Foreign Ministry appointments: Master Forger to Brussels and Master Joker to Turkey

Jan 06, 2016

Lanka News Web exposed the Yahapalana government gimmicks in making political appointments to Sri Lankan Missions.

We revealed that Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera has made unsuitable and questionable service appointments to Sri Lankan Missions overlooking suitable and deserving officers. Investigations carried out by Lanka News Web have shown that appointments of Maxwell Keegal to Brussels and P.M. Amza to Turkey are questionable and have raised many eyebrows in the Ministry.

There are certain requirements to be fulfilled in the Foreign Service to get the promotions.

One is the proficiency in a foreign language. Keegal who joined the Ministry in 1998 was allocated French language. He was not able to fulfil it for many years.

Suddenly in 2010 he sent a copy of certificate when he was serving in New York supposedly from Alliance Frances in London which indicated that he had passed the required examinations in 2008. This copy apparently certified by the then Ambassador to the UN in New York Dr. Palitha Kohona.

Although these certificates are routinely accepted as genuine the Ministry asked the London High Commission to check on it.

Then it was found out that the certificate was a forgery and Keegal has never attended the Alliance Frances.(Ironically this inquiry made by P.M. Amza when he was serving in London)

On an inquiry from New York it was revealed that Dr. Kohona's signature also has been forged. That means Maxwell Keegal has done two forgeries.

With Keegal's forgeries coming to light some of the senior Foreign Ministry officials set the plan in motion to safeguard him. It was spearheaded by Shenuka Seneviratne, then Additional Foreign Secretary with whom Keegal worked in London High Commission carrying tales to her and the then Foreign Secretary Romesh Jayasinghe.

It was well known that Keegal was sent to New York straight from London to look after the daughter of Jaysinghe who was studying in New York at that time. When Romesh Jayasinghe came to visit his daughter in New York he used to stay at Keegals apartment.

Instead of reporting the matter to the Police as it was two criminal offences, Seneviratne and Jayasinghe got round Sajin Vaas and convinced him to have a domestic disciplinary inquiry.

Suitable letters were sent to mislead the Public Service Commission and a disciplinary inquiry was held. Keegal was demoted and allowed to continue in the Foreign Service. In a country where a poor student who picks up a coconut from a neighbours garden is taken to Magistrates courts as it is considered a criminal offence the Foreign Ministry has acted in a very high handed manner in treating two forgeries which are non bailable criminal offences as a mere matter of indiscipline. This shows the indiscipline of the Foreign Ministry officials.

Keegal became a Rajapaksa faithful for his survival. Seneviratne appointed Keegal to head the BIDTI (Bandaranaike International Diplomatic Training Institute)  when she became the Foreign Secretary. She even went to the extent of placing him, a mere Deputy Director, in charge of training the new entrants to the Foreign Service.

After the change of government on January 08 the new Foreign Secretary Wagiswara removed Asanga Abeygunasekara, son of Ossi Abeygunasekara and appointed Keegal to head LKIISS (Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute of International Relations and Strategic Studies)

It became a good source of income for Keegal as he gave lectures without attending to his Ministry work at these institutions and also went to give lectures to outside institutions as the head of BIDTI and LKIISS. According to reliable information he does not even now has a Masters degree in International Relations.

After sometime Wagiswara and Samaraweera decided to send Keegal to Brussels overlooking more senior deserving officers and disregarding that he had previously served in Canberra, London and New York, all considered to be grade 1 stations. Not bad for a master forger who should be behind bars and not representing Sri Lanka.

P.M. Amza who is considered a very incapable and a mediocre officer by his superiors and batch mates is considered to be joker in the Ministry because of the stupid things he used to do when he was doing a desk job. But he has proved that he is very good at going behind those in power and marketing himself.

As he could not do a desk job properly he was put to the Protocol Division.

He capitalised on this position going behind politicians and became one of Sajin Vaas Gunawardena’s lackeys. Through Sajin Vaas first he got the post of Chief of Protocol. He never acted according to his post. He was like the ‘palace joker.’ But it was smart on his part to be like that and because he managed to get lot of favours.

It was Amza who taught Sajin Vaas how to go round the world at Government expense and abuse state funds without getting caught. It was Amza who started the advance parties visits which was not there before that.

By doing all the biddings of the Rajapaksas he managed to get posted to Chennai with the Ambassador rank. There he and his wife interfered in the construction of the Chancery building for obvious reasons. From then he had three more postings for a continuous period of about 10 years in London and as the Ambassador in Germany and Brussels.

During Rajapaksa era all political appointees were asked to come to Sri Lanka to work for Rajapaksa campaign. Amza is the only career diplomat who came to Sri Lanka to campaign for Rajapaksa. He came down for the 2010 Presidential Election campaign from London at Government expense and was given free accommodation at Jaic Hilton. According some of his colleagues he has addressed rallies in the eastern province campaigning for Rajapaksa.

From Brussels he wanted to go on another posting or at least get an extension. But Sajin Vaas refused saying that it was time for him to serve in Sri Lanka like others.

He sent an email blasting Sajin to some of his close colleagues. A copy of the email was given to Sajin and inquiries conducted and Amza was recalled immediately and sent to the ‘pool.’ He spent about three months without being given any work. 
After January 08 election he immediately changed colours and claimed to be a ‘politically victimised.’

A foreign Ministry senior official told Lanka News Web ‘all of us don’t mind being politically victimised if that means we can have about 10 years of continuous posting and then be in Sri Lanka not doing any work for a few months while being paid the salary and then get plum positions again and go on another round of postings.’

In the Yahapalana government he was handpicked by Wagiswara to be Chief of Protocol again with the approval of Samaraweera. This was a golden opportunity for him to travel the world on advance visits and Presidents visits earning lot of money. Now he is teaching the ropes to the Yahapalana Government how to enjoy life at state cost while doing the palace joker role once again. Foreign Ministry sources say that he is more out of the country than the Foreign Minister. Now he has got round Samaraweera and got posted to Turkey which also covers seven other countries.

While war winning General Sarath Fonseka was sent to prison and his civic rights removed for allegedly doing politics in uniform, a person like Amza who has not done anything for the country other than marketing himself well and enjoying the facilities has been rewarded by the Yahapalana Government with a plum posting for doing politics for the Rajapaksas.

Why the people of Sri Lanka voted the Yahapalan Government into power was to make sure that Rajapaksa time abuse of power is put to stop. But Mangala Pinsisri Samaraweera who shouted himself hoarse against the Beeshnaya and Dooshanaya of the Rajapaksas instead of taking action against who has done wrong seems to be rewarding the misfits in the Foreign Ministry sideling the professional straight forward officers.

It is time for Samaraweera to open his eyes and do the correct thing or he will become just another Foreign Minister who ruined the Foreign Ministry.