Glowing tributes to exdiplomat Karunatilaka Amunugama

The funeral of a retired Foreign Secretary and senior Sri Lanka Foreign Service officer Karunatilaka Amunugama took place on Friday (15). He passed away on Tuesday at the age of 63 after a sudden illness.

A product of the Sri Jayawardhanapura University, Dr. Amunugama received his doctorate in Manpower Planning from Britain. He joined the Sri Lanka Foreign Service in 1985 and served in several missions overseas. His career in the Foreign Service saw him serve in Cairo and Singapore and later as Chief of Protocol and as head of missions in Thailand, Japan and Germany. His last stint as Ambassador was in Berlin where he served from 2013 till September 2017.

He also served briefly as Secretary to the Ministry of Investment Promotion. In a condolence message, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that it was deeply saddened by the passing away of the former Foreign Secretary and Ambassador, stating that he served the country with dedication.

President Maithripala Sirisena,P rime Minister Ranil Wickeremsinghe and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa along with senior diplomats from the countries in which Dr. Amunugama served were among the many who paid their final respects to Mr. Amunugama at the funeral parlour.

Several public officials headed by those in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were present at the funeral. One-time Foreign Secretary Bernard Goonathilake made the funeral oration on behalf of Dr. Amunugama’s colleagues in the Foreign Service. He referred to his late colleague’s passing away after a sudden and brief illness preventing many from seeing him during his illness.

Dr. Sarath Amunugama, a younger brother of Dr. Amunugama, spoke on behalf of the family and thanked the medical staff at Asiri Hospital and the Apeksha (Hope) Cancer Hospital at Maharagama for the attention they provided during Dr. Amunugama’s sudden illness.