Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe was informed of the matter by Minister Harin Fernando; the prime minister immediately intervened into the matter and instructed his secretary to inform relevant parties that Muhunthan will remain and shall not be removed, and he shall continue in the position of Managing Director and CEO, say sources at the PM’s office.

Muhunthan Canagey is a close confidente of Ranil Wickremasinghe and has been working closely with the party at recent elections. He was in charge of the social media communications team for presidential elections and also headed the team which stopped any possible computer fraud on election counting. He was a key player in the victory of president Maithripala Sirisena.

Sources close to Minister Harin Fernando said that the minister met the PM and informed him about this matter a few days ago.

The ICTA is now allocated over Rs. 10 billion from the current budget and many seem to be having sudden interest of the institution.

Some of the key projects are digital identity and electronic passport which have come under pressure from certain camps, as eNIC projects which has been originally budgeted at Rs. 14.5 Billion, a similar system now seems to be able to be implemented by ICTA for less than Rs. 5 billion. It is also revealed the the ICTA system has greater function than that of the eNIC.

Also some sources indicate that signing and bring Google Balloon Internet has also upset some telecommunications operators who will now lose control in terms of coverage. Recently, a cabinet appointed ministerial committee approved the Google project and asked for the frequency to be released for test to Google.

Some sources have also indicated that the recent push by Canagey for adoption of the National Data Sharing Policy and the Social Media Policy for the government has upset key administrators as data will have to be shared and made public, this would mean more transparency.

It seems that as the plans for Digital transformation takes place the only way to stop or take control is to remove the key man holding the high office. Researching the profile of Muhunthan Canagey, he seems to be highly qualified and has all the necessary qualifications and experience to hold such a position, he has also been in the IT industry for over 20 years and proved to be a very successful entrepreneur.

Muhunthan Canagey was not available for comment.

When some members from the industry were contacted they mentioned that for the first time there is a vision ICTA has brought for the country in the Digital era and the plans laid out seem very promising for the digital economy.