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Graft drags Sri Lanka below Ethiopia
State corruption in Sri Lanka has degenerated to the extent that the all-pervasive rot in the country is now worse than that in Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates, and Rwanda, a study widely consulted by international investors shows.
The 2021 score for Sri Lanka, in the Corruption Perceptions Index by Transparency International, has worsened in a period of unprecedented graft.
Sri Lanka scores 37 (from 38 the year before) and ranks 102 most corrupt out of 180 countries. The score is well below that of Ethiopia, UAE, Qatar, Rwanda, Botswana, Georgia, Malaysia, China, Ghana, Benin, Kuwait, Senegal, and Kazakhstan.
The index even covers state appointments based on nepotism, laws to ensure public officials disclose their finances and potential conflicts of interest, and access to information on public affairs and government work.
Transparency explains the index ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption. It gathers 13 independent data sources such as the World Bank and World Economic Forum, and uses a scale of zero to 100. Zero is highly corrupt and 100 reflects being graft free.
The score is more revealing than the ranking. The index captures perception and is not a verdict. After all, graft lingers for generations, is secretive and cannot be accurately measured. Graft can also be imported such as when it was revealed that a Chinese company funded an election campaign in Sri Lanka, and the UK Serious Frauds Office exposed how Airbus Group SE offered bribes to Sri Lankan Airlines management, between July 01, 2011 and June 2015. The UK court judgment said: “Airbus employees offered up to US$16.84 million to the company of intermediary 1 to influence SLA’s purchase of 10 Airbus aircraft and the lease of an additional 4 aircraft. In fact, only US$2 million of the US$16.84 million was paid.’’
Unprecedented, daring state corruption came to light in early 2021.
One was the eye-watering sugar import fraud involving a favoured Malaysian commodities trader and others. Duty was slashed and the state gave up Rs.15.9 billion in tax revenue, the Ministry of Finance revealed to the Parliamentary Committee on Public Accounts, following opposition demands.
JVP leder Anura Kumara Dissanayake had told parliament earlier that tax on sugar was raised from Rs 33 a kilogram to Rs 50 on May 23, 2020, claiming use of sugar in illegal alcohol and also to support local industry. Mr Dissanayake also said taxes were slashed in October 13 to 25 cents a kilo. That day, graft-ridden state retailer Sathosa had bought 700 metric tonnes of sugar at Rs 127.49 a kilogram and sold for Rs 85. Sathosa then bought more, he revealed. He also exposed a connection of the governing party to a commodity trader associated with owners of a luxury Colombo hotel. Sathosa had paid Rs 121.50 a kilo, Mr Dissanayake said.
In December that year, Kusumdasa Mahanama, 63, the chief of staff of then President Maithripala Sirisena, and former chairman of the State Timber Corporation, Piyadasa Dissanayaka, 69, were convicted of multi million-rupee graft in a rare case that led to a prosecution that went the full distance.
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