Sri Lanka Foreign Ministry is a den of Thieves
A peculiar characteristic of the administration of the Sri Lanka Foreign Ministry is protecting and rewarding the thieves and culprits. It has become a standard administrative policy of this very important institute. As a result of this practice, many have been able to evade from being prosecuted and facing disciplinary actions. We have been able to disclose the shocking details of a recent case involved in a lady Foreign Service officer, who has been appointed as the Consul General of Sri Lanka in Frankfurt.
She belongs to the bach of Foreign Service Officers recruited in 1998. This officer, whose name is Madurika, was first accused of helping an LTTE member to get a forged Sri Lanka driving license while she was working at the Sri Lankan Embassy in Italy. When this misdeed was revealed, she was recalled to Sri Lanka, and the CID launch an investigation into this incident. However, as her father was a former Police officer, she was able to slip from the law. At the official level, no investigation was conducted on this incident.
She is known as a trouble maker. She was found using foul language on a veteran journalist of the Observer Newspaper and immigration officer of the British High Commission in Colombo. Later, while she was working in Frankfurt, she was accused of physically assaulting a lady officer at the Consulate, and there had been a police investigation. She suddenly left Frankfurt with the support of her lover at the Foreign Ministry to avoid any possible arrest. It is learnt that the Frankfurt Police has considered this incident a severe violation of human rights. The case is still pending.
When she was working at the Sri Lankan Embassy in Vienna, she involved in two serious crimes. One is beating and deprivation of basic needs of her domestic helper. She had physically and verbally abused her domestic helper, and no food was given to the helpless women. She has requested her domestic helper to pay Rs 100000 to arrange her ticket back home. However, the return ticket was provided by the Foreign Ministry. Mother of the domestic helper had made a complaint at the Foreign Ministry against Madurika; no action was taken. However, this matter was highlighted in the European media.
She was married to a German national. With the support of her German husband, Madurika had rented an apartment from a relation of her German husband, when she was working at the Sri Lanka Embassy in Austria. The government of Sri Lanka paid her house rent. She had overpriced the rental and pocketed out Euro 500 each month. Although this crime was exposed, the then Secretary of the Foreign Ministry has just asked her to repay the money she illegally took, and no departmental action was taken against her. According to the government regulations it is wrong to request her to pay back without proper investigation. Paying the illegally taken money back to the government is clear evidence her acceptance of the crime.
At the Ministry, she was often blamed for neglecting her work. Therefore, she has been transferred from one division to another at the Foreign Ministry. No senior officer is ready to work with her. She was also accused of misusing official vehicles. On one occasion, she has kept the official car on the weekend at a swimming pool from the morning to evening. She attempted to assault the driver for entering the details of her swimming pool visit in the log book. If she misused the official vehicle, the Ministry should have asked her to pay for fuel and driver. The Ministry just turned the blind eye on her misconducts.
Now she is heading towards Germany to assume duties as the Consul General. In many ways, this appointment seems to be irregular. She is going to work at a place where she has a police complaint. If the prosecutor decides to take up the case again, it would be a great embarrassment for the government of Sri Lanka. As a Consul General, she has no immunity for criminal matters. Second, details of her misbehaviour are known to the Sri Lanka community in Germany and the authorities. It would affect conducting of her official activities, and obviously, she would not be considered as a decent individual. Third, as her husband is a German national, there would be a question of her impartiality when discharging her duties. We have certain doubts about her loyalty to Sri Lanka.
As highlighted in the opening remarks of this article, it appears to be very easy for any culprit of the Foreign Ministry to stay away from legal and disciplinary actions against them. On the other hand, this displays the sheer negligence and lack of proper administrative mechanism at the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry to detect such culprits and take appropriate action.
