The Hon. Priyantha Wijerathna, Attorney-at-Law

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Chair, bribery and corruption are profound threats to the integrity and quality of the public service. The harm is not only monetary misuse; it degrades systems, erodes public trust, and widens the gap between Government and people. When access to services requires bribes, citizens lose faith. Quality and efficiency diminish: those who can pay advance; those who cannot are left behind. Merit suffers; capable officers lose motivation when promotions and benefits are won by corrupt means and political interference.

¶ 02 The economy is also harmed. Funds diverted from projects reduce standards and outputs. Investors look closely at corruption levels; in prior years, many left or stayed away.

¶ 03 Rule of law suffers when people believe money can buy outcomes. If justice institutions are tainted, public confidence collapses.

¶ 04 Two major remedies: strengthen the legal/institutional framework, and deploy technology. Our digitalization programme is underway and will be largely completed within three years, helping reduce opportunities for corruption.

¶ 05 Today’s step strengthens the Commission under the Anti-Corruption Act, No. 9 of 2023. Though the Act took effect on 15 September 2023, recruitment structures and remuneration were not finalized. We now correct that: Parliament will approve appointing 971 officers from Additional Director-General down to office support, and approve their pay and conditions. International benchmarks show scale matters: Hong Kong, with ~6 million people, has about 1,000 specialist investigators; Sri Lanka, with ~22 million, has had around 160. Today’s approval expands investigators to 377 and adds 113 Anti-Corruption Management Service officers.

¶ 06 By passing this Motion, we empower CIABOC to function effectively and independently.

¶ 07 Thank you.