God help anyone in government who now labours under the vastly expanded powers of the restored Deputy Prime Minister, Manoa Kamikamica, who wasn’t totally supportive of him during his tussle with FICAC.
That’s the word as a wave of fear spreads through the civil service that Mr Sweet plans not only to take over from Sitiveni Rabuka as soon as it can be arranged but intends to purge those he suspects aren’t loyal to him.
The process has already started with Kamikamica going after his persecutors at FICAC by blaming them for the delay in laying charges over the Walesi affair – what he describes as “abuse of office, as far as I’m concerned” in Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum giving control of the broadcast platform and a great deal of money to his Auckland-based crony, Robert Khan.
Barely 48 hours had passed since Kamikamica’s acquittal on the charge of perjury laid by FICAC than he publicly went on the attack, questioning why the corruption watchdog had taken no action despite receiving files from his ministry a year ago.
It is being seen as a clear attempt to embarrass FICAC’s Acting Commissioner, Lavi Rokoika, as payback for pursuing him. And there is a lot more coming, if the current whispers from those who aren’t Kamikamica fans and who fear retribution are correct.
Mr Sweet’s public persona is of a beaming, avuncular, gentle giant solely intent on doing what is best for the country. Yet we have been given a fresh insight into Kamikamica that belies his carefully-crafted image of modesty – the solid gold ring with what looks like his own initials on it that he was captured sporting on his left hand as he arrived at State House for his swearing-in.
Seriously. Who in Fiji has a huge ring on his wedding finger when most people have either a modest single band or for most men, nothing at all? Easy. Someone with a very high opinion of themselves. And make no mistake. Manoa Kamikamica thinks he’s the bee’s knees, so much so that in the days since his acquittal, his agitation to replace the Prime Minister has roared back into life again.
It isn’t a question now of waiting patiently until the old man goes gracefully. Kamikamica and his supporters are reportedly spreading the world that Sitiveni Rabuka is now so debilitated by age and unable to lead that he must be replaced as a matter of urgency. And by whom ? You guessed it, Fiji. The man with the solid gold ring.
Anyone else might think that assuming the d’Hondt system isn’t changed before the election, the People’s Alliance needs the “big man” vote of Rolex Rambo – the only big man, in fact, still left standing since Frank Bainimarama was consigned to history by his prison sentence. But not ambitious Manoa.
It is a matter of historical fact that even before the 2022 election, when he was a hardly a national figure, Kamikamica and his supporters were trying to get Rabuka to stand aside for what they were casting as a “new generation” untainted by the coups of the past.
It was never going to fly. Had Kamikamica got his way, it would have been a landslide Bainimarama victory in ’22 as the PAP went into the election not with a “big man” but a relative unknown. Yet incredibly, it seems, Mr Sweet still hasn’t learnt his lesson. And he and his supporters still think that if Rabuka stands aside now, Kamikamica will storm into government with an increased majority. See what I mean? Completely deluded.
Now that he has been given control of public enterprises on top of his other portfolios, Mr Sweet has more power than he has ever wielded. Which means that anyone working under him who hasn’t always been a fan, let alone loyal during his travails in the courts, should be afraid. Very afraid. Because far from his public image as Mr Cuddly, Manoa Sweet is utterly ruthless. And Mrs Sweet is said to be even more sour.
Yet it’s all very well to have power. What anyone in politics needs to effectively wield power is judgment. And poor Manoa doesn’t have any, or not enough, as we have witnessed over and over during the term of this government.
- Believing that he was capable of beating Frank Bainimarama at the last election when the proverbial Blind Freddy could have seen that was impossible.
- Believing he could go up to FICAC and talk about his own case with Francis Puleiwai, the exiled former acting deputy commissioner, without being accused of intimidation.
- Believing that it was appropriate to talk with fellow ministers who were under FICAC investigation about their cases and allegedly offering to assist.
- Constantly boasting of multi-billion dollar projects that are coming to Fiji because of his efforts as minister that either don’t materialise or which are defective and contrary to the national interest.
- And worst of all, at least politically, supporting the unconscionable average 138 per cent increase in MP’s salaries and benefits with the preposterous statement that getting more money would make him work harder as a minister. As if he wasn’t already obliged to work hard.
Grubsheet has already opined that Manoa Kamikamica is unfit to be prime minister and we have been newly reminded why as the union push for a “living wage” of $8 an hour instead of the current $5 is being ruled out by the business community.
The main industry group says Fijian workers have already had a 115 per cent increase in the minimum wage and the nation can’t afford anymore. Yet on the say-so of Manoa Kamikamica and other members of Coalition of Bling like Lynda Tabuya, our MPs gave themselves average pay rises of 138 per cent.
They presumably call that wage justice under the warped values of this government, which is enough in itself to send the Coalition packing and thwart the ambitions of Manoa “I’ll work harder if you pay me more” Kamikamica to ever be prime minister.
We need people in Fiji who lead by example, not sport solid gold rings that are ostentatious symbols of wealth when there is abject poverty all around them. I never thought I would see the day when I willed Sitiveni Rabuka to ward off a leadership challenge but he must fight to resist Manoa Kamikamica’s grab for the top.
Why? Because he embodies a “new generation” alright. But it is a generation we don’t need mainly because it is just as bad, if not worse, than the old.
What Fiji needs now is principled leadership more in the manner of Kamikamica’s late father – Josefata Kamikamica, the best prime minister Fiji never had – instead of the money grabbing, self-serving rabble that includes his gold-loving son.
The increased power Kamikamica now wields.
A man already coming after his persecutors at FICAC…
And why you won’t be seeing a “living wage” of $8 an hour because that would be a 115 per cent increase over the past five years when our politicians gave themselves average increases of 138 per cent.
Their idea of social justice.
Not a problem for Mr “I’m not an ATM” Sweet.
“Psst. Anyone seen an ATM around here?”
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