-By LeN Political Editor
(Lanka-e-News -09.June.2025, 11.15 PM) In a nation where corruption has long marinated itself into the sinews of public life—from tender boards to temple boards, classroom desks to cabinet desks—the emergence of a no-nonsense enforcer feels almost mythological. Enter Ranga Dissanayake, the current Director General of the Bribery Commission, a legal hawk from the sleepy streets of Galle who now sends shudders through the glass towers of Colombo’s elite.
This man—educated at St. Aloysius' College in Galle, trained at Sri Lanka Law College, and sharpened by the corridors of Colombo University—now presides over an office many once considered as ceremonial as the Queen’s Guard. Until now, that is.
Ranga Dissanayake has refused to let the Bribery Commission rot in bureaucracy or be buried in its usual avalanche of ‘pending files’. He has decided instead to use the Commission’s dusty archives as fuel for legal warfare. "File One, File Two, File Three, File Four—count them, clean them, and carry them to court," he reportedly told a room full of senior officers. And indeed, he's marching them in, one by one, like hardened criminals into a parade of justice.
This is a man for whom the word “delay” seems an abomination. And unlike many in high office, he doesn’t wait for political blessings. He doesn’t hold press conferences with polished smiles and carefully-scripted nothings. No, Ranga Dissanayake is conducting a judicial sweep—armed with statutes, soaked in precedent, and laced with sheer tenacity.
The Bribery Commission’s filing cabinets are infamous for their inaction. Some cases had been sleeping for three decades, others for nearly half a century. Corruption files involving former ministers, state officials, cronies with offshore accounts, businessmen with curiously generous "campaign donations", and a small but profitable class of ‘journalists’ with alcohol licenses—they were all gathering dust.
Until now.
Ranga, as he is now popularly known in legal circles, has decided that enough is enough. His simple proposition? If the file is valid, the law must follow. If there’s an allegation, let the courts decide. But under no circumstances will the Commission allow the country’s richest crooks to hide behind procedural purgatory or political muscle.
That has earned him no shortage of enemies.
Predictably, the howls of the Colombo cocktail circuit have begun. Columnists who barely survived the Mangala Samarawera era are now rushing to paint Dissanayake as a "man out of control". One particularly vocal scribbler—incidentally a proud holder of multiple excise licenses—warned this week of a "witch-hunt against entrepreneurs". Apparently, the filing of corruption cases against businessmen with government links is now bad for ‘economic sentiment’.
The irony would be funny if it weren’t so tragic.
Big Business, Big Media, and Big Politics—Sri Lanka’s unholy trinity—are rattled. Ranga has not merely reopened cases; he has reopened wounds, many of them festering since the 1990s. Export licenses doled out in exchange for campaign cheques, duty-free permits issued to ghost companies, land grabbed by fake NGOs—each of these, according to a source within the Commission, now has a case number and a court date.
Notably, Dissanayake has directed the Commission to begin coordination with the long-stalled files stuck at the Attorney General’s Department. The new NPP government, desperate to clean house, has given him the mandate to act—without fear or favour. He has taken that mandate and wielded it like a legal katana.
Unlike the average Colombo technocrat, Ranga Dissanayake doesn't mingle with political financiers or chase NGO invites to Geneva. His legal philosophy is deeply shaped by his southern roots—where dignity, discipline, and an often unspoken rage against injustice are bred into the bone.
In an internal memorandum leaked last week, Dissanayake is said to have instructed his senior staff:
“Never tell a citizen that a bribe is necessary to move a file. If their documents are in order, process them. If they’re not, reject them. But no officer under my command will extract money for a signature.”
That memo has now become something of a gospel inside the Commission. Staffers who once treated bribery as a bureaucratic necessity are reportedly stunned by the new regime. Several have already been moved to lower ranks or placed under internal investigation.
But more interestingly, Dissanayake has done something no previous DG dared: He is now directly engaging the public. In televised remarks last week, he told citizens:
“You are not helpless. You are complicit. Do not give bribes. Do not tolerate bribery. Delay is better than dishonour.”
The impact of Ranga’s campaign is not lost on the international stage. Transparency International has reportedly sought a briefing with the DG. The IMF, in its latest governance review of Sri Lanka, praised the recent "activism of independent commissions". And both the US State Department and the EU’s GSP+ monitoring team have quietly noted the “revitalisation” of the Bribery Commission under Dissanayake’s stewardship.
Of course, foreign approval is not why he’s doing this. According to those close to him, Ranga views corruption not as a political flaw but as a societal cancer. And cancer, as every doctor will tell you, cannot be healed by aspirin. It requires surgery.
And Ranga is now operating—with scalpel, not stick.
To truly grasp the scale of the challenge, consider the ecosystem Ranga is confronting.
In Sri Lanka, corruption is not a glitch; it is often the system itself. Judges demand ‘consultations’. Policemen want ‘tea money’. Teachers moonlight as tuition masters, charging parents for lessons already funded by the state. Politicians trade tenders for yachts and foreign flats. Monks endorse candidates in return for tax-free temples. Doctors take commissions from pharma reps. Even death certificates in some hospitals come with an ‘unofficial fee’.
So, what does Ranga do? He starts from the top. High-profile politicians. Famous developers. Retired permanent secretaries. Even politically connected monks.
He doesn’t start with the tuk-tuk driver. He goes for the ones who drive Bentleys and bankroll elections.
Critics argue that Ranga Dissanayake is overstepping. That his legal fundamentalism risks paralysing the system. That fear, not law, is guiding his hand. But that criticism often comes from those who have something to lose—or already have.
There is little doubt that Dissanayake is aggressive. But he is not improvising. Every case is filed under the proper legal section. Every charge sheet is reviewed. Every affidavit is checked. The Attorney General’s Department has, in fact, praised his procedural rigour.
There are no kangaroo courts here. Just the law, finally allowed to breathe.
Perhaps Ranga’s boldest move is cultural. He’s not merely trying to prosecute corruption—he’s trying to criminalise the culture that normalises it.
For years, Sri Lankans have shrugged and sighed at corruption. “Mokak karannada?”—what can we do? But Dissanayake wants to flip that question on its head. His media campaign is simple but sharp:
“Bribery exists because you allow it. Stop giving. Stop taking.”
Already, small shifts are visible. Social media posts of citizens refusing to pay bribes at police stations. Whistleblowers calling the Commission’s hotline. Even some school principals have started publicly refusing ‘gifts’.
It’s a long road. But at least it has begun.
And the Award Goes To…
So today, we at Lanka-e-News proudly bestow our Award of the Day to Director General Ranga Dissanayake—not for his speeches, but for his silences; not for media likes, but for legal filings; not for intimidating the corrupt, but for reminding the honest that the law still matters.
In a country where too many have stolen with style and lied with flair, it is rare to find someone willing to serve with integrity. Ranga Dissanayake may not be a saint—but in this circus of compromise, he is the closest we’ve got to a lion.
Long may he roar.
-By LeN Political Editor
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by (2025-06-09 22:18:44)
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