Accountants should build a strong defence against corruption in their institutions and they should not permit fraudulent deals to slip through them, said Sarath Jayamanne PC, the chief guest at CA Sri Lanka’s 25th annual tax oration event held on the theme, ‘The role of Tax practitioners in the anti-corruption drive’ recently.
He said that though Israel and the world thought that they had the best radar defence system to intercept and destroy missiles in the air, Hamas from the Gaza strip for the first time penetrated this system and caused huge damage. “Accountants should not be like the ‘Israel defence system’ and must come up with a 100% safety net that cannot be penetrated by any corrupt deals.”
Jayamanne, a former Director General of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery, said in most private institutions there is a good checks and balances system to curb corruption and the government too should come up with a system similar to it.
He said that in the world corruption index by Transparency International there are only three countries in the top 25 and they include Singapore, Bhutan and Hong Kong where there are tough laws against corruption.
He said in Sri Lanka, bribery laws are very old and new laws should be introduced and this area is now being addressed. “The fight against corruption is not something that can be won by a faith but rather a collective effort that demands the commitment and cooperation of all stakeholders to the process.”
