Expenses on special presidential commissions appointed for various purposes for the last eight years have been estimated to be Rs. 504 million.
The highest amount was reportedly spent on the Special Presidential Commission appointed by ex President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in 2020, an allocation of Rs. 120 million.
During Maithripala Sirisena’s tenure as the President, five Commissions were appointed, namely the Presidential Commission of Inquiry on the Central Bank Bond Scam, the Presidential Commission of Inquiry to probe the Easter Sunday Attacks, the Commission to Investigate Serious Corruptions during the Mahinda Rajapaksa Regime, the Commission to Investigate Frauds and Corruptions of the Good Governance Regime and the Commission to Investigate the SriLankan Airlines Affair.
During Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s tenure as the President, the Commission to Investigate the ETI Affair, the Commission to Investigate the Role of the Presidential Commissions appointed to date, the Presidential Commission on International Cooperation and the Commission to Investigate Customs Affairs were appointed.
Despite many of these commissions concluding their investigations and having their reports handed over, none of the recommendations have been implemented to date, begging the question as to what was the point of appointing these bodies in the first place spending millions of rupees of public funds, had none of them ever served the country.
MIAP
