Nandasena Gotabaya Rajapaksa RWP RSP psc GR is a Sri Lankan politician and former military officer currently serving as the country’s eighth President.
From 2005 until 2015, he was Secretary to the Ministry of Defence and Urban Development under his elder brother, former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, leading the Sri Lankan Armed Forces to the Tamil Tigers’ military defeat ended the Sri Lankan Civil War.
Rajapaksa has been out from the nation since July 13 and has designated Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as Acting President to carry out Presidential duties in his absence.
Rajapaksa was born into a prominent political family from the Southern Province and attended Ananda College in Colombo before joining the Sri Lankan Army in April 1971.
He was commissioned as a signals officer after basic training at the Army Training Centre in Diyatalawa and afterward assigned to several infantry regiments.
He served with the elite Gajaba Regiment in the early phases of the Sri Lankan Civil War, participating in several significant offensives such as the Vadamarachi Operation, Operation Strike Hard, and Operation Thrividha Balaya, as well as counter-insurgency operations during the 1987-1989 JVP insurgency.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s Early Career
On April 26, 1971, while Sri Lanka was still a part of the British Commonwealth and the JVP uprising was still going on, Rajapaksa enlisted in the Sri Lankan Army as a Cadet Officer.
On May 26, 1972, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Sri Lanka Signals Corps after completing his basic officer training at the Army Training Center, Diyatalawa, in its fourth intake.
Soon after, he was transferred to the Military College of Signals, Rawalpindi, for the signal young officer’s course. Upon his return, Colonel Tissa Weeratunga appointed him to the position of signals officer for the Task Force Anti Illicit Immigration, stationed at its headquarters in Palaly.
He was promoted to Lieutenant in April 1974, and in October, he was sent as an infantry officer to the Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment. He participated in the infantry young officers program in April 1975 at the School of Infantry and Tactics, Quetta.
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After his return in June, he was given the position of battalion intelligence officer at the Echelon Barracks in Colombo, and in April 1977, he was given the rank of Captain. In August 1977, he was posted to the Army Training Centre, Diyatalawa as an officer instructor following the change of administration in the 1977 general election.
He was designated Grade III Staff Officer of A branch in January 1978, running the Diyatalawa Garrison. He participated in preparing a report on the encroachment of state territories in the north and eastern provinces for the Defense Ministry at this time. He attended the senior staff and tactics school at the Panagoda Cantonment.
After that, in 1980, he became the adjutant of the newly founded Rajarata Rifles, which Lieutenant Colonel V. K. Nanayakkara led. Rajapaksa was instrumental in creating Saliyapura as the new regiment’s regimental headquarters.
He graduated from the University of Madras with an MSc in Defense and Strategic Studies and attended the Counter-Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School in Assam the following year. In 1982, he was chosen to enroll in the Command and Staff Course at the Defence Services Staff College in Wellington, India.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s Net Worth
The net worth of Sri Lanka’s eighth president is $10 million. The net wealth of Sri Lanka’s President has come under scrutiny following the country’s economic crisis, which has resulted in significant protests across the country.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s Personal Life
Nandasena Gotabaya Rajapaksa was born as the fifth of nine siblings in Palatuwa, Matara Area, and raised in Weeraketiya, Hambantota’s southern rural district. He comes from a prominent political family in Sri Lanka.
His father, D. A. Rajapaksa, was a notable politician, independence activist, Member of Parliament, Deputy Speaker, and Cabinet Minister of Agriculture and Land in the government of Wijeyananda Dahanayake.
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His elder brother, Mahinda Rajapaksa, was elected to parliament as a member of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party at the age of 24 in 1970 and ascended through the party ranks to become Leader of the Opposition in 2001, Prime Minister in 2004, and President of Sri Lanka in 2005.
Chamal Rajapaksa and Basil Rajapaksa, two of his other brothers, are active Parliament members. He attended Ananda College in Colombo for his elementary and secondary studies.
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Following his retirement, he pursued a President’sate diploma in information technology from the University of Colombo. He began working as a Marketing Manager for Informatics, a Colombo-based IT firm, in 1992.
He later moved to the United States in 1998, working as a Systems Integrator and Unix Solaris Administrator at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, California.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s Wife
Ioma Rajapaksa is Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s wife. Manoj Rajapaksa, their son, married Sewwandi Liyanaarachchi in 2011.
Awards and Honors Given to Gotabaya Rajapaksa
| Year | Awards and Honours |
| 1994 | Rana Wickrama Padakkama (RWP) |
| 1994 | Rana Sura Padakkama (RSP) |
| 1994 | Desha Putra Sammanaya |
| 2010 | Eastern Humanitarian Operations Model |
| 2010 | Northern Humanitarian Operations Model |
| 1984 | Purna Bhumi Padakkama |
| 1986 | North and East Operations Model |
| 1987 | Vadamarachhi operation Model |
| 1984 | Sri Lanka Armed Services Long Service Medal |
| 1978 | President’s Inauguration Medal |