Anura’s last will and testament: Legal process begins

by Shamindra Ferdinando
The late MP Anura Bandaranaike’s last will and testament, which had been in the custody of a US-based attorney-at-law Kavinda Walgampaya, a close associate, had been sent to Colombo, well informed sources said.

The four executors of the will and the family would now be able to go ahead with the legal process, the sources said.

The executors are Thirukumaran Nadesan, prominent businessman and husband of Nerupama Rajapaksa, MP, Mohammed Onais, Gamini Gunaratne and Shanaka De Livera.

Two of the executors, namely Gamini Gunaratne, a UNP Provincial Councillor and Shanaka De Livera, a cousin of Bandaranaike, are among the five trustees tasked with executing the will. Sunethra Bandaranaike heads the trustees. Among them is a one-time friend who had subsequently fallen out with Anura.

The sources asserted Anura hadn’t appointed Chandrika Kumaratunga as a trustee due to his political animosity with her at the time the will was written in early May 1996.

Anura who had been with the then UNP Opposition, revealed his hostility towards the then President Kumaratunga when on the eve of an election he declared that once the PA was defeated, he would personally take Kumaratunga to Katunayake and banish her.

Of MPs Pradeep Hapangama, Tilak Karunaratne and Mervin Silva and Provincial Councillor Gamini Gunaratne who switched allegiance to the UNP along with Bandaranaike, only Mervyn Silva had returned to the SLFP when Anura had de-camped the UNP, the sources said.

Fielding questions, a close friend of the former Speaker said what was circulated in Colombo about a week after Mr. Bandaranaike’s death was initially believed to be a copy of a previous will. In fact, attorney-at-law Murugesu and Neelakanthan, too, only had a copy of the will which was a copy of the original recently sent from the US.

The source speculated that one of the beneficiaries of the bachelor’s generosity had posted a copy of his own copy to national newspapers as he thought that it would be advantageous to him.

The US-based attorney-at-law had been Bandaranaike’s private secretary during his tenure as the Leader of the Opposition. He had visited the ailing MP at Visumpaya shortly before his death on March 16th.

Bandaranaike’s third month death anniversary falls on Monday (June 16th). The family has planned to distribute dry rations at Horagolla to mark the anniversary.

According to the will, Bandaranaike’s state-of-the-art house at Rosmead Place and 101 perches of Broomfield in Nuwara Eliya would be sold and monies invested at maximum possible returns. The proceeds would be spent to provide scholarships to needy students from Attanagalle and Dompe electorates, the sources said.

Meanwhile, the 65A at Rosmead Place had become the abode for Jith Peiris who had been given accommodation at Visumpaya when Anura lived there. With two of Anura’s former valets allowed there to look after Peiris, the house had become a regular haunt for a group of men, the sources said.

The four valets who received sizeable plots of land at Horagolla some time ago would receive additional blocks according to the will.