Yoshitha Rajapaksa is a Sri Lankan sportsman and naval officer. He is the son of the sixth president of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa. He was a lieutenant in the Sri Lanka Navy and an aide-de-camp to the President. He is one of the owners of Carlton Sports Network one of the several organizations such as Carlton Pre school and Carlton rugby named after the Carlton House of the Rajapaksa. and was a former captain of the Sri Lanka national rugby union team and the Navy SC rugby team.. He currently plays for the CH & FC in the Dialog Rugby League. His usual position is Flanker, but can also switch to Number 8. On January 30, 2016, Yoshitha Rajapaksa and several senior executives of the Carlton Sports Network Channel were remanded by the Kaduwela Magistrate on charges of financial crimes including alleged charges on money laundering.
Early life and family
He is the second son of Mahinda Rajapaksa and Shiranthi Rajapaksa. He has two brothers – Namal and Rohitha. His paternal grandfather D. A. Rajapaksa was a Member of Parliament and Minister of Agriculture and Land in Wijeyananda Dahanayake's government. His maternal grandfather, E. P. Wickramasinghe was a retired commodore in the Sri Lanka Navy. Rajapaksa was educated at S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia.
Naval career
Training
In 2006, he joined the Sri Lanka Navy as a cadet officer and received his basic training at the Naval and Maritime Academy where he was promoted to Midshipmen and appointed aide-de-camp to his father the President. Soon thereafter he proceed to Britannia Royal Naval College for his officer training and underwent training on board during her deployment to the Caribbean and with the Fast Attack Flotilla. In 2009, he was commissioned as an Acting Sub Lieutenant in Executive Branch of the Sri Lanka Navy.
Decommission
In January 2015, he was decommissioned from then rank of lieutenant by his father President Mahinda Rajapaksa, soon after the latter's defeat at the 2015 Sri Lankan presidential election discharging him from the navy.
Following the 2015 presidential election the Defence Secretary of Sri Lanka sent a letter to the Navy Commander directing a probe on how Yoshitha joined the Navy, how he received overseas scholarships and his alleged engagement in active politics and other activities while being a naval officer. Navy Spokesperson Commander Kosala Warnakulasuriya announced that the Navy has received a letter about Yoshitha from the Defence Secretary and that a probe will be launched into the issues being raised. Yoshitha's resignation letter has not been approved by the Navy Commander and he is serving at the Sri Lanka Navy headquarters. Investigations by a Parliamentary Committee revealed in January 2016 that Yoshitha lacked the qualifications needed for enrollment in the navy, failing to get the minimum results after sitting twice for ordinary level exams. It was further revealed that the state spent over Rs.22.23 million for his training in the United Kingdom and Ukraine.
Reinstatement
Rajapaksa was reinstated on 25 September 2019, with effect from 28 February 2016 by the Navy Commander on orders of President Maithripala Sirisena to the rank of Lieutenant which he held in 2015. He was subsequently promoted to the temporary rank of Lieutenant Commander and appointed as an ADC to a flag officer on 2 October 2019, two days before his wedding that was held per naval traditions on 4 October 2019 in Colombo.
Sports career
Rugby
In 2005 he made the S. Thomas' College's first XV rugby team and in his final year he captained the team. In 2009 he was appointed captain of the Navy Sports Club Rugby team and in 2012 Rajapaska went on to captain the Sri Lanka national rugby union team, who were the runners-up in the 2012 Asian Five Nations Division 1 tournament in the Philippines. The national team, under Rajapaska's captaincy, were then successful in winning the 2013 Asian Five Nations Division 1 competition, which qualified them to compete in the 2014 HSBC Asian Five Nations tournament in Japan. Unfortunately Rajapaksa was injured and unable to compete in the 2014 HSBC Asian Five Nations. Rajapaska was also a member of the national rugby sevens team, leading the team which won the Bowl at the 2011 Bourneo Sevens, and competing at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland. In March 2014 Rajapaska was appointed as the head coach of the Ananda College rugby team. Yoshitha Rajapaksa and his brother Rohitha Rajapaksa lost their captaincy of the Navy rugby team and the Army rugby team respectively after they were under probe for using assets under their fathers presidency. They were asked by authorities not to attend practices until further notice.
On May 16, 2012 Wasim Thajudeen, a Sri Lankan rugby player, died in a suspicious car accident in Colombo. It was initially reported that his car hit a wall on the road setting the car on fire and Thajudeen perished inside the car. After the defeat of President Mahinda Rajapaksa on January 8, 2015, Sri Lankan authorities reopened the case due to new evidence, and currently investigating it as a murder. Several news outlets have alleged that Yoshitha Rajapaksa is the mastermind behind the murder because of rivalry and jealousy over a former girlfriend. However, the former president Rajapaksa denied murder allegations against his son, claiming that the investigation is politically motivated.
Financial irregularities at the CSN
He was arrested under Section 32 of the Penal Code and was remanded in January 2016 by Kaduwela Magistrate Dhammika Hemapala over the alleged financial irregularities at the CSN, where he was unable to prove the funds use to run the TV station and misuse of public funds. Yoshitha is accused of money laundering to the tune of Rs. 365 million, criminal breach of trust, forgery and undervaluing imported items obtained by CSN. FCID detectives said that they had seized Rs. 165 million from the CSN bank account which not been accounted and the alleged funds for setting up the television channel are believed to be from illegal foreign sources.
Family
Yoshitha Rajapakse married Nitheesha Jayasekera, daughter of businessman Ananda Jayasekara on 3 October 2019 and the wedding was held at the Galle Face Hotel in Colombo.
