Rs. 30 m car to Chichi from Bud Harsha of Negombo!

Wednesday, 21 January 2015 

Harsha de Silva alias Bud Harsha of Negombo, who is infamous for budding vehicles, gave a ETR car worth Rs. 30 million to former president Mahinda Rajapaksa’s youngest son Rohith alias Chichi. He gave the gift as a mark of gratitude for getting clearance for 40 containers containing cars in parts he had brought from Japan with the payment of a minimum customs duty.

Chichi has used the gifted car by using the fake number-plate WP-KE 1391. This number-plate was not issued by the Department of Motor Traffic. The vehicle met with an accident, and Harsha obtained a Rs. 03 m accident compensation, through Rohitha, using the engine and chassis numbers of the car. Now, this car has disappeared without a trace.

Corruption: Are There Adequate Laws To Hold Rajapaksa Accountable ?

By R.M.B Senanayake –January 21, 2015

R.M.B. Senanayake

Are there adequate laws to hold the Ex-President and Ministers accountable for financial malpractices

Although there is much hype about corruption and the need to bring to book the corrupt Ministers, the Ex-President and his family; under what laws can they be financially accountable? In the case of fraud or embezzlement of funds there is the Penal Code and the common law offences. But is there a law governing or regulating financial management or financial accountability in the State?

The prevailing Financial Regulations are those coming down from colonial times when the scope of government was much less and where the power to spend money was entirely with the Secretaries (called Permanent Secretaries then). They were designated the Chief Accounting Officers of the Ministries which constituted a cluster of departments engaged in closely related functions. The Heads of the Departments were designated as Accounting Officers for their departments. The Ministers were not referred to in the Financial Regulations. The financial powers which included the decisions to buy goods and services and award contracts were vested only with Secretaries and Heads of Departments. They were expected to call for competitive tenders’ or quotations before making any purchases of goods or services. The tender procedure required them to select the best tenderer. These officials were permanent officials of the public service, selected on merit and not political appointments by the President or the Minister. So they had the independence to act according to the principles laid down in the Financial Regulations. The situation changed after 1956 and the constitutional changes of 1972. Effective power even in financial matters came to be exercised by the Ministers and the President instead of the Secretaries who were now their creatures. I remember once when I served in the former Ministry of Food the then Permanent Secretary K. Alvapillai writing a minute to the then Minister J.R Jayewerdene that financial matters relating to rice purchases were not his function but that of the Permanent Secretary.Read More