Vice Admiral Mohan Wijewickrama, RSP, VSV, USP (born 12 June 1953) is a former Sri Lankan senior naval officer turned politician. He served as the Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Navy from 2001 to 2005. He was appointed

Governor of North Eastern Province The Governor of the North Eastern Province, Sri Lanka ( si, උතුරු සහ නැගෙනහිර පළාත් ආණ්ඩුකාරවරයා ''Uthuru saha Nægenahira palāth āndukāravarayā'') was responsible for the manag ...

from 2006 to 2007 and Governor of Eastern Province from 2007 to 2015, while serving as acting Governor of Northern Province. He is the current Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Pakistan.

Education

Wijewickrama was educated at

Thurstan College Thurstan College ( si, තර්ස්ටන් විද්‍යාලය) is a National school (Sri Lanka), national school for boys in Colombo, Western Province, Sri Lanka, Western Province, Sri Lanka, providing primary and secondary education ...

Naval career

After completing his education, he joined the

Sri Lanka Navy ta, இலங்கை கடற்படை , image = Sri Lanka Naval Seal.png , image_size = 180px , caption = Emblem of Sri Lanka Navy , dates = , c ...

on 1 August 1971. During his career in the Navy he had served as the Deputy Commander, Western Naval Area (1993–1995); Deputy Commander, Northern Naval Area (1995–1996); Commander, Southern Naval Area (1996–1998); Commander, Eastern Naval Area (1998–2000); Commander, Northern Naval Area (2000–2001). From 2001 to 2005 he functioned as the Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Navy. He retired from the service in 2005 with the rank of

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

, when he was overlooked for the position of the Commander of the Navy by then president

Chandrika Kumaratunga Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga ( si, චන්ද්‍රිකා බණ්ඩාරනායක කුමාරතුංග, ta, சந்திரிகா பண்டாரநாயக்க குமாரதுங்க; born 29 Ju ...

. In 2019 President Maithripala Sirisena corrected the injustice that occurred to him in 2005, by bestowing him with the rank of Vice Admiral from the date of retirement.

Political career

Wijewickrama was appointed as

on 21 January 2006, by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Mahinda Rajapaksa Mahinda Rajapaksa ( si, මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ, ta, மஹிந்த ராஜபக்ஷ; born Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa; 18 November 1945) is a Sri Lankan politician. He served as the President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to ...

. With the de-merger of the two Provinces, he was appointed as the Governor of the Eastern Province in December 2006, the appointment he held till the election defeat of President Rajapaksa 2015. He was appointed as the co-chair for the District Development Committees (DDC) for Ampare, Batticaloa and Trincomalee.A Brief History of Eastern Provincial Council
/ref> He was an active member of Viyathmaga a professional organisation that supported President

Gotabaya Rajapaksa Lieutenant Colonel Nandasena Gotabaya Rajapaksa ( si, නන්දසේන ගෝඨාභය රාජපක්ෂ; ta, நந்தசேன கோட்டாபய ராஜபக்ஷ; born 20 June 1949) is a former Sri Lankan militar ...

's presidential campaign in 2019. He was appointed as the Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Pakistan in June 2020.

Awards

His awards and decorations include the Medals;

Rana Sura Padakkama Rana Sura Padakkama (RSP, Combat Excellence Medal) ( Sinhala: රණ ශූර පදක්කම ''rana śūra padakkama'') is awarded to servicepersons of all ranks of the regular and volunteer forces of the Military of Sri Lanka for individual ...

(RSP),

Vishista Seva Vibhushanaya The Vishista Seva Vibhushanaya (VSV, Distinguished Service Decoration) ( Sinhala: විශිෂ්ට සේවා විභූෂණය ''viṣiṣta sēvā vibhūṣaṇaya'') is awarded to senior officers of the Military of Sri Lanka in reco ...

(VSV),

Uttama Seva Padakkama The Uttama Seva Padakkama (USP, Eminent Service Medal) ( Sinhala: උත්තම සේවා පදක්කම ''uṭṭama sēvā padakkama'') is presented to all ranks of the regular forces of the Sri Lankan military for: Award process Th ...

(USP),

Sri Lanka Armed Services Long Service Medal __NOTOC__ The Sri Lanka Armed Services Long Service Medal ( Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා සන්නද්ධ සේවා දීර්ඝ සේවා පදක්කම ''Śrī Laṃkā ārakśaka sēvā dhīrgha sēvā padakkama'') i ...

Riviresa Campaign Services Medal The Riviresa Campaign Services Medal ( Sinhala: රිවිරැස මෙහෙයුම් පදක්කම ''riviræsa meheyum padakkama'') was a campaign medal presented to all ranks of the regular and volunteer forces of the Military of ...

and

Republic of Sri Lanka Armed Services Medal The Republic of Sri Lanka Armed Services Medal was awarded to members of the regular and volunteer forces of the Military of Sri Lanka who were in service on 22 May 1972, subject to recommendation by the commanders of the respective service com ...

Family

Wijewickrama is married to Nishani and has a son and a daughter.

References

External links

Eastern Provincial Council Governor's Secretariat
, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Wijewickrama, Mohan 1953 births Living people High Commissioners of Sri Lanka to Pakistan Governors of North Eastern Province, Sri Lanka Governors of Northern Province, Sri Lanka Governors of Eastern Province, Sri Lanka Sri Lankan vice admirals Sinhalese military personnel Alumni of Thurstan College