The centrepiece of Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s Presidential Election campaign and that of the General Election campaign of his National People’s Power (NPP) was to combat corruption and hold wrongdoers accountable through credible investigative and judicial processes.
It is now more than six and a quarter months respectively after the Presidential and General elections. This time period is more than sufficient to demonstrate whether he is sincere in combating corruption. President Dissanayake and his NPP have dismally failed in this task.
In the context of some ‘open and shut’ cases of egregious corruption being ignored, what we see are some political lightweights being remanded for relatively run-of-the-mill misdemeanours and two or three members of the Rajapaksa family (the family of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa) being summoned to the Criminal Investigation Department for what appears to be ‘fishing expeditions’.
Alleged Rajapaksa corruption
Instead of mere talk at public rallies, if Dissanayake is serious about getting to the bottom of alleged corruption under the Mahinda Rajapaksa regime, all he has to do is demand from Opposition Parliamentarian Dr. Harsha de Silva that he makes available to the authorities the cupboard full of files that he publicly claimed with responsibility to have of outrageous corruption in the construction of expressways, illicit drugs and money laundering in locations such as St. Kitts and Nevis, The Seychelles and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. This is a person who at the very least is projected as the finance minister in the event of a Samagi Jana Balawegaya Government.
To keep the focus on the alleged Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW) duty fraud, many other instances of alleged corruption will be overlooked for now.
Alleged vehicle duty fraud
It is well known that one of the most corrupt institutions in the government is the Department of Customs. This does not mean that everyone there is corrupt.
In this context, I refer to a scandalous case of corruption where the Customs Department has been dragging its feet for more than a decade.
I can do no better than quote the news item in a State-owned newspaper on 9 June 2018, captioned ‘Customs begins probe into undervalued BMWs’. “Customs has resumed an investigation into an alleged massive fraud amounting to Rs. 16 billion when importing 1,675 BMW vehicles. This is considered as the largest-ever customs fraud in Sri Lanka. The alleged fraud had taken place by presenting forged documents to the Customs after concealing the real value of 1,675 BMW vehicles. The vehicles worth more than $ 25,000 are not exempt from taxes. But, tax exemptions had been received for BMWs worth over $ 30,000 each by furnishing fictitious invoices which placed the value well under $ 25,000 when Chulananda Perera was functioning as the Director General of Customs.”
It is nothing short of shocking that there has been no closure and accountability for this case which originated more than a decade ago.
Implications
The lethargy and refusal of the Customs, State agencies such as the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption and indeed successive governments to touch this case even with a barge pole must be viewed in the context that it will prise open the hotbed of corruption in Sri Lanka which involves politicians, bigwigs in the private sector, senior bureaucrats and professionals, particularly auditors and lawyers.
I know readers that will scream that I have mentioned the media despite quoting the media. The ground reality is that in some instances such as in the alleged BMW vehicle duty fraud, some mainstream media, although compelled to report, for the most part, will not undertake the required follow-up due to business reasons which include advertising and patronage. Is not this case originating more than a decade ago and still festering, evidence of this?
Should not the first order of business in this alleged fraud be the naming of the recipients of the 1,675 BMW vehicles? Is it not such parties that create the demand that led to terrible corruption in this country? This is precisely what is avoided by all and sundry – even politicians of different shades.
Of course the naming of the politicians and public officials who have sold their permits must follow after naming those creating the demand.
AKD’s Secy. holds the key
Dissanayake has a golden opportunity to demonstrate his anti-corruption credentials through his Secretary Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake who has been a long-standing senior officer at the Customs. According to the Presidential Secretariat website, he commenced his Customs career in 1997 as an Assistant Superintendent. A privately-owned newspaper reported on 24 September of last year (2024): “Dr. Kumanayake was yesterday appointed as the Secretary to the President, the Government Information Department announced. Dr. Kumanayake had previously served as the Deputy Director of the Customs, focusing on research areas such as corruption and integrity in the Customs”. I reiterate: “Deputy Director of Customs, focusing on research areas such as corruption and integrity in the Customs”.
It will be seen that Dissanayake’s Secretary is well-placed to unravel this case which a State-owned newspaper described on 9 June 2018 as the “largest-ever Customs fraud in Sri Lanka”. Under no circumstances am I stating that the Secretary to the President has any involvement in this alleged fraud.
Conclusion
The ‘naming’ of the recipients of the 1,675 vehicles and the politicians and public officials who have sold their permits will go a long way to stop corruption in its tracks. I have a hunch that this will not happen. It is persons such as these recipients who create the demand for most of the terrible corruption in Sri Lanka. It is hoped that affluent non-governmental organisations such as Transparency International Sri Lanka, Verité Research and Advocata Institute who talk the hind legs off a donkey on good governance and a corruption-free country will pick up the baton and put pressure on Dissanayake to make good on his promise to combat corruption. I have a hunch that this too will not happen.
(The writer is a public interest activist)
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The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of this publication