By
Upul Joseph Fernando
When head of the Bribery Commission Nelum Gamage, during the administration of President D. B. Wijetunga was carrying out investigations into accusations of bribery regarding a chief officer of the Railway Department and powerful figures of the United National Party (UNP), she received a message from DB. What DB told Nelum Gamage was to immediately halt the investigations into the chief at the Railway and the powerful UNP figures and close the files. Nelum Gamage was an honest government official.
What she did was to include in the file of the chief at the Railway Department the written request by President DB. Due to this D.B. Wijetunga got angry. Nelum Gamage’s mother Yasa De Lanerolle was a very trusted friend of the Opposition Leader, Madame Sirimavo Bandaranaike.
Powerful members of the UNP went in queues to carry tales to Wijetunga that she was under Madame’s control. However, Nelum Gamage was appointed to that post, while R. Premadasa was President. Premadasa knew of the close relationship between her mother and Madame Bandaranaike. On one instance Yasa received injuries in a bomb attack which targeted the Madame. Even then she did not give up on Madame.
Knowing this, Premadasa appointed her daughter to the post of head of the Bribery Commission subsequent to reading her character certificate, while in government employment. However, due to the influence of Wijetunga, she could not serve further at the Bribery Commission. D. B. Wijetunga removed her from her post as head.
During the election battle of Chandrika Kumaratunga’s People’s Alliance (PA) in 1994, it was Nelum Gamage who became the main slogan. The People’s Alliance including Chandrika promised that the Bribery Commission would be further strengthened and she would be reinstated when they came into power and that Gamage was removed because Wijetunga brought to bear influence on her in order to cover up bribery and corruption in his government.
It was only her name that had been proposed for a post in the Manifesto of the People’s Alliance. The UNP which feared the campaign that was being taken round the country by the People’s Alliance using Nelum Gamage’s name as a slogan, promised that if they came back to power they would assign more powers to the Bribery Commission.
Gamini Dissanayake
The People’s Alliance won the 1994 general election. The then Minister of Justice G. L. Peiris presented a Bill assigning more powers to the Bribery or Corruption Commission and to legalize it as an independent institution. This was the first Bill that the People’s Alliance presented as soon as it gained victory at the 1994 general election. At that time the Opposition Leader was Gamini Dissanayake. An important discussion took place within the UNP as to whether they were going to support this Bill or not.
Knowing that this Bill was being presented in order to corner them, in fear that by going against the people they would displease them, the UNP extended its support for the Bill. Once the Bill was adopted and the Commission was established Chandrika appointed Nelum Gamage to the post of Director General of the Commission. She took over her duties and launched investigations into accusations of corruption against Parliamentarians and Ministers of the 17-year UNP Government.
In the initial investigations there was an accusation against Gamini. As soon as an accusation regarding the misuse of a vehicle was submitted, Gamini became scared. He launched a mud-slinging campaign against Nelum Gamage. Gamini accused that she was the daughter of a friend of Madame and that Chandrika was using her to attack him. Nelum Gamage was not shaken by that.
She began to investigation accusations of corruption, one by one, against former Members of Parliament and Ministers. The former MPs and Ministers became all worked up. They understood that if they did not do away with Nelum Gamage it would be the end of their political lives. They surrounded Nelum Gamage and began attacking her.
It was Nelum Gamage’s husband whom the thieves of the UNP who engaged in that got hold of. When complaints were received by the Bribery Commission in connection with a close powerful political ally of Madame Bandaranaike and Anura Bandaranaike with whom Chandrika did not get on very well, Nelum Gamage launched an investigation. What this powerful political figure did was to get hold of Nelum Gamage’s husband and attempt to halt investigations on him. The thieves of the UNP used this above mentioned politician in order to corner Bribery Commissioner Nelum Gamage.
Not only that they also managed to get hold of certain members of the Commission and begin investigations into the activities of the husband of Nelum Gamage. At that time Nelum Gamage was abroad. As soon as she returned to Sri Lanka she realized that other members of the Commission had filed accusations of corruption against her and her husband. She went to Court against certain members of the Bribery Commission.
Chandrika immediately took steps to prevent the main political slogan of the People’s Alliance at the 1994 General Election and the first project that the PA launched subsequent to coming into power, becoming a joke. She asked Nelum Gamage to leave her post as the Director General, which she did. The Bribery or Corruption Commission became inactive. The UNP thieves gained victory and drank to their success.
“Is the same thing happening today…?”
It seems so!
Mahinda Rajapaksa
Dilrukshi Wickramasinghe is a close friend of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. Due to that friendship Ranil should not have appointed her to the post of Director General of the Bribery Commission. However, Ranil did propose her name. President Maithripala Sirisena granted his approval, too. It is possible that Maithri did so, on instructions given by Ranil.
During the presidential election the main slogan of Maithri’s Alliance was bribery and corruption. People defeated the Rajapaksa family including Mahinda Rajapaksa because they could not tolerate thefts further. As a result, as soon as the 2015 presidential election was won, Maithri and Ranil made arrangements to make the Bribery Commission independent.
The reason was both Maithri and Ranil had realized that this was the main project required in order to run the government. However, when Maithri became the leader of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and those who were responsible for corruption in Mahinda’s Government began gathering round Maithri, there were obstructions to the Bribery Commission. At that instance Maithri, in order to take the power of the party into his own hands, had to protect the corrupt ministers of the Rajapaksa Government. Some gathered round Maithri in order to cover up their deeds of corruption.
On the other hand, once Maithri took over the leadership of the SLFP, Ranil feared that Maithri would get together with Mahinda and topple his government. As a result of this fear, Ranil began covering up the corruption charges against Ministers who were responsible for corruption during the Rajapaksa Government days, who had gathered around Mahinda and Basil in order break up Maithri and Mahinda getting together. What descended on Dilrukshi’s head was the clash of Maithri strengthening his leadership in the SLFP and Ranil’s attempt to break up the SLFP and protecting thieves in competition.
As much as the gang of UNP thieves threw mud at Nelum Gamage, the gang of SLFP thieves began slinging mud at Dilrukshi because she became an angel against bribery and corruption. It was similar to her dressing up as one of the Charlie’s Angels who went around capturing thieves, which was a popular television series in Hollywood. Of course the angels in Charlie’s Angels know that they are actually Charlie’s Angels. Where Dilrukshi went wrong was she did not make a choice as to whether she was Ranil’s Angel or Maithri’s Angel! Anyhow similar to when Nelum Gamage who engaged in a hunt to find UNP thieves, was hunted herself, the thieves of the SLFP hunted Dilrukshi who came hunting in search of them.
Courtesy:Ceylon Today