In a development raising serious concerns about transparency at the highest levels of government, the Presidential Secretariat has been summoned by the Information Commission to appear on May 28, 2025, after failing to release key details about President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s personal staff details that were requested under the Right to Information (RTI) Act over three months ago.
The Information Commission’s notice comes after a formal appeal was filed under Appeal No. RTIC/Appeal/405/2025, citing the Presidential Secretariat’s failure to respond within the timeframe stipulated by law. The original request, submitted on January 29, 2025, specifically sought details regarding the individuals employed in the President’s personal staff who are paid with public funds, along with their salaries, allowances, vehicle usage, and the types of luxury vehicles assigned to them.
The applicant waited over two months without receiving a comprehensive reply, prompting the appeal. The request also included information on staff recruited on temporary appointments during the term of the former President, now reassigned to ministries or the Secretariat after September 23, 2024, and a full list of vehicles provided to each such officer and institution.
Per the RTI Act No. 12 of 2016, any citizen can request such information, and public authorities are legally bound to acknowledge and respond within 14 working days. If additional time is required, the applicant must be informed accordingly. In this case, while the Presidential Secretariat acknowledged receipt of the request under letter PS/RTI/01/2025/35 dated 30.01.2025, they failed to provide the required information or any extension justification.
When the silence continued, the applicant filed an internal appeal to the designated officer at the Secretariat on February 20, 2025. Again, the officer merely acknowledged the appeal through letter PS/RTIA/11/2205/06 dated 25.02.2025, without providing any of the requested details. This continued non-compliance led to a formal escalation to the Sri Lanka Right to Information Commission on March 27, 2025.
What’s even more striking is the precedent: similar RTI requests about former Presidents Mahinda Rajapaksa, Maithripala Sirisena, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, and Ranil Wickremesinghe were fulfilled in the past, with details about their personal staff publicly disclosed and published. This establishes beyond doubt that there is no legal barrier preventing the release of the same information regarding the current President Anura Kumara Dissanayake.
So why the delay now?
Transparency advocates argue that this refusal or deliberate delay undermines the public’s right to know how taxpayer money is being used, particularly in an era where public trust is fragile and the cost of living continues to soar.
With the Presidential Secretariat now formally summoned to explain its failure to comply with RTI provisions, all eyes will be on the upcoming May 28 hearing. Will the truth about President Anura’s personal entourage finally come out or will this secrecy deepen public suspicion further?
As the nation waits, the message is loud and clear: Sri Lanka deserves full transparency from all its leaders past and present.
