Gamini Herath has been working in Seychelles for 27 years (Picture: Seychelles Nation)
Sri Lankan-born Gamini Herath will be completing two years as the Auditor General of Seychelles on March 31 this year.
Herath who is married to a Seychellois, Giselle, and has a daughter, Ashley, has been working in the Indian Ocean archipelago, situated 1500 km east of mainland East Africa, for 27 years before he was appointed to the key post in 115-island nation in 2017.
Herath was born in Molagoda, a beautiful village in Kandy, and had his primary education in the village school. Later, he followed his higher studies at Nugawela Central and Kandy Dharmaraja College before entering the University of Jayewardenepura to follow a Bachelor of Commerce degree. He was studying for the Chartered Accountancy simultaneously, working as an audit clerk, attending university lectures in the evenings, also devoting his weekends to catch up with what he lost during the week, by copying notes from friends.
“My parents were teachers and there were 10 siblings in my family. We had a big land where we cultivated fruits and vegetables, a paddy field, cattle and we did not have to buy anything from the groceries.,” he says describing his life in Molagoda.
Talking to Sri Lankan website Rivira Online, Herath said as a student coming from a village he had to face lot of discrimination at Dharmaraja College and that repression toughened him, making him decide to study harder and perform better than the city boys. Herath recorded the second best A Level results in the district.
He describes his university days as politically volatile. “There were lot of political problems within the campus with attempts to recruit us for political activism and create havoc. But when there were moves to disrupt our exams by forcing us to stay away from answering papers during our final exams, some of us got together and resisted such attempts.” He says the leading Sri Lankan businessman W.K.H. Wegapitiya and politician Ranjith Siymbalapitiya were his batchmates.
Speaking to Seychelles Nation newspaper, Herath said that he joined the audit department in 1986, married his Seychelles wife in 1992 and became a naturalized citizen in 1996. Out of his 27 years of experience, he served as the deputy to the auditor general for 12 years. Since 2014, he has been the chairman of the Government Audit Committee which liaises with government ministries and departments to ensure that the recommendations made in the Auditor General’s reports are properly followed up.
Herath who works 12 hours a day including few hours in the weekend, describes him as a ‘jack of all trades’. In his spare time he grows vegetables and fruits in his garden – like what he did as a child in his village – and has a passion for raising orchids, growing some rare, colourful varieties.
He says he is a self-made journalist and frequently writes articles to local newspapers on various national and international issues. He is engaged in photography and making short videos. His three-minute short film titled ‘One Step Long Journey’ made for an international competition on environment is on You Tube.
Herath is also an active member of Seychelles Buddhist Association. Religious harmony took centre stage when he was sworn as the Auditor General by Seychelles President Danny Faure. The swearing-in was followed by a religious ceremony conducted according to Buddhist, Christian and Islamic faiths. R.B. Ekanayake conducted the Buddhist ceremony.
Herath writes poems and his daughter Ashley is following in her father’s footsteps, writing poems to Seychelles newspapers on the theme of ‘Values for One, Values for All’, chosen by Seychelles National Youth Council to promote good values among young people.
Herath opted to take up the job in Seychelles even after obtaining the US Green Card and Canadian PR status. He describes the Niagara Falls as one of the most beautiful places he has seen in his life. “It was so breathtaking that I kept gazing at it from afar for a long time, completely lost in my thoughts.”
Politically, Seychelles has a chequered history. Britain granted Independence in 1976 and In 1977 France Albert René ousted president James Mancham to capture power in an armed coup. In the 1980s there were a series of coup attempts against President René. Some these coups were supported by South Africa. In 1991 the one-party system was abolished heralding the return of multiparty democracy to the island nation and President Faure was sworn in on 16 October 2016. – newstrails.com
