TISL launches Apesalli.lk on International Anti-Corruption Day 2021

The landscape of corruption the world over has changed drastically due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the past two years, increasing opportunities for corruption while deepening the adverse impact of corruption upon the people.

Here in Sri Lanka, there have been numerous scandals and corruption allegations that rocked the nation in 2021, as the people of the country struggled to survive in a pandemic economy, facing multiple challenges, such as the loss of income opportunities and the hike in cost of living. It is in this backdrop that Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) marks International Anti-Corruption Day which fell yesterday (9). 

TISL has chosen ‘Ape salli,’ or ‘our money,’ as our central theme this year, in a bid to highlight corruption in the form of abuse of power and misuse of public resources, which belong to the citizens of the nation.

Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan once said, “If corruption is a disease, transparency is a central part of its treatment.” In order to promote this treatment to corruption, TISL will be launching apesalli.lk today, a citizen-driven platform for activism and advocacy on anti-corruption.Apesalli.lk provides a unique platform for the citizens to report incidents of corruption to TISL. Following a thorough verification process, TISL will also be able to advise the complainants on seeking legal redress and how to take steps to file complaints directly with the authorities where possible. Citizens who have experienced or observed corruption in their day-to-day lives are also given a platform to write and share their stories, gain the public’s attention and create a public discourse on corruption.

Apesalli.lk also facilitates reporting on election violations, including misuse of State resources and other violations of election laws, during campaigning periods. The website provides users the opportunity to track corruption related incidents in specific locations of the country as well as to obtain statistics on corruption-related incidents reported to Apesalli.lk.

TISL will also be releasing a review of allegations, scandals and changes in the anti-corruption landscape reported in 2021 titled, “Hindsight 2021,” which simplifies and summarises them, and highlights what actions have been taken and can be taken.

TISL Executive Director Nadishani Perera, in her message to mark International Anti-Corruption Day, shared the following thoughts: “There have been many developments that took place this year that are extremely concerning. The controversial tax amnesty granted earlier this year, the hastily passed Colombo Port City Economic Commission bill, multiple alleged corruption scandals related to sugar, fertiliser and other necessities, are but a few of the worrying developments that took place this year.

“However, such incidents and unhealthy measures could have been prevented or mitigated if there was greater transparency as well as accountability pertaining to the decisions. It is also paramount to ensure greater transparency in the systems and actions of the Government and public sector. In addition, the citizens should be able to understand the corruption that is taking place as well as its far-reaching implications. This would lead to greater public demand for accountability from public representatives and State officials.

“At a time when our country is making strides in vaccinating people to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, let us also commit to fight the pandemic of corruption that has plagued this country for decades, much longer than COVID-19, preventing the fruits of development initiatives from reaching the most needed areas, exacerbating inequalities and causing the country to stagnate as a developing nation.”

Marking Anti-Corruption Day, TISL calls upon all actors from the State, private and community, to rise up against corruption in our nation and presents Apesalli.lk as a tool that would facilitate citizen activism against corruption.