Anil Giri

Nepali Ambassador to Australia Lucky Sherpa left for Australia on Monday after the Nepali government told her to pack up and return to Kathmandu. Sherpa, who had been accused by her driver Wongchhu Sherpa of taking money from Nepalis to smuggle them into Australia, is under pressure to resign. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned her to Kathmandu from Canberra four weeks ago to carry out an investigation into the allegation.

Two sources within the ruling Nepal Communist Party told the Post that she has already tendered her resignation to Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli after she was asked to put her papers by the two co-chairs of the party, Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal.

Once she returns to Kathmandu, her resignation will be approved and made public, said sources.

A report submitted by a panel of three joint secretaries at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also suggested that the government should not give continuity to her career as an ambassador after she failed to provide convincing evidences against the charges by her own driver. Ambassador Sherpa’s former driver Wongchhu  has also accused her and her husband of running a human trafficking racket. Wongchhu, who was reportedly fired from his job last November, claimed in a recent television interview that he was ordered by the Sherpa couple to collect money from several individuals in Nepal in return for a safe passage to Australia.

Wongchhu also said that he has a recording of a phone conversation between him and the ambassador to corroborate his claim.

Published On: 17 January 2019 | The Kathmandu Post