Trawling for sprats in ocean of corruption

Monday 31st January, 2022

A principal has been arrested in Panadura for taking a bribe to admit a student to his school. It will be interesting to know from the education sector trade unions that launched a protracted strike coupled with street protests and won a massive pay hike for teachers what action they will take to rid school admissions of bribery and corruption. The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) deserves praise for making the aforesaid arrest. But, worryingly, it lacks such high-octane performance where complaints against powerful politicians are concerned. It cannot even file cases properly when it is compelled to initiate legal action against politicians. The recent release of Minister Johnston Fernando and two others from a corruption case serves as an example. Is it that the so-called national anti-graft commission is not capable of carrying out its duties and functions properly?

No wonder Sri Lanka has been sliding down in the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) rankings. Transparency International has said that over the past 10 years Sri Lanka’s CPI score (37) has remained relatively the same, with the lowest score of 36 being reported in 2016 and the highest score of 40 in 2012.

Corruption is one of the main reasons why development continues to elude Sri Lanka, which has remained a developing country since Independence. If successive governments had taken action to curb, if not eliminate, bribery and corruption, this country would have achieved its development goals easily and become an attractive foreign investment destination like Singapore; it would not have experienced a forex currency crisis.

Former Chairman of the COPE (Committee on Public Enterprises) Prof. Charitha Herath has revealed that some state-owned ventures are doing their darnedest to avoid scrutiny by the Auditor General and Parliament. The COPE, on his watch, thwarted an attempt by Litro Gas, owned by the State, to position itself outside the purview of Parliament. Litro fought a legal battle to compass its end at a cost of as much as Rs. 20 million, Prof. Herath has said. If Litro has nothing to hide, why should it try to avoid parliamentary scrutiny?

The COPE has always been a thorn in the side of all governments and, therefore, political leaders resort to hostile actions against it. In 2015, the then President Maithripala Sirisena, under pressure from the UNP, which is now on a campaign against bribery and corruption, dissolved Parliament, effectively foreclosing the submission by the COPE headed by D. E. W. Gunasekera of a report on the Treasury bond scam. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa prorogued Parliament last month, causing the dissolution of the COPE, and the Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) chaired by Prof. Tissa Vitharana. The government stands accused of having engineered the removal of Prof. Herath and Prof. Vitharana as the heads of the vital parliamentary watchdog committees, for acting independently. Whether it is guilty as charged will be seen when the COPE and the COPA are reconstituted.

Losses that public institutions suffer must be recovered from those who are responsible for them, Prof. Herath has said, stressing the need for tougher laws to that effect. This is what Parliament is there for. Unfortunately, the National Audit Bill was watered down before being ratified by the very politicians who came to power in 2015 by promising to usher in good governance. The JVP strove to have more teeth given to the new law, but in vain.

A rebel group in the SLPP has taken upon itself the task of protecting state assets. The Opposition is full of MPs who would have the public believe that their raison d’etre is to fight bribery and corruption. Let these legislators be urged to get together and campaign for robust legal mechanisms to cleanse public institutions. Most of all, they must fight hard to ensure that the investigations the COPE and the COPA had undertaken before their dissolution due to the prorogation of Parliament will not be derailed.