CITIZENS FOR ACCOUNTABLE GOVERNANCE LANKA

How do we propose to do this?
By providing a “ C A G Accountability Accreditation” to proposed contestants for any elected office and/or election at Municipal/Urban Council, Provincial Council or Pradeshiya Sabha, Parliament and public officers based on their suitability, back ground and level of commitment provided that he/she shall comply with warranties, covenants and obligations morefully set out in the Deed of Declaration and other mechanisms and criteria set forth, during the period as a contestant, as well as the entire tenure as a politician and/or public officer in Sri Lanka. Read More


CAG Lanka promotes such declarants, who are in full compliance with obligations and criteria set forth, as “C A G Accredited Contestant”, “C A G Accredited Politician” or “C A G Accredited Public Officer” respectively, as per the Accountability Status maintained by such individuals. Conversely, in exercising its counter mechanism, promotes and assists with legal and equitable remedies by C A G Lanka or its nominee, against those declarants, who failed, neglected or refused to comply or breached their obligations or such covenants.

About us:

CAG Lanka is an organization limited by guarantee and is governed by a board of directors in the name of “Executive Accreditation Board”. In addition there is a separate ”Board of Governance” which will oversee the performance of the “Executive Accreditation Board”.




The ‘Executive Accreditation Board’ in conjunction with or under the guidance of the ‘Board of Governance’ carries out its functionalities, including without limitation;




• to the scrutiny of information, monitoring and evaluating the declarants’ performance as covenanted, whilst maintaining transparency and accountability for delivery.
• to provide the voter a mechanism to select suitable candidates to be elected as politicians or appointed as public officers so that the people of Sri Lanka can ensure that the representatives they appoint to govern them represents their aspirations.

Accordingly "C A G LANKA" works as monitoring Watchdog, “C A G Lanka” with the objective:

1. to ensure the formulation and presentation of policy driven alternatives to activate and strengthen State institutions in the executive, legislative and judicial arms of Government at all levels, local, provincial and central in order to construct and give life to a true Republic within the meaning of the Constitution.


2. to promote transparent and accountable governance, by fostering establishment of performance-based, platform-oriented politics, candidacy and active citizenship.


3. of fostering the establishment of obligatory public disclosure, feedback and performance evaluation mechanism driven by citizens’ queries.


4. to hold accountable all elected officials and public officers in all spheres of government by securing formal and binding pledges to ensure that they duly perform their duties within the expectations of the state in a transparent, credible and accountable manner.


5. to secure public security and the defense of the sovereign rights of the citizenry and the territorial integrity of Sri Lanka by promoting a national consciousness beyond division in a unified setting within the diverse groups and the community the establishment of a just and free society in Sri Lanka.


6. to preserve and protect public property and to combat misuse and waste of public property and to protect nature and conserve the riches of Sri Lanka.
7. to foster the State achieving its objectives as set out in the Constitution of Sri Lanka; and


8. to promote bringing about suitable and effective Legal Reforms safeguarding rights and values bestowed in the People of Sri Lanka.



CITIZENS FOR ACCOUNTABLE GOVERNANCE LANKA TRUST LIMITED (“C A G Trust”)

"C A G Trust" is a trust formed for charitable purposes, whereby the Declarant and his/her immediate respective family members, jointly or severally have as settlors, collectively, voluntarily and irrevocably vested the Initial Trust Properties and further vested/transferred/relinquished/assigned/donated such undeclared or proven to be ill-gotten assets and beneficial interests, if any, in favour of C A G Trust, as morefully set out in the irrevocable Trust Deed executed by such settlors. whilst irrevocably appointing C A G Lanka Trust as "Trustees”




The “C A G Trust” has been irrevocably appointed as the Trustee under the said Deed of Trust, which is governed by an independent “Board of Trustees”. Furthermore, the incumbent Public Trustee of Sri Lanka shall be the Custodian Trustee of C A G Trust.




As part of its purposes, C A G Trust functions as “Trustees”:




1. To serve for the benefit of the people of Sri Lanka and in furtherance of its purposes at the discretion of the Board of Trustees, inter alia, to:
   
   • Support or aid in the establishment and support of public schools, places of worship, public facilities and amenities including sports, leisure and social activities, promoting commerce, art and sports, assisting charitable associations and institutions, creating funds, trusts and arrangements calculated to benefit general public and to subscribe or make donations to charitable, scientific, public or benevolent objects calculated to promote the interests of the people of Sri Lanka;
   • Act as Trustee of or for any fund created for any of such purposes or for the benefit of the general public or such persons and generally to provide for the welfare of any or all such beneficiaries;


2. To retain or pay to or apply, any part or all of the net income of C A G Trust, for the benefit of the beneficiaries of the C A G Trust or use in furtherance of the purposes, at such intervals and in such amounts as the Board of Trustees from time to time deem requisite and/or desirable and/or to comply with any applicable legal requirements;


3. To accept, at any time and from time to time, such additional property as may be donated to, assigned to, transferred to or vested in it to be held upon and subject to the trusts contained in Trust Deeds and any Income generated from such properties, together with any income from Trust property, donations and additional trust properties;


4. To take appropriate action including appropriate legal process before courts of competent jurisdiction or compel relevant authorities to take appropriate actions to:


• source, trace or recover any such properties so vested in C A G Trust or Trustee under Trust Deeds so executed, including but not limited to undeclared foreign assets, securities and beneficial interests;


• to source and obtain relevant information pertaining to all and worldwide assets, beneficial interests and liabilities of respective settlors of such deeds of trust;


• to prosecute or to prove or declare that particular property or beneficial interest, has become a trust asset under such trust deeds so executed in favour of the company;


5. To source, recover, manage and utilize the trust properties of the C A G Trust for the benefit of the beneficiaries, the people of Sri Lanka;


6. To make necessary disclosures for the purposes, reasonably required under such trust deeds, in conformity with the law


7. To
• formally execute documents pertaining to such transfer, assignment, donation, vesting or relinquishment of any such trust assets and to obtain vacant and lawful possession of such properties to the “CAG Trust”; and/or
• execute such documents and or by the registrar or competent authority or his nominee of the appropriate court of the respective jurisdiction, in the event respective settlors failed or refused or neglected to do so; and/or
• make applications before respective court to obtain appropriate vesting orders in terms of respective laws; and/or
• obtain suitable ex-parte writs or any other decrees for recovery of the possession of such properties, which have become trust assets of the “C A G Trust”; and/or
• obtain orders from a respective court mandatorily compelling the respective settlors or such other persons in violation of the Deeds of Trust for specific performance of his/her/their respective obligations or any other suitable remedies; and/or
• To request in writing from the settlors such information relating to any assets or beneficial interests, which the board of trustees determines or reasonably believes to be legally or beneficially owned by such settlors, where-so-ever held; and/or
• To establish and maintain bank accounts in reputable banks, in the name of the C A G Trust and to receive funds for the Trust, as appropriate, to be held in such bank accounts.


8. To


• exchange, distribute, assign, sell, transfer, renounce, or convey, the trust property or trust assets and collective charitable trust property; and
• enter into a license for, grant an option on, or encumber the trust assets, grant licenses for the use of the trust assets on such terms, if it is in the best interest of the beneficiaries of C A G Trust;
9. To secure contributions or commitments from third parties to contribute or make available sufficient funds to or on behalf of the C A G Trust to administer the C A G Trust and to maintain the trust assets;


10. To distribute the trust assets to an organization to be used in furtherance of the purposes of the C A G Trust, after the payment or making provisions for the payment of all of the liabilities of the C A G Trust, in the event of termination or dissolution of the C A G Trust for any reason and any such trust assets not so disposed of, may be disposed of by a court of competent jurisdiction, exclusively for said purposes;


11. To pay the expenses of administering C A G Trust and C A G Lanka Limited, which may include, but shall not be limited to, the reasonable costs of administering C A G Trust and C A G Lanka Limited, including legal and accounting fees, as appropriate, the payment of filing fees and maintenance fees for the trust assets, and the reasonable costs incurred in administering C A G Trust and C A G Lanka Limited;


12. To take, any action(s) with respect of (i) sourcing, tracing and recovering of any Trust Asset, or against (ii) any unauthorized use, (iii) infringement, (iv) dilution of property included in the trust assets or vested in the C A G Trust;


13. To provide necessary guidance to C A G Lanka Limited for its smooth functioning and execution of its obligations;


14. To do all such other things as shall be incidental or conducive to the attainment of the objects abovementioned, or any of them or any one or more of the objects aforesaid.