‘Mulberry Boys’ in the Mulberry Bush

We have read tales and viewed the tele drama series of R.K. Narayan’s popular “Malgudi Days”. Those tales and episodes kept the kids and children enthraled with the creativity of Narayan.

But, today we unfold the story of a group of young politicians and parliamentarians in the ruling party of the Diyawanna-Oya, a decade ago who formed a ginger group within the Government and named it the “Mulberry Group”. The group comprised many young and promising politicians, some of whom are Cabinet Ministers today.

These men, better identified as “Mulberry Boys” were determined fight corruption within the Government. They did not like the way some senior ministers handled Government tenders and awards connected with the administration.

It was somewhat a difficult task as most of the senior ministers and some young ministers were known to be favourites of the Palace Guard in the Government led by former President Chandrika Kumaratunga.

Firebrand

The “Mulberry Group” comprised young blood like Dulles Alahapperuma, Dilan Perera, Mahinda Amaraweera, Nalanda Ellawala, TB Ekanayake, Ravi Karunanayake and Kesaralal Gunesekere. Karunanayake and Gunesekere were members of the Lalith Front led by Srimani Athulathmudali. Dulles was a good investigator, Kesaralal believed much in theory, Ravi was a firebrand and Dilan was vociferous.

The Ravi-Dilan combination played merry at Government Group meetings highlighting corrupt activities of the ministries while Dulles and Kesaralal backed up with facts. So the “Mulberry Group” was feared within the ranks of the Kumaratunga Government.

The task before the Mulberry Group was to put the Kumaratunga administration on the correct path. These young men in the Mulberry Group felt that some seniors in the People’s Alliance Government were trekking on the wrong direction giving way for the UNP opposition to sling mud at the Government of that day.

Therefore, they decided to declare war on those ministers through the Mulberry Group. Dulles Alahapperuma spearheaded investigations into ministries where allegations of corruption and malpractices were levelled. Dulles and Kesaralal were the two key investigators. Ravi Karunanayake engaged himself on fact finding missions in the respective ministries.

Dilan Perera fearlessly spoke against corrupt activities in ministries even within the Chamber to the surprise of the Government and the Opposition. He once opened out in this manner - “Mr. Speaker, we saw that the bureaucracy which existed during the cursed seventeen year rule of the UNP taking the PA Government on the wrong track and we formed the ‘Mulberry Group’ to agitate against improper conduct of officials and ministers”.

In his inimitable style, Perera began to hurl remarks at certain ministers who turned a blind eye to corrupt activities in their ministries. Dilan was a young man and a Parliamentarian who never feared to speak out against acts of injustice.

Dulles Alahapperuma, who played a key role as the ‘Chief Investigator’ of the ‘Mulberry Group’ assigned members of the group to take charge of certain ministries to probe allegations of malpractice and corruption to report to the group. The group launched several in-depth investigations into the activities of several ministries.

Mahinda Amaraweera, the Hambantota District backbencher did not hesitate to take on certain ministers who attempted to sweep the ‘dirt’ in their ministries under the carpet. Once Amaraweera charged in Parliament that some ministers had even tried to influence and pressurise them from the ‘top’.” Even the ‘top’ cannot stop us’, Amaraweera reiterated in the House.

Adamant

Ministers attempted to urge the ‘top’ to give deputy minister posts to the leading members of the “Mulberry Group” to silence them. But, these adamant youngsters rejected all offers in the national interest. They continued to probe ministries without fear or favour.

There were some ministers who extended their fullest cooperation to the Mulberry Group in the investigations. The major investigation was launched into the activities of the now defunct Cooperative Wholesale Establishment (CWE), which came under the purview of then Minister of Trade and Commerce, Kingsley Tissa Wickremeratne.

The minister, a wealthy businessman, known as a man above board who had even funded the SLFP at crisis times, fearlessly invited the Mulberry Group to continue the probe offering his full assistance and cooperation.

After an extensive probe headed by Alahapperuma with the cooperation of Minister Wickremeratne, the Mulberry Group handed over the Report on Findings followed by recommendations to President Chandrika Kumaratunga. The President appeared satisfied with the probe and the finding contained in the Report.

The President upon studying the Report instructed Minister Wickremeratne to remove the corrupt officials mentioned in the Report. This order was executed by the minister within 24 hours. The Opposition UNP was fully satisfied with the probe conducted by the Mulberry Group. Some Opposition UNPers commended the efforts of the Mulberry Group to ensure a clean administration.

Dulles Alahapperuma and Dilan Perera then embarked on a difficult mission to probe the activities of the Paddy Marketing Board (PMB) which functioned under a powerful minister close to the Palace Guard.

It was the most impossible task ever embarked upon by the members of the Mulberry Group as they came under immense pressure from the ‘top’ to halt the probe.

But, these gallant young men proceeded with their probe and fearlessly submitted the Report to the President. In that Report, the Mulberry Group mentioned the names of the corrupt officials at the PMB who had played out the farmers and the PMB with regard to the purchase and distribution of paddy from farmers.

The minister in question, now in retirement, sought support from his ministerial ‘friends’ in that Cabinet to mount pressure to the ‘top’ to stop acting on the Mulberry Group Report. The ‘top’ too appeared in favour of that minister. A year’s hard work by Alahapperuma and his group proved futile.

The Report was on a table at the Palace for three long years and had been finally thrown into the dustbin.

Why? Because most of the corrupt men mentioned in the Report had access to the ‘top’ Amaraweera fearlessly told Parliament. The Mulberry Group met regularly to discuss the failure of the ‘top’ to act on that important Report. They time and again urged the ‘top’ to act on the Report. But, all efforts and requests were met with a blind eye.

Corruption

Not giving up the stance to probe corruption of their own Government, the Mulberry Group them embarked to probe activities of the Power sector. Mulberry member Felix Perera played a key role in that effort.

The country experienced regular power failures and enforced power cuts during that period.

Some power cuts lasted for three to four days. The Mulberry Group probed the purchase of a huge generator which could not even be transported to the destination for fixing across the Victoria Bridge in Colombo.

The container which carried this huge generator comprised over 130 large wheels. All these finding and follow reports ended up in the dustbin. The Mulberry Group realised that probes conducted into the ministries which the ‘top’ favoured ended up in no results.

The Mulberry Group members looked disgruntled at all times. They met regularly within the precincts of Parliament to decide their future. Lalith Front Member, Kesaralal Gunesekere, an Accountant by profession was more bent on theory than practice.

He was of the opinion that the “Mulberry Group” should not get disgruntled because the ‘top’ failed to act and they should continue probes till the term of the Government ended. In contrast, his colleague, Ravi Karunanayake began to launch attacks on the Government in an open manner. It embarrassed the Government.

The conduct of Karunanayake was not endorsed. Dulles Alahapperuma decided to quit the Kumaratunga administration for good. Constant clashes between the Government and Karunanayake resulted in Karunanayake walking into the UNP opposition.

He was the first PA Parliamentarian to cross over to the UNP in that Parliament. With the Mulberry Group findings being swept under the carpet, its’ members claimed that transparency looked buried. The Kumaratunga Government after 2000 never looked stable.

In the annals of Diyawanna-Oya tales, the Mulberry Group of the 1994 Parliament should be commended for its bravery and courage to launch probes within the Government to uphold transparency. It was first time in our political history we saw a group within a Government probing corruption and malpractices of a Government they represented.