Commander of the Air Force, Air Marshal Harsha Abeywickrama, was the chief guest at the commemorative ceremony held, on 1 April 2012 at the Kotelawala Defence University (KDU) premises, to mark the 115th birth anniversary of former Prime Minster of Sri Lanka, the Late General Sir John Kotelawala.

Former Chancellor of the KDU General (Rtd) J.E.D. Perera, Vice Chancellor Major General Milinda Pieris,  Air Commodore Ajantha Silva and relatives of the Late General Sir John Kotelawala’s family paid floral tribute to the General Sir John Kotelawala statue at the commencement of the day's proceedings.

The Commander delivered a speech at the ceremony highlighting the Late General’s historically more significant achievements which tend to be overlooked by his fascinating and daring tales of audacity, aggressiveness and outspokenness. Emphasizing on how he beat all odds of a highly underprivileged family situation to become the third Prime Minister of our country, the Commander especially encouraged the young officer cadets of the KDU to draw inspiration from the great success story of their benefactor who achieved extraordinary success through strong faith in himself, wise use of opportunities and strokes of good fortune.