Finding honest public officials

The Integrity Icon campaign seeks to “name & fame” honest public officials who carry out their duty with integrity notwithstanding external and internal pressures

Following the success of the Integrity Idol Campaign held last year, Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) said in a media release that it was  pleased to announce that the campaign would be conducted in 2019as well, with a face-lift, having been re-branded as Integrity Icon. 
The media release said:
“Initially conceptualised by Accountability Lab, a global organisation that seeks to support change-makers to develop and implement positive ideas for integrity in their communities, 
Integrity Icon was held in Sri Lanka last year under the title “Integrity Idol 2018” with the theme 
“Honouring Honesty”. 
Globally, the Integrity Icon campaign is being held this year in Nepal, Pakistan, South Africa and Mexico amongst other nations. 
The Integrity Icon campaign seeks to “name & fame” honest public officials who carry out their duty with integrity notwithstanding external and 
internal pressures. 
A key component that differentiates the Integrity Icon award from similar campaigns is the element of public participation, wherein the public is called upon to nominate public officials whom they see as deserving of the title and are then given the opportunity to vote for their favourite amongst the five shortlisted integrity icons. 
Nominations for Integrity Icon 2019 are now open and can be submitted until 31 July 2019. The Integrity Icon handbook and nomination forms can be downloaded from the official website www.integrityicon.lk or by calling 0711 295 295. At the end of the nominations period, a panel of five judges, chaired by former Deputy Auditor General Mr Lalith Ambanwala, himself a former winner of the National Integrity Award, will begin the task of reviewing the applications and conducting interviews to finalise the short list of five integrity icons. The campaign will culminate in the grand finalé to be held in October 2019, where following a two-week SMS voting period, the winner of Integrity Icon 2019 will be announced. 
Any permanent employee of the state with more than 5 years of experience and at least 5 years of service left until retirement can be nominated for Integrity Icon 2019.  
Over 300 nominations were received last year from across 23 districts. Mr P. Karunaratne Bandara, Divisional Education Director for Thambuttegama emerged as the winner of Integrity Idol 2018 polling the highest from more than 10,000 votes cast in the SMS poll.