Mis-Use Of Public Funds By State Officials

By Gamini Jayaweera –OCTOBER 11, 2018

Gamini Jayaweera

The appeal petitions filed by the former Presidential Secretary Mr. Lalith Weeratunge and the former Telecommunications Regulatory Commission Director General Mr. Anusha Palpita, challenging the Colombo High Court judgement of three years imprisonment in the “Sil-Redi” case is fixed for consideration on 12 October. The judgement of the “Sil-Redi” case and the announcements by the Hon. President and the Auditor General of unprecedented bribery and corruption in the public sector organisations, I feel that the time is right for us to refresh our memories about the “Sil-Redi” case and discuss the strange position that has been taken up by the government about this “cancer” which is killing our society. 

President and The Auditor General’s Accusation

The Hon. President Mr. Maithreepala Sirisena addressing a public meeting of police and anti-corruption activists held in Colombo in December 2016 said that he was regretted to inform the nation that more than 50% of Sri Lanka’s public procurement contracts were tainted by bribery and corruption. He further stated that he knew the people who were involved in this dirty business, but he was unable to reveal the names because of organised strikes by the corruptors. Strange Decision!

After nearly two years of the Hon. President’s statement about bribery and corruption by state officials, the Auditor General, Mr.Gamini Wijesinghe addressing a workshop organized by the Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) in June 2018, stated that more than half the state officials would be in jail if they were dealt in the way former Presidential Secretary, Mr. Lalith Weeratunge was dealt with and sentenced to prison on charges of misusing state funds because most of them spent funds without the approval of their superiors. It implies that no charges against the culprits. Hair-Raising Decision!

It appears that no valid reasons have been given for not taking appropriate actions against the culprits. If the Hon. President and the Auditor General have enough evidence to press charges against the alleged officials, then there is only one genuine possible explanation for not taking appropriate action by the government. It could be that in most cases the government has no intention of punishing the culprits because it may reveal the names of their close political colleagues and supporters who are involved in this dirty business. However, after nearly two years of the Hon. President’s accusation of bribery and corruption in the public sector, the Auditor General’s recent statement confirms that hardly any progress has been made to curtail the mis-use of public funds by the state officials.   

Let us examine briefly the role of the public administrators and the legal ingredients that are required to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the state officials are involved in unlawful activities knowing that their actions are deliberate breach of public duties and abuse of public trust.  

Professional Administrators

Sri Lanka Administrative Service (SLAS) consists of professional administrators who have undergone extensive training in all aspects of processes and procedures of the administrative activities of the Sri Lanka government. These experienced skilful public officers work very closely with the President, Prime Minister, and the Ministers to develop and implement policies of the government in power. The SLAS officers should be politically neutral and provide their impartial service to the government of the day, maintaining the professional integrity of the SLAS. As I understand, the Secretary to the President is the de facto head of the SLAS and all other Secretaries and officials in the service must comply with his lawful orders. It is also true to say that the Secretary to the President has a duty to comply with the lawful orders given by the President. 

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