We can be certain that Sitiveni Rabuka is having the day from hell, first licking his wounds over the humiliation of the Coalition’s Bill to change the Constitution being defeated in Parliament last night and now fresh questions about the gold Rolex watch that he has been flashing on his wrist.
The saga of the watch has now gone regional (and global) on Radio New Zealand, which has begun investigating it after being alerted to the details, first by Grubsheet and then the Fiji Labour Party leader and former prime minister, Mahendra Chaudhry.
This has resonance way beyond Fiji because the gold Rolex Day-Date with the ” President” bracelet is described as the “favoured watch of dictators” and we now have our very own Robert Mugabe in the South Seas – a Prime Minister with unexplained bling who is refusing to say where it came from.
A spokesman for the PM makes the improbable claim that Sitiveni Rabuka had the gold Rolex before he came to Parliament. Oh really? So all the while he was telling us he was so hard up he had to collect bottles, “sell coconuts for a living” and grow his own kakana dina, he had a $150,000 watch in his bottom drawer at home? Yeah, pull the other one.
This story is getting longer legs by the day and will run and run until the Prime Minister gives a full accounting about the circumstances of him possessing such a fabulously expensive timepiece. And preferably in a personal statement to the parliament to reduce the temptation to tell us a pile of lasulasu-jhoot.
When asked about the watch, the Motibhais of Ba – the suspected donors of the watch – respond to Radio New Zealand with a denial but intriguingly add: “Ask the Prime Minister”. OK, PM. a detailed explanation please.
Where did you get the watch? And do you think it is appropriate to display a $150,000 timepiece on your wrist when more than half the nation lives in poverty?
Another story Grubsheet broke that is being totally ignored by the Fijian mainstream media even though the watch is there for everyone to see. We also haven’t seen a story yet from the Fiji correspondent for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), Lice Movono, who is resident in Suva when the author of the Radio New Zealand piece, Margot Staunton, is in far-off Wellington.
What gives, guys? What’s happened to the brave new world of media freedom in Fiji? Yes, of course. Buried in the bottom drawer with the Rolex.
So when he was collecting bottles and selling coconuts, he had a solid gold Rolex back home?
O sobo. Do you really think the Fijian people are that stupid?
And remember how on the weekend, Fiji, the New Zealand-based Coalition Toady, Pramesh Sharma, made a big deal of saying there is no big deal about the Prime Minister having a gold Rolex?
A reminder of what the prominent advisor to Carpenters, Vinod Patel and Tanoa Hotels told his “followers” on Facebook. :
Oh dear. The Kiwi national broadcaster clearly doesn’t share Pramesh Sharma’s nose for a story to have made it one of its most prominent Pacific yarns.
Grubsheet understands from some of my readers that the ever cocky businessman has since changed his Facebook settings from “public” to “private”. Which tells us that after getting both the politics and the news value of the gold Rolex so wrong, he clearly prefers to privately die of shame.
My brother in law who works in Qoma, Democratic Republic of Congo {DRC}, sent me a picture today of DRC president Felix Tshisekedi wearing a gold Rolex.
A favoured watch of dictators indeed.
I dont think people should have the right to question what bribes Rabuka takes. He has worked hard to be PM and now is his turn to make money. Let him be and do not ask him where the bribes come from.
Look at it this way. When you go to the LTA, you cant pass your vehicle without at least a $50 bribe. When the police stop people for speeding, they take at least $20 to let you go. When the common Fijians go to hospital the x ray and scan department want $500 for getting your scan results ready in 2 days, also on CD. When you go the TLTB office, it takes at least lunch money to get your file from the mysterious back room. When you want an emergency passport, it somehow gets fast tracked if you have a yellow bill in your application. These are only a few small examples of the bribe culture of our civil service.
I dont think people should be allowed to question where Rabuka gets his bribes from. I know his is a little bigger bribe than most other places but come on, it’s his turn to flip the steak.
Asking Lice Racist Movono to write about the PM’s watch is like asking her to stop eating.
She is as biased as they get in the gossiping sector. Ya, she’s no journalist. She’s a hall of shamer on journalism Fiji.
Hopefully seeing the golden watch on their PM’s wrist is filling the stomachs of poor Fijians who voted for him.
Let the guy travel the world in style – taxpayer paid business and first class trips, luxury watch, pen courtesy of “you scratch my back and I scratch yours” mates, tailored suits, etc etc!
If that’s not enough, he’s trying his best to get the Constitution changed to the detriment of his very mates who are giving him his generous handouts.
I don’t know who’s more dumb here.
Geez Rambo you haven’t changed a bit, have you!
#rolexrambo
Now that Rabuka is flaunting his well earned bribes, will the rest of the Coalition ministers also follow?
It’s an absolute certainty that many of them have received questionable gifts.
Next he’ll say “oii I didn’t know it was a fake from Bangkok” lol 😂
That Lice is another useless journalist. Just yesterday someone was watching a little documentary she did on Speight after his release.
Her ascent was so terrible that we sat there laughing. She can hardly pronounce any word properly and her fakeness and biases are so visible. Then comes the obesity. She is struggling to breathe just like a vonu.
Lol…maybe it wasn’t just me who noticed that. Many coalition ministers and their supporters are growing like 44 gallon drums.
Rabuka this morning has declared his right to remain silent on the watch he received as a bribe.
I agree with him. The streets are no place to discuss your shady dealings.
This is the guy who will save the itaukei. Trust me, he’ll sell you all if he could make a buck from it.