Seriously. What has Ratu Tevita Mara – aka Roko Ului – ever done to warrant national respect? He was a moderately successful soldier until he fled from Fiji to Tonga after plotting against Frank Bainimarama.
Then he returned to Fiji after Christopher Pryde was removed as DPP partly for threatening to arrest him for fleeing justice even as his convicted co-conspirator, Pita Driti, served a jail sentence and unlike Tevita Mara, did the time for his crime.
Driti’s recent and untimely death reminds us that privilege and an accident of birth makes all the difference in Fiji. No jail cell for Roko Ului, just the luxury of a job in the Tongan royal household until Sitiveni Rabuka returned to power and the law that was applied to Pita Driti was suspended for Tevita Mara’s benefit.
Now installed as the high chief of Lau, Mara’s life of privilege continues just like the life of privilege of his father, the late Tui Nayau and the nation’s founding prime minister, Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara. But with one big difference. Mara the elder put himself forward for national leadership and even today, is remembered for his ability to unify the country and make Fiji “the way the world should be” (in the words of Pope Paul VI)
Ratu Sir Kamisese’s son has begun to make a series of pronouncements on the way Fiji should be but it isn’t good enough. If Ratu Tevita is really serious about being taken seriously, he must get out of his chiefly chair in Tubou, Lakeba and follow his father into national life.
Rumours have been rife that SODELPA has offered him a seat for the coming election. But that’s not good enough either. If Roko Ului wants to follow his father into politics, it must be as leader of SODELPA.
Why? Because the current leader, Aseri Radrodro, is a lame duck – saddled first by the ignominy of having almost killed Sitiveni Rabuka‘s daughter in a domestic violence attack and then his “brutal” rogering of the lamentable Minister for Bonking and Weed, Lynda Tabuya, in Room 233 of Melbourne’s Windsor Hotel in 2023.
Whatever ignominy plagues Tevita Mara for having evaded justice in Fiji by fleeing to Tonga pales into insignificance against the unpunished crimes of Aseri Radrodro, who is patently unfit to lead SODELPA and must be removed if it is to have any chance of prevailing at the election.
So memo Ratu Mara:
- Use your influence as nephew of the former SODELPA leader and Rewa high chief, Ro Teimumu Kepa – the sister of your late mother Ro Lady Lala Mara – to gain control of the party.
- Then unite Lau – the islands and the Lauan diaspora – with the people of Rewa and the parts of Nadroga loyal to the memory of your mother and make a bold and decisive play to lead the nation.
Destiny awaits. You also have the ability to attract the support of people of all backgrounds who remember, respect and admire your late father. As Grubsheet has written before, it is time for Lau and Lakeba – the place where I spent my earliest childhood years – to be great again.
Don’t just write articles aping your fellow chief, Ro Naulu Mataitini. Get out there and stand for national leadership. I don’t happen to agree with everything you say but as your father will have told you, life is an education in itself. So take the mantle of leadership he has bequeathed you, get some good people around you willing to put the national interest first and turn your hereditary privilege into working hard for the nation we owe so much to your father for launching by entering parliament and genuinely making a difference.
Fiji needs you. It is not too late to do what your esteemed father did – forge a multiracial government of Fiji’s best people not so much to build Fiji this time but to arrest its current decline.
The truth is that in four more years – given the appalling challenges you have been writing about – it may be too late to save the nation from itself. So yalo vinaka, please just do it. For all our sakes. Because the People’s Alliance under Sitiveni Rabuka has proved itself incapable of the task and time is running out.
NOTE: For more stories on Ratu Tevita Mara, just type his name into the Grubsheet search engine.
Lots of great background material is readily available here.
Like many individuals who inherit aristocratic titles or status, there seems to be a persistent confusion between inherited legacy and contemporary relevance. Their standing exists because of the legacy of their forefathers—not necessarily because of anything they themselves have contributed to modern Fiji.
What is more troubling is that, well into the 21st century, some descendants still appear unable—or unwilling—to reconcile inherited privilege with the realities of a modern, democratic Fiji.
Perhaps what deserves greater reflection is how much of this perceived relevance is sustained by genuine contemporary contribution, and how much survives simply because ordinary Fijians continue to show deference out of respect for history and tradition.
Respect for one’s ancestors is admirable. But ancestry is not an achievement, and inherited status should not become a permanent claim to relevance, entitlement or authority.
Perhaps the real test of relevance is simple: if these spirited and outspoken aristocrats genuinely believe they command such influence among ordinary Fijians, they should stand for general elections and let the people decide just how much weight their name actually carries.
Modern Fiji should be judged by what people contribute today—not by the social standing they inherited yesterday.
Brilliantly put. Vinaka!
There isn’t a single chief who has the “IT” factor in them. They are all useless imbeciles. The people know it too. Remember Ro Temumu and Ratu Naqaima were both rejected comprehensively at the last election. Ratu Naqaima came in thru the back door to become Speaker and President as we all know. The Vunivalu, Ratu Apenisa was also useless as President of SODELPA. the rest in the GCC are utterly useless.
So raising your hopes for a big name and relying on Ratu Ului to step up is asking for an untalented person with nothing to offer and but the name of his long dead father is a bit rich. He has no idea. In fact the reason Fiji is where it is today is because of his father who was unceremoniously dumped by the current PM almost 30 or 40 years ago.
He did not unite the country at all. People forget, Ratu Mara was responsible for the “first coup” in 1977 when the NFP won that election and it has been downhill since then. Revering him as a great leader is for uninformed imbeciles. And his son is no different.
No apologies for raining on your parade. The GCC or its members are definitely not the answer to Fiji’s problems. Too much tradition and culture and no substance. Too much hot air from all who are in the GCC. The main problem in Fiji ARE the iTaukei. There is no other problem and it definitely is not the vulagi population.
Proudly an “uninformed imbecile” myself. But your own grasp on history is glaringly deficient. In 1977, the NFP willingly stood aside for Ratu Mara and that is established fact. So it wasn’t a coup at all.
The point I am making is that Ratu Tevita Mara is the sole potential alternative “big man” to Sitiveni Rabuka capable of getting a mass vote under the d’Hondt system, which is what the coming election will be fought on whatever the speculation to the contrary. Why? Because Rabuka will make sure of it in the knowledge that he is currently the only “big man” and to keep Manoa Kamikamica at bay.
Were Tevita Mara to step forward and unite Lau, Rewa, some of Nadroga and enough non-indigenous voters behind him, he is the only plausible contender capable of dislodging Rabuka. What else is he going to do for the next four years? Write opinion pieces for the Fiji Times?
You are clearly a disillusioned Indo-Fijian and I can well understand your disillusionment. But if no plausible alternative emerges with less than six months to the election, rest assured that Rolex Rambo will win again. And if you think that is in the national interest given the chaos of the past four years, then the nation will get what it deserves.
Just one point.
Had the NFP not stepped aside in 77, Butadroka and the RFMF would have simply brought forward the Rabuka Coups.
Perhaps accelerated the current chaos,sooner?
I lived through those years as a young lad and would not wish the venom and racism on anyone, least of all my friends, family and grandchildren.
Fiji is reaping what they sowed all those years ago.
History repeats itself, and it unfortunately will not be kind.
Just witness the breakdown in law and order,crime rates,poverty etc under all these years of ITaukei rule.
Wiil anyone acknowledge decimating the Indo Fijian population has backfired ?
Merit and ability should be the only criteria.
Did NFP stand aside or were forced to step back? I thought it was NFP who objected to Late Koya becoming the Prime Minister because he was a Muslim? Because of the infighting the President declared The Alliance Party, Ratu Mara to take control of the government?
It certainly wasn’t a Mara coup.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_1977_Fijian_general_election
NFP didn’t step aside . Koya was denied the PM role after the actions of the Governor General Ratu Penaia Ganilau.
Well that shows how much you know. The governor-general at the time was Ratu Sir George Cakobau. Ganilau didn’t become GG until February 1983, nearly six years later.
Please refer to the Wikipedia entry I have posted above.
Yes I will accept that Ratu George was the GG. However Koya had an appointment to be sworn in as the PM only to be told on his arrival that the GG had already sworn in Ratu Mara as the PM.
the gg moniker may be incorrect but it was the gg who carried out fiji’s first ever coup.
that office has been on the nose ever since.
I do not agree with the statement that “the main problem in Fiji are the iTaukei,” and I believe that comment should be respectfully called out.
If the intention is to identify particular cultural, political or social behaviours that may be contributing to some of Fiji’s current challenges, then let us identify and debate those behaviours honestly and specifically. But grouping an entire ethnic community together and declaring them to be “the problem” is neither accurate nor constructive. It is precisely this kind of racial generalisation that continues to divide Fiji and can, if left unchecked, create space for more extreme forms of thinking.
I would assume — and hope — that what the author alias “identifying the problem” is actually referring to are certain attitudes and behaviours that can be observed among some sections of the iTaukei community, including attitudes towards politics, business, work, change and social expectations. Those are legitimate issues for discussion. But not every iTaukei person thinks or behaves in the same way, and suggesting otherwise is both irresponsible and unnecessarily sensational.
There is also a legitimate conversation to be had about communal mindsets and the importance of collective compliance and belonging within traditional iTaukei social structures. There can be safety, identity and acceptance in being part of the collective, and these traditions have an important place in communal and village life. But whether those same approaches translate effectively into a modern economy, political system and national development agenda is a completely different question — and one that deserves to be examined rather than assumed.
As Fiji moves towards another election, I believe we have a responsibility to raise the level of the conversation. We should be provoking thought, encouraging healthy dissent and challenging ideas — not simply seeking social influence, likes or attention.
And that applies to all of us, regardless of race.
If we genuinely want to move Fiji forward, perhaps we need to spend less time asking who should receive the attention or occupy the spotlight, and more time asking what values we can collectively stand behind. More humility, less grandstanding and posturing. More substance, less personality politics.
We do not have to agree with one another. In fact, healthy disagreement is essential to a democracy. But we should be able to disagree without reducing Fiji’s problems to the ethnicity of its people.
We all have a part to play in influencing conversation, agendas and public thought — long before any of that can translate into meaningful economic, social, environmental or political results.
That, to me, is the conversation Fiji needs to be having.
The iTaukei make up 75% of the population, in my estimation, and own 93% of the land and they still want land rights? Their predicment is all someone else’s fault!
So if the Itaukei aren’t the problem who or what is, the vulagi? I reckon they all should stop complaining and pack up and go back to where they came from, that is go back to Palestine.
I have to agree Aseri is not a capable leader! If he can have an affair as a Minister- imagine when he becomes PM! He is known to be loose when he gets drunk and that’s high risk.
Fiji deserves better and Aseri is a liability to the people.
Gosh….loose drunkards and gun toting rebels…Just like an old pirate ship! Question beckons….who will be made to walk the plank in 2026?!
SODELPA is being held back from being an effective alternative to the People’s Alliance by the Naitasiri gang who control it and control Aseri Radrodro. The Tui Nayau would have to deal with them first but they need to realise he is the best chance for them to get votes on the scale of the PAP.
Mara would have to be smart enough to manage all the competing provincial interests to take on the Cakaudrove mafia that is currently in power in the form of Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu and Sitiveni Rabuka.
You say it is time for Lau to be great again but greatness must go beyond gaining power and influence in the vanua and enjoying the privileges of office. If he can become leader, Mara has the chance to turn SODELPA into a multiracial party and be a genuine unifier of the iTaukei and everyone else.
That’s what his father did with the Alliance Party and it is the only way forward for Fiji as a whole.
Guess what Fiji? Rabuka is leading us all into a trap. He is promising electoral change but has no intention of changing anything before the election. The d’Hondt system will stay because he benefits most and so will the five per cent threshold.
All these parties registering for the election (12 so far? ) don’t get it. Apart maybe from the ex-Bainimarama gang in People First and One Nation and MPC’s Labour, the PAP is the only one certain to make the five per cent this time and only Rabuka can get enough votes to carry the rest of his party into government.
Rambo suggesting the rules might be changed is the usual bluff so everyone is encouraged to stay divided when they must unite to have any chance of even making it into the parliament. The Snake is setting himself up for another win and he is going for a majority government this time without any coalition partners. It will happen because his opponents are too stupid to see it coming.
Ratu Mara was not only responsible for 1977, he was responsible for 1987 as well. So for people to revere him is misguided judgement. Your support and encouragement for the current mob including the NFP to be voted in was bad judgement. Your support for Ratu Ului is again bad judgement.
Just like Rabuka, Ratu Ului has no solutions for Fiji. No lessons learnt about your terrible judgement. No big name idiot has any solutions for Fiji. Ratu Ului has done nothing in his life apart from having a father who was PM and having a title. Titles do not make a leader. Simply, the people of Fiji deserve what they get. They want dickheads to rule them. That is their democratic right. They choose to be idiots and that is their democratic choice. They choose to be racist Christians and that is their right and free choice in a free country.
There isn’t a single person in Fiji who can be trusted – Indian or Itaukei. The place is a complete dump and it will never change and is a lost cause. I say it again, the people of Fiji are a bigger problem than the politicians. Just look at the HIV, drugs, domestic violence and crime issues. Of course they will elect Rabuka again. After 40 years – still no brains. People never learn. We are into the next generation of brainless Fijians and that will continue into perpetuity. As they say in the mafia – it is what it is.
Didn’t people trust Baimaan Prasad and Rabuka was supposed to be a changed person? There are many more like them everywhere. Ratu Ului is no different. This is not about a one person show.Yes I am a very angry Indo Fijian – the only one I think.
So no-one meets your high standards. Very helpful of you.
We forget the active role roko ului played in all the violent coups and usurping of power in removing elected governments. 1987 (along with Rt Finau), 2000,and 2006.
Later he was a fugitive from justice 15-odd years for plotting to kill a PM for which a co-conspirator and accomplice was imprisoned.
In his newest gig as king of lau, he alternates between proclaiming unity, one people, one country and espousing ethno-nationalism.
Stellar guy otherwise.
“Identifying the problem” is not only an angry Indo-Fijian, but a dumb one as well. A simpleton who thinks that in a country like Fiji, everything will fall nicely into place. He has no understanding about political and democratic journeys. That even the best of countries had very painful transitional experiences before reaching where they are.
Fiji is comparatively a very young country with a very complex background at that. Some of these problems are to be expected. It’s part of the journey. But don’t expect an a racist imbecile with an unrealistic mindset who expects a utopia and everyone to be sinless and impeccable and likes to point to understand any of this.
The problem with the iTaukei which is in plain sight is that they are arrogant, prejudiced, priviledged and they all have a chip on their shoulder. They have a fake passion for a vulagi God and a vulagi religion. Recently they all are pretending to be descendants of Israel!!! Please! Get real.
They blame everyone else for all the issues they have. The useless Chiefs are the biggest culprits in this regard. You can all be in denial, but the biggest problem in Fiji are the iTaukei. As far as I am concerned, they can shove the 93% of the land they selfishly own up their rear because they can do nothing to get a return from their land. Why? Because no one knows who actually owns the land.
One more thing, the iTaukei are not that special, nor is their culture and traditions that special even though they may pretend it is. You know where they can shove their traditions and culture as well.
And no, Ratu Ului is not the answer. And stop blaming the Indians. Look in the f**king mirror.
Agree with your opinion piece on Roko Lui GD, despite his shortcomings compared to Aseri ‘hot zipper’ Radrodro and ‘Rolex Rambo.’
To effect and initiate national policy changes, Tui Nayau needs to be in a position of political leadership and SODELPA [despite my misgivings] offers the most plausible pathway. The strategic vanua alliances you have pointed out is helpful.
Aseri, Rambo, President Naiqama, Chief Justice Temo and the whole bunch of incompetent leadership in Government ought to be replaced asap.
”Fiji The Way The World Should Be” is attainable but, only through leadership that mirrors and walks in humility, integrity, national unity, national vision, strategic wisdom and long term purpose.
Fiji cannot and will not survive another 4 years under this lot.
I trust you are feeling better and completely healed GD.
Vinaka. I fully concur with what you have written. And yes, my new left hook is terrific. 🙂
He left Driti and all those under their leadership at the time to face prison. There were officers and military personnels together with their families who lost their jobs and suffered as well. He was a strong Bainimarama supporter until Khaiyum started pulling the strings. His interest is definitely not on a multi-cultured society.
Why would anyone want someone like Roko Ului to lead when his character of abandoning ship to save himself speaks for itself.
The laws that give a constitution its authority need to be supported by judicial, legislative and executive integrity. It doesn’t matter if the driver is asleep at the wheel , if you have integrity of process and it is executed appropriately then things improve.
Some one mentioned earlier that Fj has a complex DNA. That is true and no one knows how to manipulate that more than the very fabric that should be sanctifying it .
Let me share some terms with you…..Separation of powers, Rule of law, institutional integrity, integrity of governance, constitutional integrity and last but not least…GOOD GOVERNANCE!
If all the cogs in that wheel only seek to gain for themselves then there is no vision or roadmap that can ensure good governance. If you all drink from a well without any idea of its source or sensible levels of consumption then you risk running it dry.
Perhaps it will take one hell of a catastrophe , the likes of which cannot be reversed to make people realize what they squandered. By that stage hind sight will probably still lean into a bent narrative . Don’t ignore the reality of examples around the world where it has happened , Zimbabwe?
My concern and that which is probably shared with those on the bench that take the appropriate angle is this. The system lacks integrity and the people tasked with ensuring it is maintained have no wish to re-institute it with authority.
Yes a tax holiday is within the laws but it should never have taken the course it did with the level of public profile it received. Drugs are bad but murder doesn’t necessarily deter it. You get my point. These problems are not confined to Fj. Unfortunately that very same unique societal DNA provides the players with all the ammo they need to ensure they can hide behind the alibi of mess it creates while claiming they are trying to fix it!
The wheels are falling off that bus and each cog in it slowly but surely unwinding its self because nobody bothered to check the warrant of fitness! Its a sad , brutal and shameful truth and those that allow it to continue should be ashamed of themselves.
Let me try again.
L for Liumuri
L for Lasu
L for Lega
L for Lotu
L for Lasetuba
If we change Limuri, Lasu and Lega culture, 90 percent of Fiji’s problem will solved.
Out of all the most deadliest one that is bleeding the country to death is Liumuri culture.
The Indo Fijian voters are in limbo, scratching their heads after the 4 useless years of NFP. As an Indo Fijian I can guarantee that we all look up to one leader only, not several different Indian parties like the Itaukei. The itaukei only keep splintering and spreading their votes. The IndoFijians on the other hand are like the Israelites wanting their leader Moses to lead them as one people regardless of religion.
Watch as all IndoFijians vote Labour and put Mahendra Chaudry into the PMs office. Remember that NFP was in the wilderness in the year 2000 and beyond because the IndoFijians had abandoned them . They are heading back to that wilderness.
The only reason Bainimarama is not PM today is because of Aiyaz. People didn’t vote Rabuka for popularity, they gave their votes to anyone but Aiyaz. Everyone had had enough of that arrogant clown and moved their votes to anyone but FijiFirst. Remember that Bainimarama is still the most popular person in Fiji. Aiyaz brought him down.
Lets not forget that the previous junta was a potemkin reputation by way of decree! Any monkey can swing a bat and threaten the crowd with the law if they use this blanket mechanism to implement it!
Some one called it correctly when they stated earlier in this forum that the general public are there only for the play…In the case of FJ and it’s crippled Elizabethan cast the key players are perpetually involved in either comedy or tragedy! The crowd are easy subjects and the puppeteers will milk the script any which way they can to ensure the majority of the fee paying fools are either crying or laughing along the way…. Sometimes the crowd will happily oblige when told to put on blindfolds to “experience” the magic of the moment (circa Frank Baini and his ….)
Bottom line , one way or another, pre and post show the parade will march on its merry way and all good subjects will derive some subjective sense of value from all the nonsense it creates….hmm yep
The fact that you and others, see Tevita Mara as an alternative to Rabuka is disheartening and simply shocking . Especially after listing his inadequacies, and “privilege”. The fact that he ran after committing treason and mutiny, and his co-conspirator remained and faced the music and did jail time, should automatically raise red flags and disqualify the privileged individual, who still hasn’t been prosecuted for his crimes.
It is a sad day in Fiji where we have a President, who was a convicted felon, found guilty of inciting mutiny, spent less than a week in jail and was released, is strutting around lecturing Fiji on morals and virtues and the rule of law. Along comes another chief in Mara, who still hasn’t been prosecuted or taken to task for his illegal actions, is now virtue signalling and lecturing Fiji on all sundry, and sadly people are naive enough to listen.
Mara isn’t fit to lead anything. He should be subjected to the law, including Naiqama. One rule for the common folk, and another for the chiefs or privileged. This is the reality, unfortunately.
I take your point about Mara escaping justice. But he would be surely better than the current SODELPA leader, who almost beat his first wife to death and then cheated on his second by leaving her sleeping in the Windsor Hotel to go and have “brutal” sex with Lynda Tabuya in Room 233.
The point I was making is that the Tui Nayau now has the opportunity to redeem himself by entering parliament in the footsteps of his father and forming a multiracial government to emulate that of the Alliance under Mara senior.
If he is able to unify the nation, I, for one, am prepared to forgive him for his transgressions. You clearly aren’t prepared to do so yourself. But that is the dilemma we all face – that there are so few men and women of impeccable personal character to set an example and lead with integrity.
I was urging Ratu Mara to translate the high-minded sentiments he has been expressing in his writings into practical action – morphing from a heredity chief who owes his position to an accident of birth into a democratically elected man of action in the parliament.
Maybe you’re right and he is incapable of doing so. But with hope in such short order, we are reduced as a nation to clutching at straws. And I reached for that one. Because I think Mara at the head of a multiracial government would be infinitely preferable to giving Rabuka and Kamikamica another term when they have been so racially partisan and hopeless.
GD, could I make a suggestion…That we call on all capable political cartoonists, satirical illustrators and caricaturists to grab their pencils and sketch their best impressions of these comments. I think it would offer all of us some much need “picturetellsathousandwords” humoUr .
On sentiment, Ratu Tevita may look like a good option. What has he achieved as a leader in military and career to show he has the mantle to be a leader?
When he was an ‘adviser’ to the Tongan Royal family, there was a strong discontent between nobles and commoners and it led to a very unstable government. I did not see him play a prominent role in bridging the gap between the two groups for the greater good of Tonga.
What does he bring to the table for Fiji? Be careful what you wish for!