The antics of the FICAC Commissioner, Barbara Malimali, go from bad to worse as she breaks every single convention expected of those in high office and of someone currently under judicial investigation. The record shows that whatever emerges about the “rotten” circumstances of her appointment – the Prime Minister’s description, not mine – Barbara Malimali is a loudmouth, self-entitled exhibitionist with a history of drunkenness who is totally unfit to be the nation’s chief corruption watchdog.
Malimali’s latest conduct before the cameras at “Anti Corruption Day” underlines her almost complete absence of the decorum we are entitled to expect from those who occupy the highest offices of state. Her wild abandon makes it look as if she is at a village taralala rather than an official event where she should be setting an example of gravitas and dignity for her staff and the wider community.
In short, she has no idea how to behave. And she has become a potent symbol of the degeneracy of the Coalition government at the half-way point of its term and with the thoughts of most voters now focussing on its woeful failure to deliver higher standards of governance and service delivery. Under Malimali, FICAC has become a very mangy watchdog indeed. And it is fuelling a wider perception of a government that is increasingly out of control and has lost any claim to the votes of the Fijian people at the election in 2026.
Never mind the government’s usual critics like Grubsheet. The following is what one of the Coalition’s traditional supporters is saying – the women’s rights activist, Shamima Ali, whose halo may have fallen in recent times but who has long been regarded as the conscience of the nation to the extent that we once labelled her here as “Saint Shamima of Ali”.
Ouch. It is an astonishing critique in a speech Shamima Ali gave yesterday at the two year mark of the Coalition’s term that is on the front page of today’s Fiji Sun but has been ignored altogether by the government’s principal cheer-leader, the Fiji Times. It is yet another demonstration that Fiji’s traditional newspaper of record under the Motibhai Patels of Ba is totally corrupt.
Time was when the Fiji Times seized on every comment Shamima Ali made when it suited the political agenda of the paper’s owners. But today it carries a single photo of the demonstration at which Shamima Ali delivered her withering remarks yet reports nothing of what she said in her speech.
It is another outrageous distortion of the news even as Fred Wesley again makes his usual pious, self-righteous claim to integrity when he and the paper he edits have none.
The full report of what Shamima Ali said in today’s Fiji Sun below. But on the same page of the Fiji Times today is the following astonishing image of Barbara Malimali.
Crikey. Let’s see that again in close-up.
Seriously? Either Barbara Malimali has completely lost it or the Fiji Times is setting her up for a fall. Yet forget about the optics of one photo and what it says about the character of the FICAC Commissioner, who has the power to investigate any citizen whose conduct is brought to her attention and prosecute them for corruption. Here’s a recap of what we said 48 hours ago about the substantive conduct of Barbara Malimali that makes her totally unfit to hold the job.
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This whole saga is easily one of the most glaring instances of the complete collapse of proper standards under the Coalition government that Shamima Ali identifies in today’s Fiji Sun. Just as the recent drunken antics of the Acting DPP, Nancy Tikoisuva, and her Deputy , John Rabuku, underlined the parlous state of the criminal justice system as a whole .
We have the right to expect proper conduct from those who hold the highest positions in the land. And as Shamima Ali says, we are not getting it.
Yet the whole sorry caravanserai rolls on.
As for the media, Fred Wesley and the equally miserable Vijay Narayan also roll on, making excuses for the woeful standards of local reporting and continuing to lay the blame on the previous government two years after Frank and Aiyaz were shown the door.
Their claim to a new era of media freedom is as hollow as their pathetic argument that the Fijian media is entitled to set its own course and shouldn’t be bound by the standards of the media overseas.
I am not going to give any oxygen here to their ludicrous arguments at a local forum except to say that there is either fair and unbiased reporting or there is not. Yet as I read their drivel, I had the same look on my face as the lady sitting next to a sheepish Vijay listening to the gospel according to Fred.
We now know from today’s paper that Fred went back to the Fiji Times newsroom afterwards to bury the speech by the wayward Saint Shamima of Ali.
Yep, for the local media, it isn’t about freedom of expression to benefit the public’s right to know but the freedom of the media to report selectively to suit the agenda of its proprietors and their links to the Coalition government. And it is an absolute disgrace.
Barbara Malimali would not know integrity if it bit her on the bum!
Her antics to date are hardly likely to be construed as being a person of high standards and integrity given the process of her appointment and the latest media coverage.
As for the legal profession and its society, they are seen by many as being ineffectual and seemly complaisant in regard to the activities of the A/CJ and others in the appointments to key positions in the judicial structure of Fiji.
As for the Fiji media, who sprout independence, their reporting on the shambolic activities of the Government, its Ministers and other ‘appointed persons’ is abysmal. It is almost as if the Fiji media are more terrified of the current Government than the previous one!
Is that Barbara Malimali’s nipple showing? Close up oml – how disgusting. Also this woman is now part of the frcs crime taskforce when she was sacked from Frcs for theft and her appointment is subject to a COI.
Oh Lord. That sight is traumatizing. And she looked demented.
BM is a disgrace to the legal profession and highly INCOMPETENT. That’s the criteria for appointment to top jobs under Rabuka and Baimaan for these so called elite itaukei now.
Apart from being a habitual drunkard and lacking any moral dignity, this Kalavo is a perfect fit for the current Government.
@ Justice Seeker
Yes that is indeed her left nipple showing. That Judge in Tuvalu with whom she had an ‘Here to Eternity’ monent in the rising tide of a Tuvalu beach, confirms that it is it. He is also able to confirm that there is a mole below the right nipple.
I hope this information alleviates your insomnia.
Read you loud and clear.
Hey, hold up. You wouldn’t be commenting the same thing if this was a male with their nipple showing. Let’s keep the gendered commentary out of it.
Yes, lets keep the conversation ‘nipple free’.
Merry Xmas
X-mas. Formerly Twitter-mas. Elon Musk replaces Christ.
Not only the unsightly sight of the Malimali nipple? which no one wants to see, but figuratively speaking, Feeble Fred and Vainglorious Vijay’s polos are also exposed, and it’s not a pretty view. Too much hot hair, all fart and no shit.
Overused too. Udders.
Fiji is returning to its roots under the Coalition.
Rampant incompetence is being rewarded. Unqualified people getting top jobs. Civil service becoming a grog stall. There’s no stopping this raging bull until all is destroyed and the best people have left our shores forever.
All this under the watchful eyes of Biman Prasad the saviour. Rabuka was and is a treasionist so we wouldn’t expect any less from him.
Bad days have only just started. Worse lies ahead.
Everything in government is becoming a joke. The current state of governance raises significant concerns and is very worrying. Not only the government but its independent institutions are behaving above the law and appear to have been influenced by the government having their own chosen officials, leading to a perception of compromised dependence.
The government is indifferent to the needs of the people and the business community except for the chosen ones who align with their agenda.
Laws and policies are being interpreted to suit their interests rather than being upheld according to their intended purpose and spirit. This selective application undermines the rule of law and trust in the system.
Equally troubling is the role of the media,which claims to enjoy greater freedom under this government than under the previous regime but remains silent. The so-called independent media appears unwilling to challenge the government or hold it accountable despite ample evidence of failures. GD has raised these instances time and again, but the media has maintained its silence, which is annoying. In other democracies, such evidence would prompt thorough media investigations and demand accountability.
This disregard for the public and their mandate is a betrayal of the people who entrusted the government with power. Citizens are increasingly uncertain whether their grievances will be heard or justice will prevail in a system where constitutional principles are selectively applied to serve political interests.
How long can this continue?
Distrust of government and its institutions has been noted as a national security concern by the recent national security review. And you dont have to wonder why with the Acting CJ calling for convicted criminals to be admitted to the bar; a pedo and convicted felon being appointed President etc
A large part of the problem is that Rabuka’s cronies tend to be hangers on jigaboos who simply are good for turning up where there is grog and booze. His NBF mates and half caste kaicolos ran off with the cash.
Mali Mali looks more suited to eating crackling on roasted pork than someone who can devour a legal brief.
The large number of muslim Indians hired by Khaiyum don’t drink, even though they can finish off a palao dish quicker than Malimali can say kere kere.
But Fiji First appointees were talented. Rabuka can only access grog dope appointees.
Barbara needs to learn to wear a bra because I DO NOT find her nipple attractive. It is more of an eyesore.
There is a small group of advisors around Biman who are making serious $ because they have businesses. We thought Nur Bano was a problem but this lot have invented a whole new level of corruption. FICAC should have a look at the conflicts of interest at play and put a swift stop to this.
It has happened so fast it makes your head spin and it has destroyed normal perceptions of fairness among taxpayers in Suva. We know who they are.
It seems the biggest critics of the last lot were just upset not to be making $$$ themselves. Hopeless!
There’s a job for FICAC!
Biman and his friends accumulating generational wealth. Who cares as long as an itaukei is PM, all will be well. The cheer leaders of this government are just too blind to see what is happening.
People are forgetting – this is an iTaukei government, in their country and rightly ruled by the iTaukei as they wish after 16 long years of vulagi rule. The vulagi can get stuffed. They are setting the highest iTaukei standards. Just ask them. More importantly, everyone is making the most of their second chances in a now third rate country and proudly so as everyone can see. BM is the proudest and the most fearless iTaukei around.
Almost 4 tonnes of meth was seized in the beginning of this year ,
through the hard work of overseas agencies.
Today only less than a tonne of meth is left .
3 tonnes have gone missing under police custody.
State has applied to destroy them.
Why?
Case not over yet and
2 suspects have gone into hiding .
By the time courts give approval, there will not be a kilo left to destroy if we are lucky .
This is the state of Fiji today.
Little Mexico .
Rerevaki.