Sri Lanka
USA
Canada
India
UK
UAE
Bradman Weerakoon, a veteran civil servant who has served nine Sri Lankan heads of State in a career spanning half a century passed away yesterday, at the age of 94.
He was born in Colombo, on October 20, 1930 and named after the legendary Australian cricketer Don Bradman who sailed to Colombo on the day of his birth.
Weerakoon joined the Ceylon Civil Service in 1954 and was assigned as a cadet to the Anuradhapura Kachcheri as an understudy to the Government Agent (GA) of Anuradhapura.
In 1953, he was appointed the Assistant Secretary to the Prime Minister at the time, Sir John Kotelawela. He later became the Secretary to the Prime Minister and continued after SWRD Bandaranaike became the Prime Minister in 1956.
After his death, he served Wijayananda Dahanayake and Sirimavo Bandaranaike. Thereafter he worked for Dudley Senanayake.
In 1977, J. R. Jayewardene appointed him as the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Plantation. In 1980, he joined the Prime Minister’s Office once again as Secretary during the tenure of Prime Minister Ranasinghe Premadasa. Following the ethnic riots of 1983, he was appointed Commissioner-General of Essential Services with wide-ranging administrative powers. Following President Premadasa’s assumption of office, he was appointed Presidential Advisor on International Affairs.
After Premadasa’s death, he continued as the advisor of his successor D.B. Wijetunge, and resigned in 1994 when Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga became the President.
After Ranil Wickremesinghe became the Prime Minister in 2001, Weerakoon was reappointed to his previous position of Secretary to the Prime Minister.
