Mayor of Colombo facts for kids

The Mayor of Colombo is the elected head of the Colombo Municipal Council. The post was created in 1866 when the Colombo Municipal Council was established by the Legislative Council of Ceylon. The mayor is assisted by the deputy mayor and a Municipal Commissioner. Since 1944 all but two of the mayors that have served have been from the United National Party (UNP), with one being a UNP-backed independent.

Election

The mayor is elected in a general election held under the Local Authority Election Ordinance from the party gaining the highest number of seats in the municipal council. Once elected the mayor may hold office for four years.

Powers and functions

Most powers are derived from the Municipal Council Ordinance No. 29 of 1947. The Mayor serves as the chief executive of the municipal council.

The municipal council is responsible for:

• Social service
• Health and environmental issues
• Emergency services (not policing, which is the responsibility of the central government)
• Urban planning
• Sanitation (waste, sewage)

Rights and privileges

The mayoral office is located at the Colombo Town Hall and the official mayoral residence is Sirinivasa. The mayor's legal title is His/Her Worship the Mayor of Colombo.

Under the provisions of the Municipal Councils Ordinance the mayor and deputy mayor are ex-official Justice of the Peace and Unofficial Magistrates for the administrative district in which the municipality is situated for the duration of their tenure. This is provided so that the mayor or deputy mayor may preside over the municipal magistrate's court.

Official dress

On formal occasions the Mayor wears a scarlet gown with the Mayoral Chain of Office.

Salary

The Mayor of Colombo's salary is Rs 30,000 per month, which is same of all mayors of municipalities in Sri Lanka.

List of mayors

Parties

      United National Party       Sri Lanka Freedom Party       Independent

Mayors

Name		Portrait	Party	Took office	Left office	Refs
	Saravanamuttu, RatnasothyRatnasothy Saravanamuttu			May 1937	December 1937
	Schokman, V. R. S.V. R. S. Schokman			January 1938	December 1939
	Goonesinghe, A. E.A. E. Goonesinghe			January 1940	December 1940
	Saravanamuttu, RatnasothyRatnasothy Saravanamuttu			January 1941	December 1942
	de Silva, George R.George R. de Silva			January 1943	December 1943
	de Mel, R. A.R. A. de Mel			January 1944	December 1944
	de Mel, R. S. F.R. S. F. de Mel			January 1945	December 1945
	de Mel, R. A.R. A. de Mel			January 1946	December 1946
	de Mel, R. S. F.R. S. F. de Mel			January 1947	December 1949
	Ratnam, KumaranKumaran Ratnam			January 1950	December 1950
	Sellamuttu, S.S. Sellamuttu			January 1951	December 1951
	Grero, C. T.C. T. Grero			January 1952	11 August 1953
	Rudra, T.T. Rudra			21 September 1953	13 August 1954
	Perera, N. M.N. M. Perera		Lanka Sama Samaja Party	13 August 1954	28 February 1956
	Sugathadasa, V. A.V. A. Sugathadasa		United National Party	6 March 1956	1 December 1957
	Mohamed, M. H.M. H. Mohamed		United National Party	12 January 1960	10 January 1963
	Sugathadasa, V. A.V. A. Sugathadasa		United National Party	10 January 1963	10 April 1965
	Perera, VincentVincent Perera		United National Party	10 April 1965	1966
	Cader, Jabir A.Jabir A. Cader		United National Party	1966	1969
	Perera, VincentVincent Perera		United National Party	1970	1973
	Fowzie, A. H. M.A. H. M. Fowzie		United National Party	1974	1977
	Cooray, B. SirisenaB. Sirisena Cooray		United National Party	1979	1989
	Mohamad, M. HussainM. Hussain Mohamad		United National Party	1989	1991
	Rajapakse, RatnasiriRatnasiri Rajapakse		United National Party	1991	1994
	Ganeshalingam, K.K. Ganeshalingam		United National Party	June 1996	March 1997
	Jayasuriya, KaruKaru Jayasuriya		United National Party	1997	1999
	Kamil, OmarOmar Kamil		United National Party	1999	2002
	Gunawardena, PrasannaPrasanna Gunawardena		United National Party	3 June 2002	2006
	Imitiyas, Uvais MohamedUvais Mohamed Imitiyas		Independent UNP-backed	2 June 2006	2010
	Muzammil, A. J. M.A. J. M. Muzammil		United National Party	17 October 2011	31 March 2016
	Senanayake, RosyRosy Senanayake		United National Party	6 March 2018	19 March 2023