One Injured, Vehicles Burnt In Ogun Tanker Inferno

A tanker inferno in the wee-hours of Friday left one person injured and three vehicles burnt along the Abeokuta-Sagamu expressway in Ogun State.

It was gathered that the tanker carrying 30,000 litres of fuel fell on its side and spilled its content at the Abeokuta-Kobape-Siun-Sagamu/Interchange stretch of the highway.

The spokesman of Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency, Babatunde Akinbiyi, in a traffic alert, said the development resulted into a fire outbreak.

He blamed the crash on speeding and loss of control on the part of the driver.

Akinbiyi said, ‘The effect of the unfortunate incident also extended to the burning of a truck and tow vehicle along the roadside, as well as the destruction of a cable supplying electricity to Mowe and environs.’

Speaking with our correspondent, Akinbiyi confirmed that one woman sustained injury while trying to rescue her children near the inferno.

He said some properties were lost to the incident, but no one died.

Also, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Ogun command, said no casualty was recorded in the incident.

The command, however, said the three vehicles involved in the incident were ‘burnt beyond recognition.’

From protectorate to quasi-military state

‘I hear political Opposition supporters saying they are going to have a change of government in the upcoming presidential elections. I want to tell you the bitter truth that I don’t expect any change in government,’ Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja told a meeting of medical staff and local leaders from Kayunga District last week on Thursday.

The proclamation by the country’s eighth most important citizen and Leader of Government business can easily be spurned. After all, the appointing authority said in his State of the Nation Address on June 10, 2021, that his current Cabinet is full of ‘fishermen.’ On the other hand, the PM’s assertion could be interpreted to mean that the January 2026 presidential election, in which President Museveni is up for his seventh elective term against seven contenders, is a foregone conclusion.

Upon shooting to power 39 years ago, President Museveni first ruled for 10 years without elections. He offered himself for the first polls under the new Constitution in 1996 and won with 72 percent of the valid votes cast. He went on to win elections in 2001, 2006, 2011, 2016, and 2021. The former coordinator of intelligence agencies, Gen David Sejusa, even dropped a bomb shell in December 2013 that he and other army officers engineered the 2006 presidential election results in favour of the incumbent against Dr Kizza Besigye, who is currently in jail on treason charges since last November.

All elections since 2001 have been marked by the omnipresent role of the country’s military apparatus. However, even as general crime, which warrants the iron-clad protection for VIPs in government, festers across the country, there is no corresponding response by security forces compared to the response during and after election campaigns.

There are about a dozen security agencies carved out of police and the army, the notable ones being the Defence Intelligence and Security, formerly Chieftancy of Military Intelligence (CMI), Joint Anti- Terrorism Taskforce (JATT), Internal Security Organisation (ISO), Special Forces Command (SFC), Directorate of Crime Intelligence, among others.

Amid the kidnapping and disappearance of Opposition supporters, police, who are charged with everyday law and order, often feign ignorance, while the command structure of the rogue security personnel remains opaque. Lawyer/activist Andrew Karamagi argued that the primary functions of the security agencies seem to be regime protection. ‘The ruling party is modelled along State security agencies. So there is no separation between national security and the longevity of the regime. Now, ideally, we should have an intelligence community that is even suspicious of the President.’

In this land

Promotion of democracy ranked number one on the NRM’s original 10-point programme, the rebel group’s policy blueprint, followed by promotion of security for all people and their property to eliminate state-instigated violence, and consolidation of national unity and elimination of all forms of sectarianism. As President Museveni campaigns for a seventh elective term under the theme

‘Consolidating the gains’, State-sanctioned violence against the population is commonplace. From the Kayunga riots, Walk-to-Work protests, to the November 2020 blood bath during which security personnel killed 54 people.

The right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, if for political reasons or to express discontentment with government, provided for in Chapter Four of the Constitution, is gagged by the Public Order Management Act, or selectively applied such as in the case of police escorting supporters of the loose Patriotic League of Uganda to protest outside the Germany embassy in July.

Barely after the NRA/M captured power, the country was sucked in by a welter of rebellions that sprouted in the north and north-eastern parts of the country.

Insurgencies commanded by military figures in the past governments broke out, from Peter Otai’s led-rebellion and other lesser rebel groups in Teso, Alice Lakwena’s Holy Spirit Movement and later Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army that roared until 2005, to the West Nile Bank Front. In the process of stopping the rebellions, egregious human rights violations were committed by NRA, including the Mukura massacre when hundreds of people were burnt alive in train wagons.

During the drafting of the 1995 Constitution between 1988 and1995, many Ugandans were concerned about their peace and the stability of the country.

Ugandans were still nursing wounds inflicted by the security agencies since 1899 when the first armed force, the Uganda Armed Constabulary, was established by the British colonial administration.

Constitutional Law lecturer Kabumba Busingye argues that the manner in which the British colonial government established authority over present-day Uganda explains a lot that has gone wrong since then, not just in Uganda but across many parts of Africa.

‘So you had very few citizens who were really British citizens, for lack of a better word, the European residents of Uganda, but by and large you had subjects. So you have our ancestors who were in Uganda but were for all intents and purposes and by documents called natives and that word was not something that had any dignity to it. That’s again as [Prof] Mamdani argued, defined the rulers and the ruled. So even the Kabaka and other traditional leaders were not called leaders; they were called native rulers. So in effect, we were diminished,’ Dr Kabumba averred.

Colonial house extension

He adds: ‘Museveni is interesting. I think his success, because he has been successful to the extent of, if you measure success by holding onto power, there’s an element of success there. Of course, if you measure it by other metrics, national building, it’s a little bit mixed. But as a political project, he has been successful. I think he has come closest of the leaders, post-independence leaders, in mirroring the nature of the colonial state. Because the colonial state was a violent machine that closed itself with legality.

‘If you just read the colonial documents, it would be difficult for you to know that you’re in a dictatorship. So you had governors, you had the paraphernalia of, you know, even the very colonial project was framed in Christianity, commerce, and civilisation, look at the dehumanising British colonial Africa.’

After promulgation of the Constitution on October 8, 1995, Ugandans saw it as a golden opportunity to put safeguards to control the security agencies from ever turning against the citizenry.

Public views about security agencies to the Uganda Constitutional Commission were so harsh that the team led by Justice Benjamin Odoki recommended some of their demands be dropped or toned down. Constituent Assembly delegates agreed with the Uganda Constitutional Commission recommendations that shaped Chapter XII on defence and national security. In the chapter, the Uganda People’s Defence Forces, Uganda Police Force, Uganda Prisons Service, Intelligence Services and the National Security Council were established. The Constitution put key requirements for all those security agencies that they should be under civilian authority, nationalistic, patriotic and disciplined.

Members of each security agency were to be recruited from each district of Uganda. ‘It shall be the duty of the Uganda People’s Defence Forces and any other armed force established in Uganda, the Uganda Police Force and any other police Force, the Uganda Prisons Service, all intelligence services and the National Security Council to observe and respect human rights and freedoms in the performance of their functions,’ Article 221 in Chapter XII of the Constitution reads.

Thirty years later, Chapter XII has remained intact on paper, but a lot has changed in practice.

Mixed bag of fortunes

Former Makindye East MP Mike Mabike argues that one of the unresolved questions in the post-independence era was the role of the army and security agencies, and the 1995 Constitution intended to solve it.

‘In 1966, when the military came out of the barracks and got involved in what was ordinarily a civilian quarrel between President [Edward] Mutesa and [Prime Minister] Milton Obote, they never left. The framers of the Constitution put the army and security agencies under civilian control. But that hasn’t been enforced because the leader of the National Resistance Army, now UPDF, is now the President, and he has personal interests,’ Mabikke says.

While peace and security is the NRM’s unique selling point, the army and intelligence outfits are commanded at the whims of the Commander-in- Chief, (CDF) which has also led critics to believe that even in the likely event of the incumbent losing elections, peaceful change of power is impossible. Twenty seven years ago, the UPDF was sent to the DR Congo to treat a festering wound in the heart of Africa, a year after the kleptocratic regime of Mobutu Sese Seko had been ousted. The decision to deploy Ugandan troops was taken by the Army High Command, which was chaired by the CDF on September 11.

The President argued that the deployment would secure Uganda’s security interests by denying the Sudanese government an opportunity to destabilise Uganda through eastern Congo; deny habitation to Uganda’s dissidents such as the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) in the Congo and protect Uganda’s territorial integrity from invasion by Kabila forces. Eight years later, the UPDF deployed to Somalia without approval of Parliament, which pattern was repeated during deployment to South Sudan, where the Executive defended that they hurried to ‘stop a genocide’, and later in 2017 in Equatorial Guinea.

Today, the Kampala regime is a key ally of Washington and its European allies in the restive Great Lakes region, and is involved in mercenary peace missions in South Sudan and Somalia, and continues to play its diplomatic cards favourably to remain in the good books. Mr Mabikke says when it came to establishing law acts to regulate the military as the Constitution had directed, interested parties used the UPDF Act to entrench the personalisation of the military.

‘For a military officer to work well, he or she must be in the good books of the CDF. Therefore, you can’t have professionalism in the forces.’

Mr Mabikke says the impunity of security agencies has taken root as it was before the adoption of the 1995 Constitution. Mr Robert Kirenga, the executive director of the National Coalition of Human Rights Defenders Uganda, says the country is experiencing a contradiction of security agencies that the framers of the Constitution had envisaged.

‘Do we have what you would call a national army? Do we have an army that is non-partisan? Are law enforcement agencies, including the army, doing the things as provided in the Constitution? That is something you have to pose to the citizens and they tell you.’

Sseggirinya effect still felt in Kawempe North

The battle for Kawempe North MP seat is two-fold: there is a battle going on at the Court of Appeal between National Unity Platform (NUP) Elias Luyimbazi Nalukoola and National Resistance Movement (NRM) party’s Faridah Nambi, just a few months to the next election. Nalukoola defeated Nambi earlier this year in a by-election that was organised after the death of NUP’s Muhammad Sseggirinya, who had been elected in 2021.

Nalukoola’s victory, which came after security personnel battered voters both before and on the election day, was challenged in the court. The High Court cancelled Nalukoola’s victory because ‘illegal campaigns had been conducted on polling day, and more than 16,000 registered voters were disenfranchised when ballots at 14 polling stations were not tallied.’

The polling stations whose votes were never tallied, Nalukoola insisted, had been ransacked by NRM goons, but still the High Court’s Justice Bernard Namanya nullified the election, saying Nalukoola was the beneficiary. Instead of going back for another by-election, Nalukoola played hardball when he appealed, a process that’s still ongoing, with the Court of Appeal asking him to file necessary documents so that the case is heard by a panel of three justices.

‘The ruling undermined basic tenets of electoral justice. The judge chose to ignore established legal precedents and instead built the case on assumptions,’ Nalukoola said.

While they are locked in a court battle, both Nalukoola and Nambi have started campaigning ahead of the 2026 poll. Unlike other NUP members who have been waiting for the parties’ Election Management Committee (EMC) to give them a green light as NUP’s official candidates for different constituencies, Nalukoola has been under no sure pressure since no person bothered to contest against him within NUP. Umar Magala, who had put up a serious contest in the first primaries, had focused on being the Kawempe Division mayor before he eventually settled for being a councillor at City Hall. Besides the court battle, during the short period he has been in Parliament, Nalukoola has been battling with the legacy of Sseggirinya, who had a god-like status in Kawempe North.

As soon as he was voted into the House, Sseggirinya set up a medical facility that he claimed was free of charge for all constituents. It’s not clear if at all the medical facility indeed provided the health services that Sseggirinya had claimed, but it folded as soon as he was incarcerated. To make sure his constituents don’t see him as a mismatch to Ssegirinya’s legacy, Nalukoola, on setting foot in Parliament, opened up a health facility of his own called ESKEL Medical Services (EMS).

‘The High Court ruling didn’t scare me. The people legitimately elected me. Even if the fresh elections are ordered, we will return with a knockout,’ Nalukoola said, adding that delivering on the promise of the health centre was the clearest indication that NUP would deliver on its promises once it’s entrusted with power.

Another challenge that Nalukoola has to face is that as a former Democratic Party (DP) member, he was always seen with suspicion due to his loyalty to NUP or its principal, Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, being questioned. To end any doubts, when Nalukoola was launching his medical centre, he ensured that Kyagulanyi was the chief guest.

‘This is what servant leadership looks like. Healthcare shouldn’t be a campaign promise but a public right. This centre shows what we can do if we are entrusted with national resources,’ Kyagulanyi said.

NRM on the back foot?

For Nambi, who is the daughter of NRM’s eternal vice chairperson Moses Kigongo, there was the usual drama in the NRM primaries. Nambi defeated her perennial arch-rival, Hanifah Karadi, but even before the votes were counted, Karadi was already complaining. She claimed that the process was tilted in favour of Nambi.

‘We need a levelled ground where everyone votes. We need to look for votes and then people decide such that if you lose, you know it’s as a result of a fair process,’ Karadi said before petitioning, in vain, the NRM’s legal committee that handled election grievances.

Despite Karadi’s grievances in which she claimed that, among others, declaration forms were fabricated, Nambi has moved on with her campaign. She, however, faces a history of NRM losing in Kawempe North since 2001 when Latif Ssengondo Ssebaggala toppled Jamad Luzinda, the father of socialite Desiree Luzinda. Ssebaggala would represent Kawempe North from 2001 to 2021 before being ousted by Sseggirinya.

In 2021, Sseggirinya won the constituency by a landslide when he garnered 41,197 votes. His closest rival, Suleiman Kidandala, who defied NUP and stood as an Independent, polled 7,512 votes. Sseggirinya’s victory soon turned into a nightmare after he spent most of the term either in prison or in hospital. Arriving in Parliament in 2021 was a dream come true for Ssegirinya, who had started his political career back in 2006, when he started making the phone calls discussing the political events of the day.

Still a student at Pimba Secondary in Kyebando, Kawempe North constituency, Sseggirinya often shredded the ruling NRM party. At first, whenever he would make a phone call, Sseggirinya would introduce himself as the ‘eddoboozi ly’e Kyebando’, loosely translated as ‘voice of Kyebando.’ Later, when his ambition grew, he started signing in and off the radio calls by describing himself as the ‘MP to be for Kawempe North.’

Sseggirinya legacy

Sseggirinya would go on to beat the odds by making it to the House before being arrested alongside fellow lawmaker Allan Ssewanyana (Makindye West) in connection with the machete killings in the Greater Masaka districts. The two were granted bail on September 21, 2021, but were immediately re-arrested from the outskirts of Kigo prisons on fresh murder charges preferred against them stemming from the Lwengo District machete killings, where more than 20 people were killed. For the one-and-a-half years Sseggirinya and Ssewanyana spent on remand, rumours circulated that their imprisonment had nothing to do with the crimes they had allegedly committed but rather with their dealings with powerful people within the NRM party. Even after their release, rumours persisted that the shackles were broken after they reportedly struck a deal with President Museveni.

Then Leader of the Opposition in Parliament (LoP) Mathias Mpuuga, who was at the forefront of having the MPs released, denied participating in any such deal. But by the time the two MPs were released, sources say they had been ostracised by the Kamwokya/Kavule leadership.

In fact, anybody from NUP who associated with them was seen as a pariah. The situation was made worse when both Sseggirinya and Ssewanyana were unusually mute after their release. When Sseggirinya died this year, NUP apportioned blame to the NRM regime, saying it quickened his demise through incarceration.

In the Kawempe North elections, Nambi, as the NRM candidate, will have to carry the cross of Sseggirinya’s death.

Fools, knaves and narratives

Nepal is in flames; murder, arson, rape, looting; the once idyllic Himalayan country is now the picture of every human atrocity. Nature has blessed that land, man had failed it: corruption and incompetence doomed the realm.

A story with an eerily familiar ring to us Sri Lankans, simmering frustrations of a people with nowhere to turn but violence.

Men cannot live forever at fever heat. With our experiences with the way of the world we can safely assume that sooner or later the situation in Nepal will settle down, searching for some sort of normalcy. This will happen not because our former President Ranil Wickremesinghe will fly to Kathmandu on a bring back normalcy mission, but because it is human nature to have a livelihood, protect their property, educate their children, and to aspire for more. Revolutions and riots are disruptive, and therefore cannot be permanent state-of-affairs in a country. Normalcy will come to Nepal not because one man waves a magic wand, but because the entire economic/social structure, thousands of public servants, the security forces, the judiciary and ultimately the people themselves, desire normalcy in their lives.

Hundreds of hands will work on mission normalcy; international agencies, experienced public servants, captains of industry, no one man can claim credit.

However, in the general Sri Lankan narration one man is credited with bringing normalcy to the country post-‘Aragalaya’. There is no reference to a particular thought, decision or act of his that brought normalcy, but he is presented as Mr. Normalcy!

Norm in our culture

Regrettably, such sweeping narratives are the norm in our culture.

Many moons ago, when the post-1977 accelerated Mahaweli Project was in high gear, it was common to attribute the honour wholly to Gamini Dissanayake, the Minister in charge of the project. The venture encouraged fantastic expectations in the people, the then narration described it as a scheme that would flood the country with milk and honey, become the granary of the East, there would be so much hydropower generated that we would export electricity to India.

Initially conceptualised in the 1960s as a World Bank project, in 1977 newly elected JR Jayewardene decided to accelerate the project, all the dams to be made simultaneously. Funding was an issue, however the new government had the goodwill of the West, eventually Britain, Sweden, Canada and Germany helped us generously. The conceptualisation, the engineering, the technology was primarily foreign. We can talk about ‘Ravana’s flying machine’ but cannot make one!

Hundreds of specialists, engineers, technicians and officials worked tirelessly to realise the aims of the accelerated project. In the public’s mind they mattered little, all attention was on the spokesman Gamini Dissanayake, the man before the cameras. He was not an engineer, neither did he fund the project. Dissanayake’s role was that of a political coordinator and perhaps negotiator with the donors. These rich countries do assist poor countries, regardless, or even despite the local politician. As to where the credit should go in such a many-sided project is a complex matter, our common narration not only lacks nuance, but it also severely misleads.

Much water has flown down the Mahaweli since, we yet remain a Third World country, poor, and seemingly even more decrepit, our economic growth rate only an average 4% right through (before and after the project).

LTTE terrorism

No other period has given rise to distorted narrations as much as the long struggle and the eventual triumph against the LTTE terrorism, something like three decades. This so-called war, now hot, now cold, was a most unfortunate development for an impoverished and unwarlike race; very avoidably had their political leaders possessed the required foresight and integrity. By our basic nature, as well as ideology, we cannot claim to be a warrior race. True, there have been violent conflicts in our history, however relative to wars fought by other nations, ours appear more skirmishes than full blown wars. Wars fought against your own racial type, enemies of similar strength and disposition, could distort one’s assessment of the actual fighting prowess of an army.

When fought between dissimilar races: those who look, think, react, walk and even eat differently, wars take a deeper meaning. When different capacities, skills and attitudes lock horns in the battleground, we have wars that grab the attention of the military historian, who is stronger, who will prevail?

In the early days of northern terrorism (late 1970s), when the occasional murder or arson by the ‘boys’ were hitting the front page, our elderly president JR Jayewardene reacted to the unfamiliar phenomenon with a widely publicised proclamation to the then army commander ordering him to wipe out the threat within a given period. The Colombo elite was thrilled, here is the stuff of Erwin Romell and Montgomery; complex military manoeuvers, army in battle array, armoured vehicles moving in phalanx formation, a world war scene reenacted in their small island! The Longest Day, on our northern beaches!

No counter-strategies

Of course it was all nonsense, only exciting to a hollow elite. At that stage the terrorist movement was only embryonic, a few radical youngsters mingling with the population, hiding in plain sight. What was needed was intelligence and perhaps enlightened policies. Clearly, President Jayewardene did not foresee the evil potential the movement carried, nor had strategies to counter them. He imagined that a portentous sounding order to his army commander would bring the trouble-makers to heel.

Reading a book on Napoleon does not make you a conqueror, nor would a book on Gladstone or Disraeli make the reader a Statesman. The northern situation steadily worsened until the LTTE had control of a substantial area of the land, a fiefdom where they were the law. By this time, we had different leaders including new presidents; unabashed by the fact that the terrorist organisation rejected the writ of their government, they chose subterfuge as opposed to determined fighting. Unlike Churchill or even Margret Thatcher, who they sometimes quote from, our so-called elite leaders thought they could ensnare the enemy with their cunning, a quality they obviously prize.

They therefore adopted ruses to address political issues and social problems. In the colonial era, their earlier generations made the transition from native nobodies to native somebodies by their wile – giving up the religion of their forefathers, becoming collaborators of the imperial government, holding office in the name of the British King. But in an independent country, in real politics, this supine quality only earned them the contempt of both sides.

Their cunning was generational. When the colonial government introduced the franchise, and gradually widened it, our collaborating elite read the tea leaves correctly, common denominators of the people were gaining strength; time to get back into a sarong and re-embrace the local religion! For good measure they donated a few lands they had obtained for a ‘paisa’ from the colonial government for religious and other public causes. The new ‘somebodies’ were now ready to rule the independent country, and rule without the disciplines that the colonial culture and norms had imposed.

Clearly, the adopted ways of governance were foreign to their nature; they had only learnt the new rules by rote; in high office they looked externally awkward and internally inept, if not shady. However, they hugely enjoyed the fruits of power, it seems a good gift to pass on to their kith and kin like an inheritance!

Stark reality

The history of this era has given rise to many narratives. However, these stories cannot hide the stark reality, the county’s overall failure in comparison to the successful countries of Asia. While these countries were transforming their economies rapidly, our ruling elite led us from one crisis to another. Their narrative is only in the telling, when examined intelligently we see it for its sorry falsity.

Eventually, in 2009, after a fierce battle, the army completely vanquished the LTTE. In strength and numbers, the Government was stronger, when the terrorist army decided to defend its territory, the strategic advantage shifted towards the numerically stronger. We do not have the exact casualty figures of either side, but the common belief is that it was hard fought, the army suffering a considerable number of casualties in what appears to have been a battle of attrition. If you were to compare this with recent wars such as in Vietnam, Afghanistan or Iraq the casualty ratio hugely favours the strong American army.

Nevertheless, the war was won.

Nations like Great Britain have fought hundreds of wars; some against equal or even stronger foes, won some, lost some. It is said that America is waging a war, or is on a war footing, somewhere in the world every day of the year. Triumph and defeat, death and destruction are natural phenomenon for a warrior race. They put war in perspective, reacting to its aftermath sensibly. Within months of the end of hostilities in World War 2, the army was massively downsized, the soldiers became invisible, Churchill had only one bodyguard. Qualities that go to make a warrior; bravery, integrity, chivalry dictates his conduct in peace time too. Churchill did not claim all the honours of winning the world war. They understand that wars, by their very nature, require sacrifices, hard work and the support of millions. The true soldiers guard the people; they do not guard themselves from the people.

Like our occasional win at a game of Cricket, the war victory unhinged the narrative. More than 15 years after the end of the war, the country still maintains a large army, politicians and high rank soldiers are guarded round the clock and armed soldiers are a common sight. The worst immaturity is by the politicians who claim responsibility for the victory.

And this while there are strong allegations of them profiting from the war!

All narratives are based on a given society; how they view things, what they want to believe in, and finally, the level of intelligence they can command.

Recently I watched a YouTuber talking about a politician who is facing charges for corruption. The man’s corruption has been blatant, dumping low quality medicine on the public. Apparently, someone, either the politician or a close family member had developed cancer. This was proof for the YouTuber of the moral order of nature. He emphasised, ‘This rascal politician may escape justice in our courts of law, but he cannot escape justice at the hand of nature!’

Obviously, the YouTuber had not visited the Maharagama Cancer Hospital. Cancer has cruelly claimed thousands of blameless lives, including newborn babies.

Nature is indifferent to our narratives.

Launch of children’s book ‘Ollie Shoots for the Sun’

‘Ollie Shoots for the Sun’, a children’s book written by Shailendree Wickrama Adittiya and illustrated by Danushri Welikala, was launched on 27 September at the Colombo International Book Fair, which is taking place at BMICH until 6 October. The book, which tells the story of a playful dog with an ambitious goal, is published by Neptune Publications.

The launch brought together young readers, with Esandi Jayawardana sharing her thoughts on ‘Ollie Shoots for the Sun’ and Ruanna Dias reading an excerpt from the book. Aaryan and Rahul Niveathan shared stories about their own pets. Meanwhile, mental health professional Kusumanjalee Thilakarathna spoke about the benefits of having pets and the message conveyed in the book.

In ‘Ollie Shoots for the Sun’, young readers will meet Ollie, a dog who is determined to reach a flowerpot hanging from a tree. When she is told that jumping up and down will soon send her over the Sun, Ollie has a brilliant idea.

In addition to Ollie, a dog with big dreams, the book also introduces characters such as Ginger, a snarky cat, and her son, Kat. The mischievous trio lives with their humans and is visited by Inguru, the neighbourhood smarty-pants.

Shailendree Wickrama Adittiya has been contributing to Sri Lankan newspapers since 2013, although it is with the characters Ollie, Kat, and Ginger, based on her own pets, Ollie, Calvin, and Gingie, that she ventured into creative writing.

Danushri Welikala is a Colombo-based illustrator and graphic designer who has turned her lifelong love for doodling into a career. It was in 2023 that she met Ollie, Kat, and Ginger – three characters who stole her heart.

Alcohol and tobacco usage in SL decline, reveal latest surveys

Alcohol consumption in Sri Lanka has shown a decade-long downward trend, with a new 2024 survey revealing that fewer than 30% of men are current drinkers.

Another survey conducted has revealed that tobacco use has also recorded a significant reduction in Sri Lanka and that the rate of current smokers among men has fallen to 21.6%.

Both studies were conducted by the Alcohol and Drug Information Centre (ADIC) in 2024 and found that most of the young people view drinking alcohol as a purposeless behaviour and smoking as a useless behaviour.

According to the studies, there is a significant generational shift in attitudes, with young people increasingly quitting alcohol and smoking.

The ‘Trend Survey on Alcohol Consumption in Sri Lanka – 2024’ surveyed males aged 15 and above across 11 districts, including Colombo, Jaffna, Galle, and Badulla. It found that 29.1% of participants were current consumers, defined as having consumed alcohol within the 30 days prior to the survey. This continued decline is attributed to successful alcohol control policies, public awareness campaigns, and community interventions.

The most striking is the finding that 27.9% of all participants reported being successful quitters. The motivations for quitting, however, varied significantly by age. While older individuals cited health concerns, younger people were more likely to quit because they perceived drinking as pointless.

The study highlights the need for age-specific prevention strategies that address the different values of each generation.

Peer pressure – a key driver for initiation

Despite the positive trend in quitting, the survey emphasises the powerful role of social influence in starting to drink as a significant 46.6% of current consumers reported that their first experience with alcohol was with friends. This finding reveals the critical importance of addressing peer pressure in prevention efforts, especially for young people.

Among current drinkers, 18.0% were between the ages of 15 and 21, indicating that a substantial number of young people are still initiating alcohol use. ADIC recommends implementing a national prevention program aimed specifically at children and youth to discourage them from starting in the first place.

Tax hikes curb production while boosting revenue

The report also highlights the impact of government fiscal policy on alcohol consumption as statistics from the Excise Department of Sri Lanka shows a sharp decline in total alcohol production after 2022, with successive increases in excise duties. The Government implemented a 20% tax hike in June 2023, followed by another 14% in January 2024, with a further 6% increase planned for January 2025.

While production has fallen, government revenue from alcohol excise taxes has soared, rising from Rs. 169.49 billion in 2022 to Rs. 223.25 billion in 2024. This trend, according to the report, demonstrates the effectiveness of taxation as a dual-purpose tool recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) where it successfully increases government income while simultaneously helping to reduce alcohol-related harm.

Calls for stronger policies and enforcement

The ADIC has recommended several initiatives to strengthen Sri Lanka’s alcohol control framework to reduce initiation and address the health, social, and economic impact of alcohol use. They are to expedite the adoption of proposed amendments to the National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol (NATA) Act, to implement a scientific tax formula that automatically increases excise duties annually in line with inflation and economic growth and to cease issuing temporary liquor licenses and stop granting new licenses under the pretext of promoting tourism.

The study has also recommended enhancing law enforcement to control the illegal alcohol market, to prevent interference from the alcohol industry aimed at weakening policies and to improve and implement counselling and treatment services for individuals struggling with alcohol dependency.

Smoking declines due to shift in attitudes

Meanwhile the ADIC study on tobacco use in Sri Lanka has also found a sharp decrease in smoking mainly due to the success of national tobacco control policies and a significant generational shift in attitudes, with a majority of young people quitting or reducing their use because they perceive smoking as a useless behaviour.

The ‘Trend Survey on Tobacco Use in Sri Lanka – 2024’ surveyed males aged 15 and above across 11 districts to map contemporary smocking patterns. The findings show that while progress is being made, significant challenges, particularly peer pressure and industry influence, remain in the effort to create a tobacco-free generation.

A positive decline: More quitters and reduced consumption

The survey reveals a notable positive trend: 36.5% of all participants have successfully quit smoking, and an additional 20.9% of current smokers have reduced their consumption. This decline is largely attributed to important public health measures, especially tax increases.

According to the report, a 20% excise duty hike on cigarettes in 2023 proved highly effective. It not only increased government revenue by Rs. 7.7 billion but also led to a significant 18% reduction in cigarette production, equivalent to 521.5 million fewer sticks compared to the previous year.

This is also going with WHO’s recommendations that higher prices reduce the affordability of tobacco and, in the long run, decrease consumption.

The reasons for quitting and reducing use differ while price changes were a major factor. The most cited reason was the perception of tobacco use as a ‘useless behaviour’, particularly among the younger population.

Peer pressure and social gatherings

Despite the overall decline, the survey highlights that young people remain a vulnerable group as 11.6% of current smokers are between the ages of 15 and 21, indicating that underage smoking is a persistent issue.

The primary reason for initiation, according to ADIC findings, is social influence. The report states that the majority of initiations occur at social gatherings, with peer pressure being a key driving factor. ADIC warns that promotions by the tobacco industry through traditional and social media also play a significant role in creating a positive image of smoking among vulnerable groups.

The study highlights the urgent need for enhanced awareness within communities and stronger policy formulations to delay or prevent young people from starting to smoke.

Implement a ‘Tobacco-Free Generation’

The ADIC survey findings recommend several measures crucial to prevent smoking among underaged individuals. One of the main recommendations is to implement a ‘Tobacco-Free Generation’ Policy recommended by the Sri Lanka Medical Association, where sale of tobacco products to be banned to anyone born after 2010, which will facilitate substantial social and economic gains in the long run.

Among other recommendations of the ADIC are banning single stick sales to make cigarettes less affordable and accessible, especially to youth. The report calls for the strict implementation of the ban on selling single sticks, enforcing sales restrictions as survey calls for better enforcement of existing laws, including the prohibition of tobacco sales within a 100-metre radius of schools and to underage individuals, and creating a National Prevention Program, which the ADIC recommends as a program to expose tobacco industry tactics and reinforce the message that smoking is a ‘purposeless and harmful behaviour’.

Women’s status in SL needs more discussion

The key findings and recommendations of the research conducted by the UN Women program on gender equality in Sri Lanka presented to the Women Parliamentarians’ Caucus this week showed that there has been a regression in gender equality in Sri Lanka in the global context. While Sri Lanka was ranked 18th among 115 countries in 2006, it dropped to 130th among 148 countries in 2025.

The research conducted by United Nations Women (UN Women) on gender equality focused primarily on areas such as women’s economic empowerment, leadership in governance and decision-making, peace and security, and the prevention of violence against women and girls.

The report also revealed that although some of the most influential individuals in the region are women, significant inequality was identified when compared to men.

The report says what most Sri Lankan women and those in South Asia know. There is visibility of women in high places especially in the public sector in Sri Lanka, in higher education institutions, banks as well as some private sector establishments but women largely continue to play second fiddle to their male colleagues. It’s not only pay disparities but women have an uphill task trying to be taken seriously or being heard.

In addition to this, gender-based violence remains a problem and sexual harassment remains unaddressed. It is common knowledge women cannot walk in the streets or use public transport without being catcalled or having to confront unwelcome sexual overtures/gestures.

Sri Lankans often boast of having had the world’s first woman Prime Minister, which no doubt is a matter of pride to the country. Sri Lanka has since had other women leaders including current PM Harini Amarasuriya but in the fight for basic equality for women, there are still many challenges.

For one, Sri Lanka’s political sphere is woefully lacking in women. The few who make it have to weather many challenges including having to work doubly hard to be heard by their male colleagues.

The available statistics on the status of women in Sri Lanka illustrate that the country has a long way to go before women can come close to being on par in many fields with men.

According to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) , out of the 8.5 million economically active population, 72% are males and only 35% are females, women constitute 52% of Sri Lanka’s population, but female representation in Parliament is only 5.3%, the labour force participation of women as of 2021 is 33.6% of the total population and according to the findings of the study conducted in 2019 by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), 90% of Sri Lankan women and girls have faced sexual harassment in public buses and trains at least once in their lifetime.

One of the reasons that issues such as sexual harassment of women remain unaddressed is the failure to acknowledge there is such a problem. Instead what both men and women themselves do is live in denial that there are such issues and hence the problems are not confronted.

In the day of modern technology, women and girls are also the most affected by cyberbullying and new forms of harassment via social media, and telephones, etc. While there are attempts to educate the public, they are woefully inadequate with hardly any public educational programs/advertisements that send home a strong message that such actions would come with consequences.

Which is why while on one hand one can be proud as a nation that Sri Lankan women have become high achievers, not only locally but also internationally, there is a long way to go where the status of women in the country in general is concerned.

Being able to walk on the street, travel on public transport, go to a police station and lodge a complaint, all without being harassed or judged for their gender is what the country should strive for. Cosmetic changes may look pretty on the surface but the inside still remains largely rotten.

Russian envoy speaks out at Pathfinder Foundation’s ‘Ambassador’s Roundtable’

At the Ambassador’s Roundtable hosted by Pathfinder Foundation, the Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, Levan S. Dzhagaryan, provided a comprehensive overview of his Government’s position on the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, NATO expansion, international law, global energy scenario and security dynamics in the region.

The event brought together think tank experts and media professionals for a candid discussion on current geopolitical challenges, with a special focus on the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

In his remarks, the Russian Ambassador outlined historical, political, and security factors that led to Russia’s actions in Ukraine and its broader concerns regarding Western policies. Regarding Ukraine and the origins of the conflict, the Ambassador referenced the 2014 coup d’état and noted that it marked a turning point in Russia-Ukraine relations. He highlighted that the post-2014 Ukrainian Government pursued policies that alienated Russian-speaking populations in specific regions of Ukraine, and claimed that development contributed to Moscow’s decision to launch its ‘special military operation’ in 2022.

Central to the Ambassador’s presentation was Russia’s long standing opposition to NATO expansion. He stated that Ukraine’s potential membership posed a direct threat to Russian national security. Drawing parallels to the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, and military deployments near its borders, the Ambassador said he believed that the Minsk Agreements were not intended to be fully implemented – a development he described as damaging to diplomatic trust. While reiterating Russia’s stated openness to peace negotiations, the Ambassador emphasised that talks must reflect ‘realities on the ground.’ He stressed the Russian Government’s position that Ukraine must remain a neutral, non-NATO-aligned state. He also questioned the legitimacy of the Ukrainian leadership, but stated that Russia would be open to negotiations if they were ‘serious and well-prepared.’

He stated that delays in negotiation would only worsen the situation for Ukraine and that Russia remains open to talks – provided its core security demands are addressed. ‘We are not threatening anyone,’ the Ambassador said, ‘but we expect our legitimate security concerns to be respected.’

On the Iranian nuclear issue, the Ambassador reaffirmed Russia’s support for Iran’s peaceful nuclear development under international frameworks and urged the international community to support diplomacy.

Focusing on Russia-Sri Lanka bilateral relations, Ambassador Dzhagaryan observed that Russia-Sri Lanka economic cooperation remains limited due to sanctions against his country. Russian tourists visiting Sri Lanka face difficulties because of restrictions in the international payment system, particularly with blocked credit card transactions. Nonetheless, he announced that direct flights between Russia and Sri Lanka are set to resume in early October, which is expected to significantly boost tourism. He also confirmed that he is exploring avenues for economic collaboration, while acknowledging that sanctions continue to hinder large-scale projects. Regarding Sri Lankan tea and trade, he stated that Sri Lankan tea remains highly popular in Russia, with several well-known Sri Lankan brands widely available across retail outlets. The Ambassador emphasised that sanctions have not affected the tea trade and that Russia remains a key export market for Sri Lankan tea. He further noted that, despite sanctions, Russia’s domestic economy has strengthened, citing increased local production and a reduction in import dependency.

The Ambassador spoke about a recent Buddhist Forum held in Kalmykia, Russia, attended by Sri Lankan participants, and announced a forthcoming visit by a Russian delegation to Sri Lanka in October – an effort to strengthen cultural and religious ties, particularly through shared Buddhist heritage.

Following the Ambassador’s address, a broad-ranging Q and A session covered various topics. On the subject of BRICS, Ambassador Dzhagaryan emphasised that it is not an anti-Western alliance but a cooperative platform. He encouraged Sri Lanka to engage with all BRICS members regarding its membership. He also reiterated Russia’s policy of non-interference in the domestic affairs of sovereign States.

Sri Lanka-born strategist Prof. Patrick Mendis to meet corporate and national leaders

This October, Harvard-educated Prof. Patrick Mendis is scheduled to visit Colombo as the keynote speaker at the 46th National Conference of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka. This year’s theme, ‘Uprise-Navigating Geopolitics for Growth: Sri Lanka’s Strategic Play,’ takes on added weight at a time when the country is seeking stability and growth in a turbulent global environment.

The largest and most prestigious gathering-with over 2,500 business and accounting professionals attending-will meet on 8-9 October in Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte, while more than 500 executives will join the professor remotely from Asia, the Middle East, and elsewhere in the world.

Prof. Mendis is a first-class business administration and economics honours graduate of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura (USJ), and a notable alumnus leader of the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota and the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Prof. Mendis went to the United States as a high school exchange student on an American Field Service (AFS) scholarship. He was one of 10 selected from over 100,000 national applicants for the AFS program sponsored by the US Department of State.

Born in Polonnaruwa, Prof. Mendis demonstrated innate leadership talents during his formative years, when the medieval capital became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the early 1970s. In his school days, he became the best commander of the Army Cadet Corps of Sri Lanka, the sports champion, the sergeant of the Police Cadet Corps of Sri Lanka, and, most importantly, the first recipient of the UNESCO award. He later began his professional career as a management trainee at Unilever Sri Lanka.

Our first encounter

I first learned about the remarkable life of Prof. Mendis in an unlikely place. During a visit to the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic (Sri Dalada Maligawa) in Kandy, I met my relative, C.W. Karunarathne, a respected civil servant who had served as secretary to the prime minister and was then the Secretary General of the Sri Dalada Maligawa. He spoke of a young man who grew up in Polonnaruwa under the influence of both Catholic priests and Buddhist monks-a childhood that shaped his lifelong ability to bridge worlds. He also told me that he had been a mentor to this young man. I further learned that Prof. Mendis had given back early: in 1994, he established the annual Patrick Mendis Prize at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura.

Years later, when I chaired the 14th International Conference on Business Management (ICBM) in 2017, I invited our illustrious alumnus as the guest of honour and keynote speaker. Celebrating the 30th anniversary of his prize in 2024, USJ appointed him as a distinguished visiting professor and honorary fellow-recognising not only his academic achievements but also his leadership as president of the Sports Council and founding president of the World University Service at USJ.

Service to Sri Lanka and the world

His service to the motherland goes beyond the university. Alongside the renowned Amb. Jayantha Dhanapala, Prof. Mendis represented the Government of Sri Lanka at the United Nations as its first youth ambassador. For his leadership, the United Nations honoured him with the UN Medal for the International Year of the Youth.

Committed to public service, Prof. Mendis moved from the UN in New York to the US Congress in Washington to work in the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He served on the staff of Senator Rudy Boschwitz during the President Ronald Reagan administration.

After his advanced studies in geography, economics, foreign affairs, and international development at the University of Minnesota, and the executive leadership program at Harvard, Prof. Mendis held visiting faculty positions in UN studies and globalisation at Yale University and a Coolidge fellow at Columbia University. Along the way, he has travelled to or worked in more than 100 countries and authored over 250 books, journal articles, and newspaper columns.

Back in US government service, he became an award-winning diplomat and military professor at NATO and Indo-Pacific Command during President Bill Clinton years. Later, US Secretary of State Colin Powell asked him to lead the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs-managing international exchange programs such as Fulbright and Humphrey during the President George W. Bush administration. President Barack Obama appointed him as a commissioner to UNESCO, and under the Biden White House he became a presidential advisor on the National Security Education Board at the Department of Defense.

Recognising his continuous service as a global leader in higher education and international diplomacy, ‘Who’s Who in America’-the world’s premier publisher of biographical profiles-presented him with the coveted Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award.

Beyond the US: China and Sri Lanka

For more than 20 years, Prof. Patrick Mendis has also built deep ties with China, teaching at over 25 universities and academies-including Fudan, Peking, and Tsinghua, as well as the National Academy of Social Sciences. His contribution earned him the International Confucius Award in Qufu, the birthplace of Confucius.

He has stayed equally engaged in Sri Lanka-lecturing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the University of Colombo, the Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies, the National Institute of Security Studies, the Kadirgamar Institute of International Relations and Strategic Studies, the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka, and the Sir John Kotelawala Defence University.

While serving as the founding chairman of the Educate Lanka Foundation, Prof. Mendis also established scholarships for students in Sri Lanka and provided microloans to entrepreneurs in more than 50 countries. He also served as an advisor and contributor to ‘The Encyclopedia of the Sri Lankan Diaspora,’ a multiyear project of the National University of Singapore. In recognition of his service to the motherland, the Sri Lanka Foundation in Los Angeles honoured him with its Lifetime Achievement Award.

Globalising Sri Lanka

A transition from humble rural upbringing with water buffaloes in a three-acre rice field in Polonnaruwa to the corridors of power in Washington and New York could not have been achieved without the guidance of illustrious mentors in Sri Lanka and the United States.

For Prof. Patrick Mendis, it is the power of education-both intellectual dexterity and emotional maturity-that made his global journey possible.

?17.9M social pension released to 5.9K elderly in Surigao City

A total of 5,986 indigent senior citizens from different villages in Surigao City received their third-quarter social pension during the two days of distribution activities spearheaded by the DSWD-13 and the city government.

A total of P17.9 million in social pension were released during the September 24 and 25 payout, implemented by the Department of Social Welfare and Development-Caraga Region (DSWD-13) and the City Social Welfare and Development Office.

Elderly beneficiaries received P3,000 each, covering the months of July to September.

‘The welfare of our senior citizens, especially the indigents, is among the top priorities of the city administration,’ the Public Information Office said in a statement Friday.

The city government also thanked the DSWD-13 for its collaboration in ensuring the timely release of the stipends.

Michele, 24, who accompanied her 74-year-old grandmother to the payout, said the family is thankful for the continuing support.

‘The P3,000 stipend is already allocated for her medicines, especially for her maintenance for hypertension, diabetes and vitamins,’ she said.