FICAC’s failure to prove its case against Manoa Kamikamica because its star witness went to water in the witness box has triggered a renewed tussle for the leadership of the People’s Alliance and again presents a direct threat to the Prime Minister, Sitiveni Rabuka.
It’s widely believed that Rabuka set up the Ashton-Lewis Commission of Inquiry into the Malimali affair primarily to thwart the attempt by Manoa Kamikamica to get Rabuka to step aside during the current term of government and hand him the leadership.
Justice David Ashton-Lewis as good as said so in his extraordinary Queensland radio interview in June 2025. He referred to the now-to-be-restored deputy prime minister as a “wannabe prime minister” who had done “disgraceful things” yet was “smiling to the Prime Minister, I’m your greatest loyal fan”.
It was an oblique but unmistakable reference to Kamikamica which is about to resonate in the corridors of power all over again.
What were the “disgraceful things”?
Here’s what Justice Ashton-Lewis wrote in his Commission of Inquiry Report about Kamikamica’s alleged role in offering to derail a FICAC investigation into the former Fisheries Minister, Kalaveti Ravu.
This was a CoI finding that cost Mr Sweet his job as deputy prime minister but wasn’t a conviction in a court of law, where the onus is on the prosecution to prove the guilt of an accused beyond reasonable doubt.
The problem is that when the case brought by FICAC finally made it to trial in the magistrate’s court, Kalaveti Ravu refused to name his fellow MPs who he had openly fingered at the CoI to corroborate his allegations.
Why wasn’t he forced to answer the question? It is one of the great mysteries of the bungled FICAC prosecution that has now propelled Manoa Kamikamica back into the deputy leadership and prime minister in waiting. And make no mistake. That’s precisely what he is. And on Sitiveni Rabuka’s say so. (see below)
Leaks from within FICAC have also made much of material that was allegedly found on Manoa Kamikamica’s confiscated phone. Yet this also wasn’t pursued in court, which has got some people wondering if this case wasn’t meant to succeed amid reports that the Acting FICAC Commissioner, Lavi Rokoika, not only wants out but wants to stand for the People’s Alliance in the coming election.
We’ll see where the skittles eventually fall in all of this. But one thing is certain. Manoa Kamikamica may have been acquitted because of a lack of evidence presented to the magistrate but there are still serious questions about his conduct that aren’t going to go away.
This includes him going to FICAC during the tenure of the exiled former acting deputy commissioner, Francis Puleiwai, and quite improperly, according to her, raising questions about his own case. At the time, that alone was enough for Grubsheet to opine that it ought to disqualify Manoa Kamikamica from ever holding high office.
Yet all this is already being eclipsed by what it all now means for the relationship between the number one in the government, Rabuka, and his number two, Kamikamica. Does anybody seriously think it is all going to be hunky-dory from now on? Not on your nelly.
Mr Sweet and his ambitious wife, Ann, are seething with rage about Rabuka’s conduct in cutting Kamikamica loose. And Rabuka himself will be just as paranoid now, if not more so, about Kamikamica as a threat to his own position. It is certainly no recipe for stability in government or the nation as a whole.
Decide for yourself, Fiji, when you read the following article, in which the Prime Minister is desperately trying to pretend that all is now well, but which smacks of a simmering power struggle that only one of these men can win.
Kalaveti declined to sing, which means that the kalavata king and his queen are back.
UPDATED with Tuesday’s Fiji Times front page…
“Entirely inconsistent with his character”? Rubbish. Remember when Manoa Kamikamica tried to justify the obscene 138 per cent average pay rise for MPs by saying that if he was paid more, he would work harder?
Irrespective of his acquittal on the FICAC charge, Grubsheet stands by its judgment on Mr Sweet’s character.
Mr Sweet isn’t going to be pleased that Grubsheet is raining on his latest parade.
Like many scoundrels, he is casting his acquittal through lack of evidence as a judicial finding of innocence. It is not. The magistrate found no case to answer due entirely to the deficient case FICAC presented. And we already know because of Kalaveti Ravu’s backsliding in the witness box that case wasn’t as strong as it might have been.
Kamikamica can call me an alcoholic – as he has – and say I have no credibility in Fiji. Yet any journalist with integrity should be on his case and especially now that Sitiveni Rabuka has publicly designated Manoa Kamikamica as his successor. Because integrity isn’t a word that can be applied to either of them and the public interest demands that a blowtorch be applied to both of them in the election lead-up.
I lost all respect for this man when he said, pay us more money if you want us to do a better job. So greedy.
The data centre project he has been boasting about has Natadola landowners up in arms because they were never consulted. It is another Vuda waste-energy fiasco.
As they say, there is a strong woman behind every successful man. In this case, Mrs Sweet was too strong, and it was her greed, entitlement and ambition that landed Mr Sweet in trouble in the first place. She felt her husband should be PM, not Rabuka, and that he is God’s gift to Fiji.
Doesn’t mean because the case was thrown out for lack of evidence that Mr Sweet is innocent. Behind that famous innocent smile is a very calculating man.
In light of Manoa ‘Fastso’ Kamikamica’s ruling, the article, WHY MANOA KAMIKAMICA IS UNFIT TO LEAD, should be republished by GD to remind us of one of the fatter pigs at at the trough. This idiot is definitely not fit to lead.
It is Fiji’s misfortune that we have these kinds of so-called low level leaders at the helm of the country. They are the reason why this country is not progressing, but in fact going backwards. Sucking taxpayers blood without remorse.
Prisoner exchange –
Manoa k with Biman Prasad
Amen to that. Hope to see Biman in orange jumpers soon for his indiscretions. They swept the Japanese lady’s case under the carpet. He should be put in jail for the shambles he’s made of the economy.
Similarly, Lynda needs to be put behind bars. For all intents and purposes she’s divorced, but in substance is on the arms of her ‘husband’ at any and every event. PBS sure has a special kind of spell.
Meanwhile the onligealious Pramesh Sharma at his arse licking best showering praises on both Rabuka and Manoa in the hopes of securing a board appointment or two.
“Good to see that the joint founder of The People’s Alliance with Hon Sitiveni Ligamamada Rabuka, Hon Manoa Kamikamica, back at the helm of the Ministry of Trade & Commerce plus other economic driver portfolios.
He also fills the vacuum in cabinet of the Deputy Prime Minister position! Hon Manoa is testimony to staying true to the party and the leadership.
The question now is what is The People’s Alliance going to do with MP Kalaveti Vodo Ravu for providing a statement to Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption – FICAC that was allegedly false and vague that brought about such an embarrassment to the Fiji Government and the People’s Alliance??”
GD
I wish another Shakespearean kind of author comes during this time of century who could write another version of Fijian politics of “Julius Caesar”.
This version will shock the world of literature.