{"id":181201,"date":"2017-08-19T00:35:04","date_gmt":"2017-08-18T19:05:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=181201"},"modified":"2017-08-23T12:09:36","modified_gmt":"2017-08-23T06:39:36","slug":"anti-corruption-band-wagon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/anti-corruption-band-wagon\/","title":{"rendered":"Anti-Corruption \u201cBand Wagon\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\"><strong>By <a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Gamini+Jayaweera\">Gamini Jayaweera<\/a> &#8211;<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_147453\" style=\"width: 160px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Gamini-Jayaweera.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-147453\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-147453\" src=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Gamini-Jayaweera-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Gamini-Jayaweera-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Gamini-Jayaweera-50x50.jpg 50w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-147453\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gamini Jayaweera<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">These days almost all the media outlets in Sri Lanka are up in arms about the alleged corrupt activity performed by none other than the former Foreign and Lotteries Board Minister, Mr. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Ravi+Karunanayake\">Ravi Karunanayake<\/a>. Numerous TV programmes, news headlines, editorials in the newspapers, and articles written by academics and others focus their attention on this alleged illegal activity carried out by one of the powerful ministers in the \u201cYahapalanaya\u201d government. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">Why are we surprised about this story? Why are we raising our voices, giving our opinions, and condemning Ravi K. about this dirty business which is practiced by most of our elected representatives? Are we witnessing an \u201cabnormal\u201d activity carried out by one of our top politicians? Haven\u2019t we heard of such stories in the past? Have these politicians got any moral shame and moral fear for these disgraceful activities? Don\u2019t they find some excuses, and lies to justify their repeated unforgivable corrupt activities? Once they get caught they resign (not all) claiming that they have done the \u201chonourable\u201d thing! Then a few months later they get reappointed as Ministers or Advisers to the government with all the perks and benefits. After Ravi. K\u2019s alleged corruption charges, the public is dismayed by the hypocritical behaviour of most politicians of the last regime who have allegedly ransacked the public funds. The way they speak in public about dishonest and fraudulent conduct of the members of the present regime is laughable.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Previous Regime &amp; \u201cJoint Opposition\u201d <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p5\"><span class=\"s1\">It is in the public arena that most of the Ministers and MPs from the previous regime and the so called \u201cJoint Opposition\u201d are being investigated for alleged inappropriate use of public funds, fraud, and criminal activities. During the last regime, the alleged fraudulent and corrupt activities were part and parcel of their daily life. No actions were taken against these alleged fraudsters because of their relationship with the leader and his henchmen. Let us refresh our memories about some of the ongoing cases, cover ups and charges against the members of the previous regime and their relatives. Some of these cases can be summarised as follows:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"li4\"><span class=\"s1\">COPE Reports under Mr. DEW Gunasekera <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"p7\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>COPE Interim Report 2013<\/b> &#8211; The three biggest losers, the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), Mihin Air and Ceylon Fisheries Corporation (CFC) accumulated losses amounting to <b>Rs 9.7 billion<\/b> during 2013.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p8\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>COPE 2014<\/b> \u2013 The COPE report listed a series of major transactions with inadequate accountability.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p10\"><span class=\"s1\">No investigations were conducted to find out how they lost so many billions of public funds and why there were inadequate accountability.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p10\"><span class=\"s1\">Is it fair and reasonable to assume that the public funds had been mis-used for personal gains?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"li12\"><span class=\"s4\">Avant-Garde Case \u2013 <\/span><span class=\"s5\">Alleged<\/span> <span class=\"s1\"><b>Rs.11.4 billion<\/b> unlawful loss to the government.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"p10\"><span class=\"s1\">Case Ongoing against former Defense Secretary Mr. Gotabaya Rajapakse &amp; others.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"li12\"><span class=\"s4\">Divi Neguma Case \u2013 <\/span><span class=\"s5\">Alleged <\/span><span class=\"s1\">misappropriating <b>Rs.36.5 million<\/b> of Divi Neguma funds.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"p10\"><span class=\"s1\">Case Ongoing against former Economic Development Minister Mr. Basil Rajapakse &amp; another.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"li13\"><span class=\"s6\">Money Laundering \u2013 <\/span><span class=\"s1\"> Alleged involvement in money laundering amounting to <b>Rs.45 million. <\/b><\/span><span class=\"s7\">Investigations Ongoing against Mr. Namal Rajapakse MP<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"li15\"><span class=\"s5\">Distributing \u201cSil\u201d Clothes Case \u2013 <\/span><span class=\"s8\">Alleged<\/span> <span class=\"s9\">wrongfully spending <b>Rs. 600 million<\/b> from Telecommunication Regulation Commission <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>during presidential election. <\/span><span class=\"s1\">Case Ongoing against former Secretary to the Ex-President Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse &amp; another<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"li12\"><span class=\"s7\">Sathosa Case \u2013 <\/span><span class=\"s1\">Alleged loss of <b>Rs.50 million <\/b>of public funds for deploying 150 Sathosa employees for political activities.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"p16\"><span class=\"s1\">Case Ongoing against former Minister Johnston Fernando and others<\/span><span class=\"s9\">. <\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"li5\"><span class=\"s11\">Purchase of a House \u2013<\/span><span class=\"s9\"> Alleged illegally acquired <b>Rs.27 million<\/b> to purchase a house in Colombo.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s1\">Case Ongoing against former Sports Minister Mr. Mahindananda Aluthgamage.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"li19\"><span class=\"s1\">Threatening and Demanding Money \u2013 <\/span><span class=\"s9\">Alleged threatening and demanding <b>Rs.64 million <\/b>from a businessman.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s1\">Case Ongoing against Mr. Prasanna Ranatunge &amp; others.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"li19\"><span class=\"s1\">Laundering Black Money \u2013 <\/span><span class=\"s9\">Alleged <b>Rs.521 million<\/b> ill-gotten money to purchase land. <\/span><span class=\"s1\">Case Ongoing<\/span> <span class=\"s1\">against Mr. Yositha Rajapakse &amp; his grandmother.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"li19\"><span class=\"s1\">Fraudulent Share Transaction \u2013 <\/span><span class=\"s9\">Allegedly misappropriating <b>Rs.21 million<\/b> share transactions. <\/span><span class=\"s1\">Case Ongoing<\/span> <span class=\"s1\">against Mr. Udaya Gammanpila MP &amp; another.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"li21\"><span class=\"s7\">SLTB Bribery Case \u2013 <\/span><span class=\"s1\">Allegedly causing <b>Rs.3.2 million<\/b> losses of public funds to pay the Deputy Chairman as his salary and other benefits. <\/span><span class=\"s7\">Case Ongoing<\/span> <span class=\"s7\">against former Transport Minister Mr. Kumara Welgama.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"p15\"><span class=\"s1\">The above is a small number of cases which are being investigated and filed charges against the former Ministers and MPs of the previous regime and their close relatives. Reports indicate that nearly 100 of such cases are being investigated.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p15\"><span class=\"s1\">According to the press reports during the presidential election campaign, one of the former SLFP ministers who is now a powerful member of the \u201cJoint Opposition\u201d had publicly stated \u201c<b>The Government is ours, the army is ours, the police are ours, therefore it is according to what we want that this election is conducted\u201d<\/b>. Was the former Minister indirectly indicating that the public funds were also their property and hence they could do whatever they would like to do without any checks and balances or accountability? <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p15\"><span class=\"s1\">So, why the \u201cBig Fuss\u201d over Ravi K.\u2019s alleged corruption charges? It appears that this alleged corruption charge against Ravi K. is no better or worse than the ongoing alleged corruption cases against the members of the previous regime.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p19\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>\u201cYahapalanaya\u201d <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p15\"><span class=\"s1\">The Hon. President Mr. Maithreepala Sirisena and the Hon. Prime Minister Mr. Ranil Wickramasinghe came to power about 2\u00bd years ago promising to eradicate corruption in the government sector and apply the rule of law impartially for such violations committed by anyone irrespective of their political affiliations. The public were also assured that the \u201cYahapalanaya\u201d government would investigate and prosecute the alleged fraudsters of the previous regime who ransacked the public funds for personal gains. But the reality which we are experiencing today is very much different to the promises given by the Hon. President and the Hon. Prime Minister during the election campaign. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s11\">It appears that the Hon. President is unable to exercise his authority against some of the SLFP Ministers in the current regime appointed by himself, for alleged corruption charges during their involvement with the previous regime. The public has not forgotten the <\/span><span class=\"s1\">revealing statement made by a former SLFP Minister during the Presidential election campaign in November 2014. According to the press reports (the Daily Mirror and Colombo Telegraph in November 2014), the former Minister supporting the former President Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse had said that <b>the UPFA members had amassed dirty lucre as much as they needed and\u00a0as such there is no need for them to continue the\u00a0plundering.<\/b> Accordingly, he had appealed to the voters not to defeat the former President by voting for Mr. Maithreepala Sirisena. It is ironic that the former SLFP Minister has been appointed as a powerful Minister in the \u201cYahapalanaya\u201d government by the Hon. President.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">Though the disgraceful activities of the previous regime as described by the former Minister are illegal, it appears that there is an element of truth in his statement when one reflects on the allegations against the members of the \u201cYahapalanaya\u201d government. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p19\"><span class=\"s1\">Though the alleged corruption charges under Maithree \/ Ranil regime are comparatively less than the previous regime, the alleged mis-use of public funds and protection of culprits by some members of the \u201cYahapalanaya\u201d are disgraceful and totally unacceptable. The protectors of the culprits and the \u201cdealers\u201d should be exposed and they should be brought to face justice as soon as possible. The allegations against some members of the current regime can be summarized as follows:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"li12\"><span class=\"s7\">Treasury Bond Scam \u2013 <\/span><span class=\"s1\">Alleged malpractices in the Issuance of Treasury Bonds during 2015\/16 causing approximately <b>Rs. 10 Billion<\/b> losses to the Sri Lankan Government over a 30-year period. The accused former Governor of the Central Bank was appointed by the present Prime Minister Mr. Ranil Wickramasinghe. <\/span><span class=\"s7\">Case Ongoing.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"li13\"><span class=\"s7\">Penthouse Rental Charges \u2013 <\/span><span class=\"s1\">Alleged payment of approx. <b>Rs.9 million<\/b> paid by a private company called Walter and Rowe (Director Arjun Aloysius who is allegedly involved in the Bond Scam) on behalf of the former Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake as rental charges for a super luxury apartment. <\/span><span class=\"s7\">Case Ongoing<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"li13\"><span class=\"s7\">Weliamuna Inquiry \u2013 <\/span><span class=\"s1\">Reports indicate that more than 2 years ago <b>Rs.3.5 million<\/b> public funds had been paid by the \u201cYahapalanaya\u201d for the Sri Lankan Airlines Welimuna Inquiry which revealed shocking details of corruption causing <b>billion of rupees<\/b> loss to the Sri Lankan Airlines.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><span class=\"s7\">Any Actions by the \u201cYahapalanaya\u201d?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"li13\"><span class=\"s7\">Tender Irregularities \u2013 <\/span><span class=\"s1\">It is alleged that there are number of tender irregularities still taking place after 2\u00bd years of \u201cYahapalanaya\u201d administration. The Hon. President\u2019s own words were more than 50% of Sri Lanka\u2019s public contracts were tainted by bribery and corruption. President said that he knew the people who were involved in this dirty business but he was unable to reveal the names. <\/span><span class=\"s7\">Why protect these fraudsters from prosecution?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"li13\"><span class=\"s7\">Protecting the Fraudsters<\/span><span class=\"s6\"> \u2013 <\/span><span class=\"s1\">It is alleged that powerful ministers in the current regime who have strong ties with some of the accused members of the previous regime, are protecting the alleged swindlers by \u201cdoing deals\u201d with them. It appears that the Ministry of Justice does not show any urgency to bring these alleged culprits to face justice. <\/span><span class=\"s7\">Are the \u201cdealers\u201d destroying our democracy? <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"p27\"><span class=\"s1\"><span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><span class=\"s1\"><b>Anit-Corruption \u201cBand Waggon\u201d<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p15\"><span class=\"s1\">It appears that most of the alleged fraudsters from the previous regime and the current administration are being protected by the responsible politicians in the \u201cYahapalanaya\u201d because of the Party Politics, Social Class, \u201cOld School Tie\u201d, and Wheeling &amp; Dealing. <\/span><span class=\"s5\">What we are witnessing today is nothing but a bunch of politicians <\/span><span class=\"s1\">from the previous and current administrations <\/span><span class=\"s5\">who have allegedly plundered the public money for personal gains are pretending to be the \u201cChampions\u201d of the Anti-Corruption movement in Sri Lanka for political gains. <\/span><span class=\"s1\">Most of these politicians who have jumped into the Anti-Corruption \u201cBand Wagon\u201d have lost their self-respect and moral dread. It reminds me of the famous Sinhala saying that <b>&#8220;<\/b><\/span> <span class=\"s14\"><b>\u0dbd\u0dd0\u0da2\u0dca\u0da2\u0dcf<\/b><\/span><span class=\"s1\"><b>\u00a0<\/b><\/span><span class=\"s14\"><b>\u0db1\u0dd0\u0dad\u0dd2\u0d9a\u0db8<\/b><\/span><span class=\"s1\"><b>\u00a0<\/b><\/span><span class=\"s14\"><b>\u0db8\u0dc4\u0db8\u0dd4\u0daf\u0dbd\u0dd2<\/b><\/span><span class=\"s1\"><b>\u00a0<\/b><\/span><span class=\"s14\"><b>\u0d9a\u0db8\u0da7\u0dad\u0dca<\/b><\/span><span class=\"s1\"><b>\u00a0<\/b><\/span><span class=\"s14\"><b>\u0dc0\u0dd0\u0da9\u0dd2\u0dba<\/b><\/span><span class=\"s1\"><b>\u00a0<\/b><\/span><span class=\"s14\"><b>\u0dbd\u0ddc\u0d9a\u0dd4\u0dba\u0dd2\u0dbd\u0dd4\u201d<\/b><\/span><span class=\"s1\"><b> <\/b>(\u201cBeing shameless is worse than getting the post of the Chief Mudaliyar\u201d).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p5\"><span class=\"s1\">I conclude this brief article with the following stanzas from Dhammapada:<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p28\"><span class=\"s1\">Easy is the life of a shameless one <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p28\"><span class=\"s1\">who is as impudent as a crow, <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p28\"><span class=\"s1\">back-biting and presumptuous, <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p28\"><span class=\"s1\">arrogant and corrupt.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>(Mala Vagga. 244)<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p28\"><span class=\"s1\">Hard is the life of a modest one <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p28\"><span class=\"s1\">whoever seeks purity, <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p28\"><span class=\"s1\">is detached and humble, <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p28\"><span class=\"s1\">clean in life and reflective. (Mala Vagga 245)<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":151,"featured_media":147453,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,46,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-181201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-constitutional-reforms","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Anti-Corruption \u201cBand Wagon\u201d - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/anti-corruption-band-wagon\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Anti-Corruption \u201cBand Wagon\u201d - 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