{"id":162373,"date":"2016-05-14T15:44:10","date_gmt":"2016-05-14T10:14:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=162373"},"modified":"2016-05-19T10:59:30","modified_gmt":"2016-05-19T05:29:30","slug":"yahapalanaya-government-sponsors-rajapaksas-personal-trip-to-uganda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/yahapalanaya-government-sponsors-rajapaksas-personal-trip-to-uganda\/","title":{"rendered":"Yahapalanaya Government Sponsors Rajapaksa\u2019s Personal Trip To Uganda"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Former President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Mahinda+Rajapaksa&amp;x=13&amp;y=1\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Mahinda Rajapaksa<\/span><\/a>\u2019s trip to Uganda has plunged into controversy, after reports claimed that the Yahapalanaya Government had sponsored his Business Class airfare of Rs. 425,000 to Uganda.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/yahapalanaya-government-sponsors-rajapaksas-personal-trip-to-uganda\/mahinda-49\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-162374\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft  wp-image-162374\" src=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Mahinda-.jpg\" alt=\"Mahinda\" width=\"489\" height=\"652\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Mahinda-.jpg 720w, https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Mahinda--225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 489px) 100vw, 489px\" \/><\/a>Rajapaksa, is in Uganda to participate in the fifth swearing in ceremony of the country\u2019s controversial President, Yoweri Museveni, and was taking part in the ceremony on a personal capacity, and not representing the state.<\/p>\n<p>The Ravaya newspaper revealed that Mahinda Rajapaksa\u2019s private secretary Udith Lokubandara had in a letter requested Foreign Secretary <a href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s=Chitranganee+Wagiswara&amp;x=10&amp;y=7\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Chitranganee Wagiswara<\/span><\/a> to bear the expenses of Rajapaksa\u2019s travel, and accommodation cost. However, it is learnt that the Foreign Ministry had only borne the cost for Rajapaksa\u2019s business class airfare. He and his delegation are reportedly staying at the luxurious Speke Resort Munyonyo, in Kampala.<\/p>\n<p>Among others who joined Rajapaksa on the trip were; Gamini Lokuge, Udith Lokubandara, Lohan Ratwatte, Dhanasiri Amaratunge and several others.<\/p>\n<p>The Foreign Ministry is yet to issue a statement explaining on what grounds the Government sponsored Rajapaksa\u2019s personal trip to Uganda.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":162374,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1,6969,2375],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-162373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-news","category-popular-stories","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - 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