Unanswered questions about luxury trips, private jets, and undeclared gifts are piling up as Udaya Gammanpila warns that the President’s asset declarations could expose shocking omissions and even criminal liability.
At a fiery Pivithuru Hela Urumaya media briefing, party leader and lawyer Udaya Gammanpila accused Sri Lanka’s top leadership of deliberately concealing crucial details in their asset declarations. He said the government has been thrown into crisis because of the Anti-Corruption Act No. 9 of 2023, which made it mandatory for the Bribery Commission to publish declarations publicly, with the exception of personal information. Until this law was enacted, declarations remained confidential, locked in sealed envelopes and accessible only by court order. According to Gammanpila, many leaders were blindsided by the change and filed misleading or incomplete statements without fear of exposure.
The President’s most recent declaration, covering April 2024 to March 2025, is at the heart of the controversy. Gammanpila asked who funded the President’s foreign visits to England, India, and Canada in 2024. He claimed that travel costs including airfare and hotel expenses were not reflected in the document, despite requirements that such items be declared. Even local trips, such as overnight stays in Anuradhapura at the Humming Bird Hotel owned by Pramishka Nona, were omitted from the section requiring disclosure of travel reimbursements and gifts.
Gammanpila warned that the 2025–26 declaration will be even more explosive. He highlighted the President’s return from Vietnam in May 2025 aboard a private plane. Conflicting explanations were provided to the public, ranging from sponsorship by the Vietnamese government, the UN Vesak Festival Committee, and even a local NGO. The real sponsor and the true cost of the flight remain unknown. Gammanpila insisted that such omissions represent serious violations under anti-corruption law.
The penalties for hiding assets or failing to declare reimbursements are severe. Authorities have the power to confiscate undeclared assets, while offenders face fines of up to Rs. 200,000 and prison terms of one year. Gammanpila asserted that these consequences apply not only to the President but to other ministers as well.
He singled out MP Nalin Hewage, who allegedly held Rs. 2.3 million in his account claiming it was gifted during his daughter’s ceremony. Under declaration rules, gifts exceeding Rs. 50,000 must be itemized along with donor details. Hewage provided no such disclosures. Gammanpila ridiculed the claim, saying it would have been impossible to accumulate such savings from a single event. He added sarcastically that if Hewage had five daughters, the government could have borrowed from him instead of turning to the IMF during the economic crisis.
Minister Sunil Handunnetti also came under scrutiny. Despite receiving financial support from associates, he reportedly wrote “Nothing” in his declaration under gifts. Gammanpila mocked this omission, suggesting that even basic personal items received from close allies were deliberately excluded. He argued that during an election year, when candidates typically receive monetary and material contributions, it is implausible that such gifts were absent.
The allegations, if proven, suggest widespread misconduct across the political spectrum. Gammanpila concluded that the President and multiple cabinet ministers could eventually face imprisonment for undervaluing assets, concealing financial support, and hiding gifts from official declarations.
With the new Anti-Corruption Act empowering the Bribery Commission to expose every detail, Sri Lanka’s political elite may soon find themselves unable to hide behind secrecy. As public attention shifts to the 2025–26 declaration, the looming question is whether the truth about hidden assets, foreign trips, and mysterious sponsors will finally come to light.
