Tamara's key in the wrong keyhole

Tamara Kunanayakam, Sri Lanka's former Ambassador to the UN in Geneva, has responded to a report in these columns last week. She writes (extracts):

"… The story that I did not leave behind the keys for my successor to occupy the Official Residence in Geneva is an outright lie. Had your journalist taken the trouble to verify the facts with the Ministry of External Affairs, you would have known that the Ministry had granted me time until 24th July to pack my heavy luggage and then proceed to Colombo. My successor, who received his transfer order at the same time that I did, was given time until 10th August to pack his heavy luggage, and vacate the Residence in Brussels for his successor.

"There are procedures about moving to ensure that Government funds are not misused, so sufficient time has to be given for the move from one station to another. Procedures require three quotations to be submitted for Ministry approval, after which the selected company is contacted and a date fixed for packing and removal of the heavy luggage. It is normal diplomatic practice for an envoy to arrive at a new posting only after the predecessor has vacated the Residence! When I was transferred to Geneva last year, I was instructed to arrive only after my predecessor had left. I suppose this is true for all Government servants on transfer. However, in a departure from normal practice, my successor was asked to arrive in Geneva before my departure, whereas his successor was asked to move to Brussels only after his departure! How can I be accused of refusing to give the key to a Residence that I was clearly authorised to occupy and was still occupying at the time of his arrival?

"The insinuation that the Government is being forced by me to use taxpayer's money to pay my successor's hotel bill is yet another calumny. By repeating falsehoods passed on by those intent on maligning me, the Sunday Times is not only discrediting itself, but also the journalist profession. Obviously, your newspaper did not make the effort to verify the facts, because it knew the story to be a lie. One wonders then at the hidden motives and to whose benefit….".

The sources I rely on have no mud to sling but only embarrassing facts to throw. They hurt no doubt. She talks of "journalist taking the trouble" to contact her. Intriguing enough, every time the Sunday Times tried to reach her, either by e-mail or telephone, it has proved futile. E-mails are not answered. Phone calls, answered by a male voice, have directed us either to her office or home only to be told "she is not in." That is from a Sri Lankan head of mission sustained by the Sri Lankan taxpayer's money.

Now, to the issue at dispute. To use Ms. Kunanayakam's own words: "…..I was instructed to arrive only after my predecessor had left. I suppose this is true for all Government servants on transfer. However, in a departure from normal practice, my successor was asked to arrive in Geneva before my departure, whereas his successor was asked to move to Brussels only after his departure! How can I be accused of refusing to give the key to a Residence that I was clearly authorised to occupy and was still occupying at the time of his arrival?"

This leaves many questions unanswered though Ms. Kunanayakam says there was no need for her to hand over the keys. Who asked her successor to arrive in Geneva before her departure? She is now trying to blame the External Affairs Ministry again for sending her successor to Geneva before she packed her bags and left.

Had she just left for Havana on transfer without first riding the moral high horse and all that public posturing about her refusal to accept the transfer, and eventually eating humble pie by going to the Cuban capital, much of this could have easily be avoided. Prima Donna hopefuls must know when they have fallen from grace, surely.