Western Province Governor Hanif Yusoof has notified President Anura Kumara Dissanayake of his intention to step down from the post, citing growing demands on his time from his concurrent roles and family commitments.
In a statement issued Sunday evening, Yusoof said balancing his responsibilities as governor with his additional duties as the President’s Special Envoy for Foreign Direct Investment had become increasingly challenging, adding that he had conveyed his intention to resign “some time ago” amid recent media speculation over his position.
“At the request of His Excellency, I will continue to serve as Governor until a suitable successor is identified, in order to ensure a smooth and orderly transition,” Yusoof said in the statement, carried by Newswire and Ada Derana.
After stepping down as governor, Yusoof said he intended to continue in his voluntary honorary role as the President’s special envoy on foreign direct investment, using his international networks to attract investment to Sri Lanka. The envoy role has taken him to several capitals; earlier this year he led a US investment roundtable that engaged SpaceX, Apple and other major American firms.
Yusoof was appointed Western Province Governor in 2024 under President Dissanayake’s first wave of provincial appointments. The Western Province — which covers Colombo, Gampaha and Kalutara districts and accounts for the bulk of Sri Lanka’s economic output — is the country’s most politically and economically significant gubernatorial seat.
No successor has been named. The resignation marks the first publicly announced gubernatorial departure under the NPP administration.
