fig 5 Landing page of freshly created account
Fig 6 (a), (b), (c) a). Example of returning use
b).Illustration of user account menu on activating the white-on-black icon c). Illustration of how to get a new password
Fig 7 (a), (b), (c) a). section of form – identification of fraudster and/or collusion b). The violation category selector
c). Section of form - multiple violation selection
Fig 8 Section of form – location, financial paper trail and narrative
Fig 9 (a), (b) a). Section of form - file upload
b). list of uploaded files
Fig 10 Section of form - choice of award of reward
Fig 11 List of whistles blown
Fig 12 Viewing a previously blown whistle
Fig 13: Addition of qualifying information
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SCOPE OF DOCUMENT
This document discusses the primary user of the platform: the anonymous user. It goes through the various tools availed to this user to enable proper presentation of their claim(s) while guaranteeing quality of the information in question. The following items are described in details using screenshots and informative write-ups:
I. The creation of anonymous accounts II. Viewing previous claims
III. Whistle-blowing/ reporting a claim
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INTRODUCTION
There has risen a need to source crucial information about suspected violators, acting against the provisions of the K.R.A. act of 1995 (revised 2018) that regards to collection of revenue to the national government through taxation, while protecting the said sources from victimization by the former. In the current scenario, the Kenya Revenue Authority; also known as the authority in this document, receives such information through various channels as electronic mail, phone calls/call-ins, walk-ins (where an informer or group walks to a K.R.A. office and present their complaints to the authority) and postage. The aforementioned channels all compare; in that they contain significant amounts of information that can be used to identify the source, which can deter investigations. An alternate route that guarantees anonymity of such sources is required to mitigate this threat as well as avoid the possible “defeat-of-justice” by suspects.
In order to collect information as well as anonymise it, a system that enables remote accessibility to the authority with regards to the topic at hand, having non-traceable communication between the revenue authorities is designed. The goal is to have articles of information fed to it in a manner that associates them to a source, negating any sensitive identifiers in the process. The system uses a unique code presented to each anonymous user upon account creation, this is the user identification (User Id). This code is known only by the system and the anonymous informer, and is generated at random by the system upon creation of the said account.
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DEFINITION OF TERMS
K.R.A. act – Refers to the K.R.A. act No.2 of 1995 (revised 2018) that establishes the Kenya revenue
Authority in the republic of Kenya.
Authority – Refers to the Kenya Revenue Authority established under the K.R.A. act.
Tax Law – Refers to the Income tax act of the republic of Kenya which took effect from 1st January of 1974 (cap 470; revised Feb. 2017).
Tax Procedures (act) – Refers to the Tax Procedures Act of 2015 (revised 2019).
Source/Informer/whistle-blower – An individual, group of individuals or organization that presents
unverified information about a possible violation of the Income tax act to the authority. In this document ‘WB’ has also been used to mean whistle-blower.
Suspect – An individual, group of individuals or organization suspected of contravening the tax law
with the aim of illegally avoiding filing of tax returns to the republic of Kenya through the authority.
Whistle/claim – An unverified article or articles of information presented to the authority regarding a
suspect. It may also be referred to as a report
Channel – A means of delivery of information to the authority.
Anonymity – The state of an informer remaining unknown and untraceable by the authority, fraudster
or other parties having access to a/the channel(s).
Reward – A sum of currency issued by the authority upon successful prosecution of a article of
information and collection of tax on the same; under the tax procedures act (part VII – 39, part IX, part XII), as a token of appreciation; enabled by the K.R.A. cap 5 A.
Platform – Refers to the anonymous web-based whistle-blowing platform.
Whistle-blowing (and associated/implied wording) – The act of presenting an unverified claim about a
fraudster through the platform.
Collusion – The act of turning a blind eye by an authority’s agent with the aim of enabling violation of
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CHAPTER I- THE LANDING PAGES
This chapter discusses the structure and functions of landing pages upon access by browser and later, login.
SECTION A: Structure of landing page
There are two categories of users; first time users and already existing users. A first time user creates an account while an already existing user uses existing credentials to log into the system.
Label marked A, is used to login users having anonymous accounts; while item B is used to create anonymous accounts as shown on figure 1.
As indicated in the Figure 2, an already existing anonymous user will sign in using their previously-issued user id (anonymous code) and password.
Fig 2: The login form
The anonymous system-generated user id User’s password A B
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SECTION B: Anonymous accounts and sign-in
The platform requires that its users, though anonymous, have or create accounts. This is prompted by activating the link C, directly below the ‘login’ button.
The results of such are illustrated in Figure 3 (b) where a prospective whistle-blower is informed of the procedures of creating an anonymous account D; upon understanding the procedure he or she confirms their knowledge of them by activating the button E which generates an anonymous user code in the
user id sign in form field F below with password fields G and confirmation of password field H
(Figure 3 c , d) requiring the user to fill in their preferred password guided by the passwords policy of the authority.
C D E
(a) Activate creation of anonymous account (b) Results of activating link Fig 3
F
(c) Generated anonymous code (d) Password fields for user input
Fig 3
9 Upon filling the password and password confirmation fields G and H, the button I activates Figure 3 e and allows the user to create an anonymous account with the only identifier being that which was issued in F, this is the User-Id.
A confirmation message J with the disabling of I ensues as indicated in Figure 3 f.
(e): Account creation is now allowed (f) Account is created with the credentials used
Fig 3 I
J
10 It should be noted that the User Id presented is required during login and must be remembered or
written down for future reference. Upon clicking the link I as indicated below, the user is redirected to the sign-in page where the code issued and password used in the account creation is used to sign in. Use the interface in Section A Figure 1 to initiate a sign-in activity, with the credentials generated as above. To do this, activate the link labeled ‘proceed to login’ as shown in figure 4. Note that the option to create an anonymous account is deactivated.
SECTION C: Structure of post-sign-in landing page
Upon successful login, a landing page consisting of the items labeled K, L, M and N is displayed as shown on figure 5. These are guiding stages into making a report/blowing a whistle.
Deactivated button ‘I’
Link to revert to sign-in/landing page
(a) Revert to ‘sign in’ or landing page (b) Sign in with anonymous credentials
Fig 4
Fig 5: Landing page of freshly created account
M
K
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K – A welcome message
L – Navigation sidebar consisting of menus as indicated
M – A portion of the whistle-blowing form containing fields used to present desired information N – A list of any prior work regarding whistle-blowing
In the case of a fresh account that is a first time user, N is blank; otherwise a list of all previously blown whistles as in Figure 6. Actions available in this portion of the page are discussed further in
CHAPTER II of this document.
Fig 6 a: Example of returning user (anonymous user with prior work on display in ‘N’)
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SECTION C-2: User Account Menu
Figure 6 b illustrates the user account menu. The menu enables the whistle blower to change his/her
password. On activating the button V, Figure 6 c below is displayed to allow a user to change password.
Figure 6 c illustrates the process of acquiring a new password. Upon filling the current password, new
password and password confirmation fields, the ‘submit’ button activates and allows the user to acquire
the new password that has been entered.
SECTION D: Whistle-blowing/Making a report
Whistle-blowing consists of eight stages or subsections as illustrated in the subsequent pages. They are arranged in the order in which information offers some form a sequential story-like-narrative.
Fig 6 b: Illustration of user account menu on activating the white-on-black
icon
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SECTION D-1: Selection of violations that apply, identification of possible
fraudster(s) and involvement of the authority’s agents
(see ‘collusion’ in glossary).
The figure 7a indicates a form that is currently filled by walk-ins to collect information about a suspected violator. It guides on various fields of information that the authority may need so as to investigate and charge a fraudster.
The violation selector (I) showed above and listed below (Figure 7 b), allows the selection of one or multiple violations (Figure 7 c) that satisfy a claim’s intended narrative. This is a mandatory field and hence a whistle-blower must choose one or more from the list provided. If he is not sure of the category the offence falls under, then he may put it under ‘other’.
i
ii
Fig 7 a: section of form – identification of fraudster and/or collusion
14 In Figure 7 (c), the selector allows the inputs O; which loads items on selection, from the drop-down list activated by R with more custom tools labeled P and Q. They execute the following actions upon activation with a mouse:
O – A value selected from a drop-down list activated by R
P – Removes a specific undesired violation from the list of selections. Q – A clearing tool removing all items from the violation selections list R – A tool allowing view of violations available.
An identifier of the suspect and categorization of violation is used indicating the mandatory fields in red/maroon. The category of a fraudster chosen is differentiated during analyses; using the ‘PIN’ field. PIN numbers belonging to an individual vary from those of a company/organization by their prefixes hence distinguishing the two. In order to include conflict of interest or collusion, section (iii) in Figure
7 (a) allows for inclusion of information of the authority’s agent.
Fig 7 b: The violation category selector
Fig 7 c: Section of form - multiple violation selection
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SECTION D-2: Stepped description of violation(s)
These steps are represented in field labeled with roman numbers iv, v and vi is used for the Whistle-blower to provide information about the report at hand.
Subsection 4 on time and physical location of the suspect.
Subsection 5 works with any financial transaction channels involved (if known).
Subsection 6 is where a narrative describing events in sub-section 1 (violations) and possible
amount of currency involved. The Whistle-blower is free to describe in his/her own words. This is a compulsory/mandatory field.
iv
v
vi
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SECTION D-3: Document uploads
While this is an optional stage, a whistle blower having files that can be used as evidence can use the tool as in Figure 9 a. Documents of various formats can be uploaded at this point.
Click to choose a file or files to upload
Uploaded files will expand and list here
Button to associate files with the whistle being blown
Fig 9 a: Section of form - file
upload
Fig 9 b: list of uploaded
files
Example of document entry
Figure 9 - b illustrates a list of documents that were all
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SECTION D-4: Optional Reward
The KRA act provides for a reward incase the report done generates revenue. However, the Whistle-blower needs to know that selecting the reward option will mean that later on his/her personal information such as bank details will be required for payment purposes, leading to loss of anonymity. This however, can be mitigated by the user abandoning their account and creating a new one; this act being at their option. Figure 10 shows a dialogue box through which a WB is able to decide on the reward option.
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CHAPTER II- MANAGING PREVIOUS WHISTLES
This chapter discusses possible actions on previously blown whistles by the user. The WB is able to add information and also check for feedback from the Authority’s side.
SECTION A: Listing whistles and viewing a whistle of interest
This is a list of all whistles ever blown by a whistle blower under their respective anonymous account in order of the date they were blown. Latest blown whistles appear at the top of the list. This appears as shown on figure 11.
The list consists of a minimal number of fields selected from all information available.
NO. – This is a numeric value that numbers the entries as they are listed on the form.
Violation type – A field representing the violations associated with each whistle. These were
selected during the initial whistle-blowing activity.
Whistle code – This is a number that the platform uses to identify a whistle and associate it
with an anonymous user. It serves little -if any- purpose to the whistle blower.
Date reported - The date the whistle was received by the platform.
19 From the list, one may use the search button or the view labelled S and U respectively to search the list for entries using any criteria a whistle blower prefers, and view or expand a whistle respectively.
Activating the button search button (U) yields a view, as in Figure 12
The items labeled represent various features of this view that are intended to convey information and/or actions that can be performed on the viewed whistle.
The WB can carry out actions as labeled V, W and Y
V – ‘Add Additional Information’ – This is a button that yields Figure 13. It allows for the
addition of information that qualifies or negates the contents of whistle in question. Here the WB can even upload a document to support the report initially made.
W – This area shows and allows communication between a whistle blower and the authority
concerning this whistle. It provides for a dialogue which only originates from a KRA officer possibly dealing with the report made.
Y – This is an activity marker which the system appends and uses to communicate the status of
the whistle being viewed.
V
W
X Y
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SECTION B: Adding information in reference to a whistle of interest
Unlike the whistle blowing activity which is described in CHAPTER I, whereby several categorized whistle fields are populated with data, Figure 13 above only provides a narrative and file upload fields as indicated. Additional information is then associated with the current selected whistle upon submission and appears as part of the whistle’s information depicted in Figure 12 under the ‘additional
information’ field.
SECTION C: Communication between the authority and the whistle-blower with
respect to selected whistle
In order to communicate anonymously with the authority, the platform provides a messaging mechanism. This mechanism is designed to work only in context of the currently viewed whistle. Through it, messages communicated do not show neither the sender’s nor the receiver’s location or device used. The view is as shown on figure 14a.
Fig 13: Addition of qualifying
information
C 1
Fig 14 a: Chatting controls
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SECTION D: Viewing and modifying documents
A document viewer which works in context of CHAPTER I Section D-3 is provided to facilitate viewing of a whistle in question. The said viewer takes the form shown in Figure 15 a below:
The viewer consists of the features:
E1 – A document counter that lists the number of documents uploaded in context of the whistle
in question.
F1 – A document-viewer-closing button.
G1 – A contextual menu (partially faded by default) allowing download of the current viewed
document in the view.
H1 – Document viewer viewing area.
I1 – A list of thumbnails showing each document as a thumbnail.
J1 – A thumbnail representing a partial section of the document in question. E 1 F 1 G1 H1 I1 K1
Document name/title bar
Fig 15 a: Document viewer structure
22 In order to view a document of interest, a thumbnail regarding the document or the name of the document as represented in each thumbnail is activated. This way the WB is able to view documents that he/she has previously uploaded in the platform in regard to a whistle/report he has made.
Through the described processes in this write-up a whistle blower is able to maneuver through the system and besides making a report, he/she can manage whistles/reports made and also maintain communication with the revenue authority.
If you find something is still not clear after reading this manual, kindly feel free to reach K.R.A through the following contacts for further clarification.
[email protected], 0203343342, 0202817700
Looking forward to getting useful intelligence information from you!
