Dr. Harshana Suriyapperuma 

Director and Chief Operating Officer
Almas Group

Q: How can Sri Lanka improve transparency and accountability in state institutions?

A: Our state institutions have been politicised and abused by politicians in power and their appointees for many decades. As heads of these institutions are appointed by elected representatives, it’s important that people without a history of engaging in or supporting corruption are elected as parliamentarians.

Thereafter, introducing processes across the board with digitised monitoring mechanisms is key. The country needs to invest in process digitalisation to reduce manual interventions, increase efficiency and minimise chances for corruption.

Procurement needs to be conducted through e-procurement platforms, providing opportunities for qualified businesses to compete – a key indicator of an economic democracy. With this, we can move towards a culture of transparency when spending taxpayers’ money.

Financial discipline and accountability will improve by providing visibility into state institutions’ financial conduct through a publicly accessible digital platform while connecting scattered state services through a centralised system.

It’s unfortunate that in the prevailing culture, details of transactions such as negotiations for free trade agreements or debt restructuring with creditors – for which citizens foot the bill – are not shared with the public in a timely manner.

The people need to pass a mandate for a group of uncorrupted politicians to do away with the current opaque culture where politicians are above the law and can act with impunity.

Q: What mechanisms are necessary to hold public officials accountable?

A: Prevention is better than cure so implementing processes to expose significant financial and other misconduct can serve as a key deterrent.

Digitalisation should be utilised to monitor progress, and detect and report deviations. This can be strengthened by enforcing regulations against malpractice that are applicable to heads of state institutions and directors.

While illegal acts should be addressed through legal provisions, instances of failing to do the right thing or implementing policies in a timely manner should be brought to light to understand system inefficiencies and individuals with vested interests.

Recognising and empowering the many competent and uncorrupted officials will help ensure effective delivery.

There are many ways to strengthen the system such as enhancing the legal framework relating to the auditor general’s role to enable his or her office to report the misappropriation of public funds directly to enforcement agencies.

If malpractice is detected, political leaders must demonstrate the will to enforce the law in a timely manner. Sri Lanka has a strong legal framework but it’s poorly implemented, providing public officials with an incentive to engage in corruption.

Justice delayed can also be seen as justice denied to people.