appointing new scout Head: Former SL Scout Commissioner responds to president’s spokesperson

Click Here ... The letter written by Janaprith Fernando

The following is a ‘response letter’ penned by former Commissioner of the Sri Lanka Scout Association, Janaprith Fernando, to an article that appeared in the Daily Mirror on January 28 under the headline “Appointment of new chief Scout Commissioner raises eyebrows”.  The response letter has been sent to the Secretary to the President, Presidential Secretariat and copied to the Daily Mirror. Respecting journalistic ethics of unbiased reporting and the right to respond, we (Daily Mirror) publish Mr. Fernando’s response to the President’s Office in full. 

Secretary to the President,

Presidential Secretariat,

Colombo 1.

Dear Sir,

COMMENT MADE BY THE SPOKESPERSON OF THE PRESIDENT’S OFFICE TO

THE DAILY MIRROR ON 28.01.2026.

Reference to the above Daily Mirror article, I wish to bring to your notice on the comment made by the Spokesperson of the President’s office;

1) Though the Spokesperson has stated there have been petitions filed against me and not to renew my warrant for 2025 and 2026. There has been no intimation of any such petition being received and calling for any explanation either from me, the Committee of the Scout

Council or the Association. During the year, the Senior Commissioners, Headquarters Commissioners, Life Members of the Association and Committee of the Council have written several letters to the Presidential Secretariat that a few disgruntled individuals were sending petitions, and explaining reasons about the baseless content of the said petitions. In the said letters it has also been emphasized that transparency, accountability and all good governance practices have been adhered and have also informed of the growth and progress of SLSA under my stewardship.

2) We have sent progress reports, personally sent letters and an affidavit to the President’s Secretariat when I became aware that anonymous and other petitions are been submitted to the President’s Office and that I am ready to face any inquiry or reply any allegations brought against me, to which I have not received any response to date

3) I am surprised to read the comment of the Spokesperson of the President’s office which is carried in the Daily Mirror citing “petitions were filed against the former Chief Commissioner last year too, as well as about his mistakes and not to appoint him….”. I must place on record that my appointment with effect from 01.10. 2021 and is valid for 5 years and the Chief Scout at the end of each year renews the warrant and it is not an appointment but only a renewal as well explained in the newspaper article.

4) As stated by the Spokesperson, if mistakes have been committed by me, we are at a miss to understand why the warrants of all other Senior Commissioners, Headquarters Commissioners and District Commissioners have not been renewed by the Secretariat.

Further, at present some of the Senior Commissioners and District Commissioners are being removed by the Chief Commissioner without any charges being leveled against them. This has never happened in the 114-year history of the Association

5) As per rules of Natural Justice, in the event any petitions have been received against a person, that person should have a right to answer those allegations and an independent inquiry should have been held and a decision made. That is the general practice expected from any office and specially, the Office of the President, as my career spanning over 45

years as an active scout can be tarnished and defamed by this statement.

6) I kindly request that an independent inquiry be conducted with the participation of all Petitioners and myself being summoned to the President’s Office.

Yours faithfully,

Janaprith Fernando

Attorney-at-Law