There’s nothing like a rush of adrenaline to rouse the sick from their beds and Grubsheet is suddenly feeling a lot less ill with the surge of anger that has been my response this morning to one of lawyer Richard Naidu‘s now very rare articles in the Fiji Times.
The subject is the Ashton-Lewis Commission of Inquiry into the Barbara Malimali affair and poor old Richie Rich is “sick of it”, thinks the rest of the country outside Suva doesn’t care and is hoping for a “COI-free weekend”.
——————
——————–
…anyone? Whoops. They mean not necessarily the views of the Fiji Times but they’ve put it higher than usual in the paper on Page 10. And we all know that Richard Naidu isn’t just a rare columnist for the nation’s traditional newspaper of record these days but he remains its legal advisor. And you can bet your last saqamoli that everything the Fiji Times has ever written on the Commission of Inquiry has passed through Naidu’s hands.
In the absence of any declaration, it is an abuse of his position that doesn’t get more glaring. Yet once again, Richard Naidu is up to his armpits in conflicts of interest. And he has every reason to launch into print in the paper over which he has a great deal of control to try to diminish the importance of the COI.
Here’s just a few of them:
- Richard Naidu is legal advisor to the Deputy Prime Minister and NFP leader, Biman Prasad, and was instrumental in preventing Prasad from being charged by FICAC on September 5 last year, when Barbara Malimali was parachuted into the corruption watchdog over the body of former deputy commissioner, Francis Puleiwai.
- Naidu’s precise role isn’t clear. Yet as Victor Lal has reported at Fijileaks, Naidu sent a letter to FICAC asking for any charge against Biman Prasad to be delayed because he was due to meet the President of the World Bank. Francis Puleiwai’s departure followed soon afterwards.
- Richard Naidu is also a close friend and associate of the President of the Fiji Law Society, Wylie Clarke, who went to FICAC on September 5 and was present in the room when the Chief Registrar, Tomasi Bainivalu, conveyed a message to Puleiwai from the Chief Justice, Salesi Temo, that no court in Fiji would hear any charge she laid.
- As we have seen in the media all week, Wylie Clarke has been trying to discredit Justice David Ashton-Lewis, who is rumoured to have recommended that Clarke be among those investigated for allegedly trying to pervert the course of justice.
So why would Richard Naidu be writing an article for the Fiji Times today saying that he and many other Fijians are sick of the COI? Think about it, Fiji. This is how you are being manipulated by the mainstream media and the people who influence and/or control it .
With his close relationships with Biman Prasad and Wylie Clarke, Richard Naidu has an extraordinary conflict of interest in playing down the importance of the Ashton-Lewis Commission of Inquiry. We are certainly entitled to think that he is “sick of it” because it poses a clear and present danger to the position of his close associates and indirectly, his own. How? Because keeping Biman Prasad and the NFP in power is the main game above all else. With him gone goes the influence of a great many people around him, Richard Naidu included.
Yet none of that is declared in an article that purports to be an attack on the opposition MP, Ketan Lal, but whose primary purpose is clearly to downplay the importance of the COI. Because why would Naidu return to the Fiji Times after weeks of silence for an attack on little Ketan? Think about that too.
But then conflicts of interest come naturally to Richard Naidu, who famously/notoriously used his position as Chair of the Coalition government’s Fiscal Review Committee to obtain a seven year income tax holiday for Fiji Water, his lucrative client at Munro Leys, the law firm Naidu owns.
Here’s today’s Fiji Times article in full. And it isn’t just Naidu’s comments on the COI that are galling. This is a man who pours scorn on the former FijiFirst government for creating a constitution that provides for a common and equal citizenry and a common identity when the People’s Alliance is pressing for the return of the indigenous paramountcy enshrined in the 1997 Constitution.
The man is not only supercilious and insufferable but a disgrace.
—————
UPDATE SUNDAY:
In the event, Richard Nairu doesn’t get his wish for a “COI-free weekend”, even in his own newspaper.
From today’s Weekend Times...
Yep, including the “Wannabe prime minister”.
For a host of past articles on Richie Rich, just type in “Richard Naidu” in the Grubsheet search engine on the right.
As you’ll see, he is a lawyer very good at making threats but not so good at following through, as in his threat to sue Grubsheet for defamation. I’m still waiting 19 months later.
Note to my readers:
Many thanks for the comments of sympathy for my illness – a recurring bout of the flu at a time when where I live – Summer Hill – is anything but. Some of my Australian readers will have the same affliction.
Still not 100 per cent so this is a one-off for the moment. Back soon.
Richard Naidu and Wiley Clarke only represent the (Eds. word redacted for legal reasons) and low lifes of Fiji. Or in the case of Fiji Water, there is a lack of transparency, what did he get out of the deal and who gave him the Authority to throw away Fiji’s resources?
It’s all going to come out.
(Eds. Line redacted for legal reasons)
Seems like all of Naidu’s wheels are coming off.
His best mate Biman is in for a ride and all he can do is….lol
Comment from the “humble” lawyer Richard Naidu: “EVERYBODY outside Suva…..(is sick of the COI “) A statement which is CONJECTURE on the part of Richard Naidu the lawyer, or the Ostrich of Suva who has suddenly raised his head out of the sand, or the older man who is displaying Ageism attacking a younger man Ketan Lal ; a partner in the law firm ML ( ML not to be confused with Member of the Legislature). The multiple hats or wigs of the esteemed humble hard working lawyer R Naidu.
Ps Lawyers aren’t gods, whether in the bush or the city – just as much as the Constitution is not sacred as observed by RNaidu.
PPS An honest legal practitioner in the city would be better than two bush lawyers with conflicted self interest.
Vinaka Vitian!
This dick fella believes he got Rhea-ended by the COI. Dick boy feels forever aggrieved in his own ignorance. People are sick of your whinging, Dick
Gone are the days when you had some respect based on your own perceived intelligence. People are now educated and, therefore, less susceptible to your BS. People see right through you and the little willie wanker ‘law society’ fella, the erstwhile Wylie wanker. This is what people are sick of, Dick.
The very two, no, nine people who should zip it as far as COI goes, doth protest too much. Without the release of the Long awaited COI report. This is what people are sick of, Dick
The constitution talk is crapiola designed to say, “Look, there’s a squirrel!.”
This is what what people are sick of, Dick.
People know the entire constitution BS is and is an orchestrated foregone conclusion–dunderhead thug santa clause is ready, the snake is back to his old tried and trusted methods — oragnize marches and involve the demonstrable feckwit chiefs designed to give an illusion legitimate of agitation.
This is what people are sick of, Dick
The people know the real motive of the snake is to instill fear and shut down any debate or resistance just to steamroll his ethno-nationalist agenda of native supremacy and racist bigotry.
This is what people are sick of.
Allow no opportunity or room for counter protest marches because of “national security concerns”.
This is what people are sick off Dick.
What makes people sick is 60% of people do not have no means to make our voices heard. Ketan Lal is the outlier. Inia’s greedy smile we can hear in Vanua Levu.
The smiling checkered suit wanna be prime minister, the crook got off the hook doghla Baimaan, Titti Brabra, bullfrog tanya, little willie wanker, drunk registrar, odpp, porn, weed, sexual deviants, room 233 romps and trust fund abusing lawyers.
This is what people are sick of.
We have far too many racist, bigoted, ignorant, eejit people in this country and in government.
THIS IS WHAT PEOPLE ARE SICK OF, DICK!
I add my Get Well Soon and wishes for good health and sharp mind to Grubsheet.
Flush out the bugs and toxins Graham.
While Judge Ashton-Lewis helps flush out the Crocodiles in the billabongs of downtown Suva City….to provide pain relief to (almost) all Fijians, in Fiji and overseas, who are sick of the corruption and bad deeds of self interested evil persons.
For now, Doctors can prescribe Panadol to lawyers who condemn COI Report before its release. Once the COI Report is released, those implicated will have running stomach as if they ate large quantities of Epsom Salt.
The problem with this government is that they’re about as transparent as a brick wall!
An apparently “newly liberated news media” that still does seem to realise it/do its job and report issues to hold people to account.
The government first started by wanting to change the current constitution, but refused to divulge which sections that it wanted to change……….
I have an understanding and sympathy for the large amounts of people leaving/left the country under this current government, at least the old government was the devil you know.
Now they want to abolish the current constitution, but Richard, I do feel protection under this current constitution and I’m sorry that I don’t believe much that comes out of your mouth until this COI report that has been so poorly mishandled by a pathetic example of a leader is released.
Richard is right in one statement MANY “mistakes, miss steps and misjudgement” of the government, but the lack of decisive leadership and the credibility of some of the standing of MPs is unforgivable.
Take for example the priorities of the government, what decisive action has it taken since taking office to combat the real issues faced in Fiji, the failing healthcare system, HIV, raising crime rates, povity? It can’t keep blaming the old government, it’s their job to deal with these real current issues.
In my opinion the only current priority of changing/removing the current constitution is for the benefit of the current government.
The only decisive action I’ve seen from this government is their excessive pay rises!
Richard, you’re sick of hearing about the COI report/issues, and those of us outside of “Suva” are relieved and waiting to hear from the results, to hold the government finally to account and clear up some of the corruption so obvious within the government.
What I really want to hear about is the decisive action of the real priorities in Fiji like I mentioned above, I wouldn’t get sick of hearing about that!
Reporting on the corruption in Fiji is enough to make anyone sick GD….. hopefully you recover soon…keep warm..
Richie rich you will be gone with nfp after 2026 GE . You all will be history
From ‘I have the means’ to sue you, Ritchie Rich has transformed to a humble lawyer having to earn a living.
What a nauseatingly arrogant prick.
Unlike his stupid fawning and gushing fans we can see right through his bullshit. The Fiji public should never forget, let alone forgive him for the Fiji Water tax holiday heist in collusion with his mate, Dogla Baiman, and they likely fooled our clueless PM, Rabuka, into supporting the scheme.
The country lost out on much-needed tax revenue and the resource owners also got shafted. Ordinary taxpayers were left holding the can in the form of the 15% Vat to recoup losses from the Fiji Water Scam and some other exploitative and parasitic shenanigans, such as MPs pay increase.
I know that the military is following GrubSheet and as the constitutional custodians of the welfare of Fiji and its people, we hope that they ensure the COI report that Ritchie Rich is fed up of is released.
It’s the least the military can do for Fiji and its citizens.
Hi GD,
Glad that you are back. Meanwhile, in the pecking order of hierarchy; the young (sic) Ketan Lal has a seniority because he is a sitting MP. Members of Parliament are politicians, law makers and command respect, and accountable unlike Richard Naidu, who is measly a lawyer, without any kind of political or other clouts compared to Lal. Naidu should be joing Lal in criticising those protesters because the protesters actions could undermine the relationship between the Indians and iTaukei communities.
Having said that, Lal as a politician and law maker has every right to criticise those protesters who are marching up and down and wishing to abrogate the 2013 Constitution. If the protesters want to get rid of the Constitution than they should stand for election and become an MP. Meantime, Naidu and Biman Prasad have lost the credibility and goodwill of the Indian community and after the next election expect them to disappear in history!
I wasn’t meaning to belittle Ketan Lal. I appreciate him having the courage to speak out. I was making the point that Richard Naidu wouldn’t come out of obscurity to attack Ketan Lal. He surfaced to belittle the COI report.
I agree that Ketan Lal was making some important points. Ethno-nationalists taking to the streets doesn’t exactly spell good times historically in Fiji. And the man who almost ended up in a lovo in 1987 might have been expected to appreciate that.
Alas, the Richard Naidu of 1987 isn’t the Richard Naidu of 2025.
GD tbh I doubt anyone of those so called chiefs have even read the constitution. It’s the blind leading the blind.
A Commission of Inquiry seems to be an effective tool to take a detailed look at a particular event. The much reported tax holiday is one such event that wouldn’t be as complex but would be in the public interest to have a full understanding of. It would enable tax payers to understand the reasons for tax holidays and ensure anyone with a conflict of interest can demonstrate how it was taken into account to restore public confidence in the process.
You have been singing this tune on behalf of Ritchie Rich for a while now. Don’t take taxpayers for fools. They understand the reasons for tax holidays including the fact that they are NOT meant to last perpetually, so cut the genteel bullshit.
Taxpayers also know that persons in conflict of interest situations can recuse themselves while still use their position in the committee to influence decisions from the background and also utilise political connections. Everyone knows that Wretched Richard and Dogla Biman are joined by the hip and together they fooled that old fella, Rabuka, as well, as his mind is not what it used to. Richie Rich and Dogla Biman took advantage of Rabuka too.
On paper everything looks ok, but There is a thing called back room wheeling and dealing, you moron. So take your crap elsewhere.
Well, I know Richard and there will be more complexity in this than we think. When all the information is known it may even make economic sense for Fiji, and be justified. Further, I don’t believe Richard has compromised his high standards, I just think this has been a very poorly communicated decision that can be made to look like something nefarious has happened, when it’s more likely that principles have been followed.
Steve, Richard Naidu has been given plenty of opportunity to explain himself and has chosen not to do so.
Here’s a list of questions I posed to him last October – eight months ago:
Dear Richard,
Would you please provide responses to the following questions regarding your alleged conduct in a number of matters – some of which are already on the public record and some of which are new.
1/ What has been your precise role in representing or advising Biman Prasad in the proceedings brought against him by the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC) ?
2/ What representations, if any, have you or anyone from Munro Leys made on Biman Prasad’s behalf to the Attorney General, the Acting Chief Justice, the Minister for Justice, the new Commissioner of FICAC, the former deputy commissioner of FICAC or the Prime Minister? Please explain the nature of those representations.
3/ What role, if any, did you play in preventing Biman Prasad from being charged by FICAC and the subsequent sidelining and departure of the deputy commissioner, Francis Puleiwai?
4/ Please explain what, if any, benefit you or Munro Leys have received from your client, Fiji Water, for securing a tax holiday for the company while you have been Chair of the government’s Fiscal Review Committee?
5/ Why have you chosen not to explain your apparent conflict of interest in representing Fiji Water at the same time as you delivered a benefit to the company while holding a public position of trust?
6/ Precisely what instructions, if any, have you provided to your client, the Fiji Times, in relation to the paper’s coverage of the two issues referenced above? (Biman Prasad and Fiji Water)
7/ Precisely what advice, if any, have you provided to the Chairman Emeritus of the Fiji Times, Mahendra “Mac” Patel, in his successful attempt to obtain a pardon from the Mercy Commission?
8/ Did you make representations to the Mercy Commission or anyone else in government on Mahendra Patel’s behalf?
9/ Why has it been more than seven (7) weeks since you last wrote a column for the Fiji Times?
10/ Were you consulted when the Fiji Times used Mahendra Patel as a columnist in the lead-up to him being granted a pardon by the Mercy Commission?
11/ What, from your knowledge, is the progress of the CID investigation into your alleged role, and that of others, in the Indo-Fijian resistance movement of 1987.
12/ Is it true that this investigation has included an allegation that you attempted to blow up a bridge?
13/ What is the precise nature of your personal and/or professional relationship with a lawyer by the name of Rhea Chand, who used to work for Munro Leys and has been, up until recently, employed as a lawyer at Fiji Airways?
14/ Is it true that you and Ms Chand have been conducting an affair?
15/ Did she, during her employment at Fiji Airways, show you any internal documents that were confidential to the airline?
16/ What role, if any, did you play in events leading up to her departure from Fiji Airways in August?
17/ Did you recommend that Rhea Chand be appointed to the Board of Energy Fiji Limited and to whom did you make that recommendation?
18/ What is the precise nature of your consultations, if any, with the editorial team at the Fiji Times – including Editor Fred Wesley – on any of the aforementioned issues?
19/ When do you intend to return to the public debate in Fiji as a Fiji Times columnist?
GD. I just got word that a permit has been approved for a march in nadi against the 2013 constitution.
Hmm, I wonder if dick naidu will now claim that uneducated idiots have the right to march and protest against a document they haven’t even read! I wonder if the compromised fijian media will bother to ask even one protester which bits of the constitution they are protesting against, why they need it changed, what they want to replace it with, when did they last read the 2103 constitution and whether they agree /disagree with common citizenry and voting along ethnic lines etc. You think they will ask these questions?
Will dick naidu want the now liberated media to ask such basic questions? Does dick want to know why the media didn’t ask a single one of these questions in the earlier rakraki protest, despite the fiji times etc “covering” the event? How come even Stanley the kaidia and Vijay the vuji are not asking these questions as well?
All the protesting etc is is being instigated by the big snake rabaku as his last throw of the dice to divert attention from the COI and to demonstrate that so “many” fijians don’t like the constitution. Nothing chaotic, racist and disruptive happens in Fiji without rabaku’s grubby and slimy finger prints all over it.
Coming up….the coup at Fiji Airways and how the nfp/dick naidu are in it up to their necks.
Richard Naidu and the proposed Nadi marchers should tell us what’s wrong with the provision of the 2013 Constitution on native land and what they want to change.
“The 2013 Fiji Constitution includes a provision that mandates Parliament and Cabinet to ensure all land leases and land tenancies provide a fair and equitable return to the landowners while also protecting the rights of land lessees and tenants. This includes security and protection of tenure, and terms and conditions of leases and tenancies must be just, fair, and reasonable.
Specifically, Section 29(4) of the Constitution states that legislative and other measures must guarantee this fair return to landowners, balancing it with lessees’ rights. Additionally, the Constitution protects the ownership of indigenous lands (iTaukei, Rotuman, and Banaban) from permanent alienation except to the State, and any land acquired by the State for public purposes must revert to customary owners if no longer needed.
Thus, the Constitution recognizes customary land ownership and enshrines the principle of fair returns to native landowners in land lease arrangements as a constitutional requirement.”
The 2013 is the first Constitution that guarantees a fair share for landowners and forbids the alienation of native lands, and the return of native lands to native owners after use.
Yeah, nah. The 2013 constitution is not racist, does.not make 45% of people second class citizens, and the rest of ethno-nationalist supremacists ideals.
1997 is the way forward. It’ll make itaukei instant millionaires, own 50% of big business, cure HIV, cure drug addiction, itaukei will become literate beyond compare- including read the itaukei bible, own 50% resorts with all the
goli goli, sea and sand, mangroves, the sky and the air we breathe. Itaukei will all have blus blood with the advent of 1997 paper and even all own gold rolexs and homes in munakau.
I think the problem according to the uneducated elite is that the constitution prevents the landowners from selling their native land to international investors and living a life of luxury. They lament the protection over their short-sightedness and greed that is aimed at keeping land ownership with the itaukei infinitum.
Richard’s got it wrong. Everyone is feeling sick, those in suva and out of Suva. We are not sick of the COI, we are SICK OF WAITING FOR IT TO BE RELEASED!
Bula GD
A recently leaked Affidavit of the former AG shows that his Affidavit had been witnessed by a lawyer who works for the AGs office. This is a huge No in the legal profession and it shouldn’t have been done so.
The name of the solicitor and their current employer is publicly available on the judiciary website.
The AG and lawyer in question should both face disciplinary action for doing such.
These so called humble lawyers make me vomit.
Richard Naidu got no principles, the only thing he sees is money.
The Fiji Water tax holiday issue keeps coming up. Richard Naidu has worn dual hats in the matter. Acting for his client Fiji Water. And his role as chair of the committee that recommended the tax holiday.
To put out this Fiji Water fire, and without another expensive Commission of Inquiry, could the public be made aware of the Cost / Benefit analysis to the Fijian economy that was carried out to justify such recommendation. I have no issues if the actual net gains to the Fijian economy tangibly demonstrate a benefit to the country, as govt provides these incentives for investors to do business in Fiji. And there are existing provisions for such. What was unique in this instance was such incentives are to attract new investors to Fiji who would not normally find it attractive to do business in Fiji. Fiji Water has been established in Fiji for a significant time to establish and continue their operations without taxpayer assistance.
So can the interested public also demand and receive a report from the relevant Ministry on the justification. We can’t expect to know the commercial agreement between Lawyer and Client, but we the public have a right to know the government’s deal with Fiji Water.
Daddy Richard is such a spoilt mess!