Axing whistle-blowers the yahapalana way
19 January 2017
A Colombian scribe, in a discussion on media freedom, once, said that in his country a journalist was free to write anything. While others were staring at him in total disbelief, he added with a grin, "And, anyone else is free to kill him for writing that!" We were reminded of this wisecrack, on receiving news of the sacking of Lanka Coal Company (LCC) Chairman Maithri Gunaratne, who recently raked his political masters and their bureaucratic lackeys over the coals for their involvement in a mega tender racket. He revealed in a media interview how a questionable coal deal which even shook the conscience of the Supreme Court had been approved by the Cabinet purportedly on the Attorney General’s advice; a foreign company which had caused a loss to the tune of five billion rupees to Sri Lanka got the tender to supply coal. An outspoken Gunaratne put himself in the cross hairs of the corrupt elements within the government ranks. Anyone is free to blow the whistle and the yahapalana government is free to sack him for doing that!
Joint Opposition firebrand, Wimal Weerawansa, has been remanded for allegedly misusing vehicles and, thereby, causing a loss of Rs. 90 million to the state while he was a minister of the Rajapaksa government. But, a company under a cloud has not only got away with wrongdoing which cost the state Rs. 5 billion but also secured a tender to supply coal again! Nobody has been arrested. The yahapalana government seems to consider millions bigger than billions!
Henceforth, no state official will dare utter anything on government corruption!
We have been made witness to another Kekille judgment. King Kekille, according to legend, was intellectually challenged and always punished the innocent party in a dispute. His crafty hangers-on made the most of his mental handicap. His ministers once cheated him out of money, claiming they wanted to buy warm clothes for a pack of jackals, whose howling had disturbed him on a chilly night and caused him to ask why the poor animals were crying so plaintively. Disturbed by the sound of jackals howling again a few days later, he demanded to know why the poor animals were still crying only to be told that they were not complaining but thanking him for the new clothes! The modern-day Kekilles also fall for the wiles of their ministers and lackeys as their mishandling of the coal racket has revealed. Therefore, the jettisoning of the LCC chief as well as directors has come as no surprise.
Tolerance of dissent and criticism is not a sign of weakness. That is essential for the political wellbeing of a government. It was conspicuous by its absence in the Rajapaksa administration and that was why its rivals could bring it down like the Wall of Jericho by making a lot of noises. The self-proclaimed champions of good governance should have heeded Gunaratne’s revelation and protests and ordered a probe into his allegations if they had not benefited from the coal racket. The sacking of the LCC directorate shows that they have something to hide.
The government has cited a report by the Auditor General as the reason for axing Gunaratne et al, but an inquiry should have been held first with the officials concerned given an opportunity to tell their side of the story—audi alteram partem. It looks as if the brand of good governance the incumbent government claims to practise were devoid of the principle of natural justice.
What the government needs to be told is that the practice of axing whistle-blowers is antithetical to good governance which it claims to uphold. The ruling politicians and their lackeys seem to say, "Let’s line our pockets, blow yahapalanaya."
The sacking of Gunaratne has dented what remains of the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government’s yahapalana image irreparably. The yahapalana leaders dissolved Parliament in 2015 to prevent a COPE (Committee on Public Enterprises) report being put out on the Central Bank bond scams before the general election in that year. They did their damnedest to rubbish a damning report the Auditor General’s Department issued on the bond scams, but in vain. Having failed to prevent the COPE from finding the bond thieves guilty last year they sought to spoil its report with footnotes thankfully without success again. Now, the COPE findings have been referred to the Attorney General who approved the aforesaid questionable coal deal which even the apex court has frowned on.
The much-touted yahapalanaya has reached the high-water mark with the sacking of an intrepid whistle-blower! A fish rots from the head down and this may explain why yahapalanaya is stinking so unbearably. Good governance, what crimes are committed in thy name!
A Colombian scribe, in a discussion on media freedom, once, said that in his country a journalist was free to write anything. While others were staring at him in total disbelief, he added with a grin, "And, anyone else is free to kill him for writing that!" We were reminded of this wisecrack, on receiving news of the sacking of Lanka Coal Company (LCC) Chairman Maithri Gunaratne, who recently raked his political masters and their bureaucratic lackeys over the coals for their involvement in a mega tender racket. He revealed in a media interview how a questionable coal deal which even shook the conscience of the Supreme Court had been approved by the Cabinet purportedly on the Attorney General’s advice; a foreign company which had caused a loss to the tune of five billion rupees to Sri Lanka got the tender to supply coal. An outspoken Gunaratne put himself in the cross hairs of the corrupt elements within the government ranks. Anyone is free to blow the whistle and the yahapalana government is free to sack him for doing that!
Joint Opposition firebrand, Wimal Weerawansa, has been remanded for allegedly misusing vehicles and, thereby, causing a loss of Rs. 90 million to the state while he was a minister of the Rajapaksa government. But, a company under a cloud has not only got away with wrongdoing which cost the state Rs. 5 billion but also secured a tender to supply coal again! Nobody has been arrested. The yahapalana government seems to consider millions bigger than billions!
Henceforth, no state official will dare utter anything on government corruption!
We have been made witness to another Kekille judgment. King Kekille, according to legend, was intellectually challenged and always punished the innocent party in a dispute. His crafty hangers-on made the most of his mental handicap. His ministers once cheated him out of money, claiming they wanted to buy warm clothes for a pack of jackals, whose howling had disturbed him on a chilly night and caused him to ask why the poor animals were crying so plaintively. Disturbed by the sound of jackals howling again a few days later, he demanded to know why the poor animals were still crying only to be told that they were not complaining but thanking him for the new clothes! The modern-day Kekilles also fall for the wiles of their ministers and lackeys as their mishandling of the coal racket has revealed. Therefore, the jettisoning of the LCC chief as well as directors has come as no surprise.
Tolerance of dissent and criticism is not a sign of weakness. That is essential for the political wellbeing of a government. It was conspicuous by its absence in the Rajapaksa administration and that was why its rivals could bring it down like the Wall of Jericho by making a lot of noises. The self-proclaimed champions of good governance should have heeded Gunaratne’s revelation and protests and ordered a probe into his allegations if they had not benefited from the coal racket. The sacking of the LCC directorate shows that they have something to hide.
The government has cited a report by the Auditor General as the reason for axing Gunaratne et al, but an inquiry should have been held first with the officials concerned given an opportunity to tell their side of the story—audi alteram partem. It looks as if the brand of good governance the incumbent government claims to practise were devoid of the principle of natural justice.
What the government needs to be told is that the practice of axing whistle-blowers is antithetical to good governance which it claims to uphold. The ruling politicians and their lackeys seem to say, "Let’s line our pockets, blow yahapalanaya."
The sacking of Gunaratne has dented what remains of the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government’s yahapalana image irreparably. The yahapalana leaders dissolved Parliament in 2015 to prevent a COPE (Committee on Public Enterprises) report being put out on the Central Bank bond scams before the general election in that year. They did their damnedest to rubbish a damning report the Auditor General’s Department issued on the bond scams, but in vain. Having failed to prevent the COPE from finding the bond thieves guilty last year they sought to spoil its report with footnotes thankfully without success again. Now, the COPE findings have been referred to the Attorney General who approved the aforesaid questionable coal deal which even the apex court has frowned on.
The much-touted yahapalanaya has reached the high-water mark with the sacking of an intrepid whistle-blower! A fish rots from the head down and this may explain why yahapalanaya is stinking so unbearably. Good governance, what crimes are committed in thy name!
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