Ravi K’s Brothers-In-Law Here, There And Everywhere

December 19, 2015

Nepotism a la the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe combine continues to flourish and expand with the latest example being the brother-in-law of Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake being appointed as Chairman, Development Lotteries Board, an institution that comes under the direct supervision of Karunanayake.

Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake

This is not a first for Karunanayake however. He shows a penchant for appointing brothers-in-law to top government positions. Earlier he appointed brother-in-law Bangsa Jayah, a former Police Sergeant as the Managing Director of Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation (SLIC). By way of giving credence to this gross abuse of position, Karunanayake said that SLIC, under Jayah, had shown significant growth in revenue since January 2015.

Turning accepted management wisdom on its head, Karunanayake told Lanka Business Online, “it’s better to appoint a go getter rather than an inefficient professional” before trotting out the aforesaid growth numbers.

Subsequently however Karunanayake’s attempt to appoint another brother-in-law and school mate at Royal College, Gihan Malalasekara, to the post of Sales Manager Sri Lankan Airlines (UK), hit a road block.

Colombo Telegraph earlier exposed the crafty maneuvers to slot Malalasekera into this lucrative role within the national carrier Sri Lankan Airlines in UK.

Malasekara’s wife Rosie tried to resurrect her hubby’s chances by posting in social media a virtual character certificate of the would-be Sales Manager which included emotional salutations of his virtues as a husband, father, sportsman and human being. She drew more flak than sympathy from other Colombo Telegraph commentators.

Undeterred by all this, Karunanayake appointed Romesh Jayawardena, the ‘step brother’ of his wife Melarine, as Chairman, Development Lotteries Board.

Romesh Jayawardena’s father Mana Jayawardena, it is reliably learnt, was married to the Finance Minister Karunanayake’s wife Melarine’s mother even as he was courting her.Read More