Assumption of duties by the New Secretary Defence
November 20, 2019The newly appointed Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, Major General (Rtd) Kamal Gunaratne WWV RWP RSP USP ndc psc MPhil, assumed office during a ceremony held at the Ministry, today (20 November 2019).
The new Secretary received his letter of appointment from His Excellency Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka at the Presidential Secretariat on 19 November 2019.
The new Secretary was accorded a drive pass and Guard of Honour upon his arrival at the Ministry. He later officially took over duties at his office whilst chanting of ‘Seth Pirith’ by members of the Maha Sangha.
Chief of Defence Staff, Tri Service Commanders, Acting IGP, senior Ministry officials, heads of institutions under the purview of the Ministry and many other senior officials were present at the occasion.
Thereafter, a brief discussion was held at the ministry auditorium with the participation of ministry staff. Addressing the gathering, Secretary Defence requested his staff to work competently as a team to upgrade the efficiency of the ministry thereby making the ministry more splendorous.
Major General (Rtd) Kamal Gunaratne is an old student of Dharmapala Vidyalaya, Pannipitiya and Ananda College, Colombo. He joined the Sri Lanka Army in 1981 as a Officer Cadet and underwent training at the Sri Lanka Military Academy, Diyatalawa.
He was General Officer Commanding (GOC) 53 Division during the Humanitarian Operation and was holding the appointment of Commander Security Forces Wanni prior to his retirement on 5 September 2016. He has also held the principle Staff Officer Appointments as the Adjutant General and the Master General Ordnance in Army Headquarters in his career. He also held a diplomatic appointment as the Deputy Ambassador to Brazil.
