Manoa Kamikamica is the son of one of Fiji’s finest civil servants and politicians – the late Josevata Kamikamica – who was renowned for his integrity both in government and when he broke away from Sitiveni Rabuka in the 1990s to form the Fijian Association with the late Ratu Finau Mara, son of founding prime minister of Fiji, the late Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara.
All those “lates”merely underlines the calibre of the people the nation has lost who belonged to a generation reared on the notion of service, not of using their official positions to benefit themselves, which is evidently the prevailing culture among the current political class.
Grubsheet was thinking of these three men as I read with total disbelief the accompanying Fiji Sun article this morning about what Jo Kamikamica’s son, Manoa, says about the unconscionable pay and benefits increases his generation of politicians voted in for themselves last week. Because his father and others of the previous generation would be spinning in their graves.
The current Deputy Prime Minister and heir presumptive in the People’s Alliance to replace Sitiveni Rabuka says MPs “deserve a pay rise to encourage them to work harder”. QUOTE: “I can personally guarantee this is going to make us work harder. Whatever adjustments are made to our salary, we have to prove to Fiji that we are worthy of those adjustments”. UNQUOTE
This is the Alice in Wonderland world of the Fijian Parliament in which the Queen of Tarts, Lynda Tabuya, has led the Mad Hatters and Cheshire cats ( there are no White Rabbits any longer) into believing they deserve massive pay rises when a third of the nation lives in poverty. Manoa Kamikamica sadly turns out to be one of the true believers – a Mad Hatter. “We deserve a pay rise because it will make us work harder”.
No, Manoa. You have just turned the universal principle of a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work on its head. Instead of working harder to EARN pay rises, you appear to believe that you should get a pay rise to encourage you to work harder. Is that the prevailing philosophy of the Coalition government? That Fijians should get pay rises before they work harder. The cart before the horse? Because God help us as a nation if that is the case.
Why? Because it is the bizarre principle that the state (or private enterprise) provides people with wealth as an incentive to work harder rather than hard work generating more productivity and creating wealth and then people getting a fair share of the benefits. In the topsy turvy world of the Fijian Parliament , it is incredible that MPs of the stature of Manoa Kamikamica actually seem to believe this. And it is frankly frightening that Kamikamica is the Minister for Trade, Cooperatives and SMEs. Because if this is the prevailing philosophy in government – that wealth is provided up front before anyone does the work – it will naturally permeate from the top down and explains why Fiji is in very deep doo doo.
There are other troubling aspects to this article. Manoa Kamikamica refers specifically to the 20 per cent pay cut that Coalition MPs took when they came to office as a justification for a pay rise now. “Let’s not forget everyone was on a 20 per cent pay cut, and the rest of Fiji has received their full salary”, he says.
Excuse me, Minister. The Coalition promised before the last election that you would take a 20 per cent pay cut. You made a virtue of it, of being more frugal and economically responsible than your predecessors. And many people voted for you on the basis of that promise. What’s happened to that undertaking? Or are the Fijian people meant to accept that 17 months later, it is abandoned and you take back the 20 per cent and more?
And what have you done to justify those pay rises? Have you grown the national keke to entitle you to a bigger share? No. Have you reduced the national debt? No. Have you governed effectively and served the Fijian people well? No. Have you provided the “leg up” needed to lift more Fijians out of poverty? No. And yet you believe you deserve a pay rise “because it will make you work harder”? Crikey. What planet do you and your parliamentary colleagues inhabit? Because it sure ain’t the planet the rest of us live on.
This is the madness down the rabbit hole with Lynda – a group of self-entitled politicians who have lost the plot. But there’s more. Because Manoa Kamikamica adds the further justification that MPs are expected to delve into their own pockets for a whole lot of community obligations and should be recompensed. “Everyone thinks we’re ATM machines”, he says. And whose fault is that, mate?
When you’re on a ministerial salary and already generous allowances, travel the world and ride around in a fancy car, of course people are going to ask you to donate to various causes. That comes with the job in Fiji. But that’s partly the fault of the nation’s politicians in the first place. Because they routinely feed the perception that the whole nation can be on the official teat.
Instead of setting an example of frugality and restraint in the way they dip into the public purse, MPs are sending the people a clear message that it’s party time down the rabbit hole with Lynda.. So why shouldn’t they regard you as fat cats more than able to share the cream?
As the furore over the pay scandal intensifies, Manoa Kamikamica would have been better off not saying anything at all than spin this outrageous defence of the indefensible. Yet it is ample evidence of one thing – that he is unfit to lead the country and succeed Sitiveni Rabuka as PAP leader. And especially in an era when austerity is demanded to solve the nation’s problems, not lines of parliamentary pigs at the public trough whinging about doing it tough when the people who put them there are doing it much tougher.
The Deputy Prime Minister says he “feels sorry for MPs” and “it’s not fair”. Diddums.
Pass the sick bag, Alice.
HYPOCRITE ALERT!
What a difference an election victory makes. Here’s what Manoa Kamikamica was saying to Sashi Singh in another galaxy, long, long ago. Now that the fat cats have got the cream, it’s an entirely different story.
Labasa!
https://www.facebook.com/671265662/videos/1628198868033232/
The Queen of Tarts “fights back” at the criticism of her pay and benefits orgy, targeting Biman Prasad with a series of allegations that the Fiji Sun says it won’t publish yet because the NFP leader deserves the opportunity to respond. They must be juicy.
Go figure, Fiji. The Coalition is tearing itself apart because the NFP had the audacity to oppose pay rises that should never have been granted. And they are the bad guys.
No matter. Being hit by the Minister for Bonking and Weed is like being hit with a dry Wetex. You wouldn’t want to be hit by a wet one because you wouldn’t know where it’s been.
Against this sorry background, the Fiji Sun launches another withering attack on the Coalltion…
While again at the Fiji Times, the Ostrich continues to bury his head in the sand.
Yesterday it was sugar, today it is education. Anything but the story of the moment.
There is no leader at the moment who can lead Fiji.
Sorry state.
It’s all about the money. The previous government fell into this trap as well…whilst publicly declaring that they won’t be receiving ministerial salaries, they quickly took an about turn on the same.
Who in Fiji doesn’t have responsibilities beyond family commitments?
The nerve of them to spin and perform their acrobatic antics on the people of Fiji won’t work this time around.
There’s now more than enough reasons for voters to ensure that they don’t return to their chauffeur driven vehicles in the next election. Throw them out and into the streets because that’s where they belong.
Manoa Kamikamica probably has the record for raising the most points of order per parliamentary sessions, the defensive nature of this man that compels him to defend anything that may tag him to something inimical to his perceptuon of unsullied integrity is beyond belief.
Now he descends into fantasy land to defend his voting himself for a pay rise. I never seen a government whose Ministers read in Parliament and at official occasions stuff written by someone else.
In Ratu Mara’s time there was a policy banning reading of speeches in the House. If this rule were to apply they would have to stop live broadcast because if the rubbish coming out of the mouths of this lot.
So when Manoa says they will work harder, what he really means they will ensure their speech writers, the unfortunate public servants who find themselves working under them and private PR consultants to churn out more speeches to be read by these Ministers.
Joe Kamikamica was a principled man, not only with integrity but guts. He stood up for what was right at great personal sacrifice to himself. I agree with you GD that poor Joe would be turning in his grave by what is going on in govt today
It was reported here before that previous govt would circulate talking points to their members to repeat the same messaging. One can see why, the more these Government members open their mouth to defend their proposed salary and benefits increases the more they lose face with the public.
As for the minister of sex and drugs, the Fiji Sun headline should say Lynda buried her head deeper in the golden sands than f Fiji. She is not in a position to hit back. All she can do is apologise for taking a seat in the parliament and for exposing her satanic ways in public.
I am so furious I can barely think but will put a few words in anyway. Government should increase salaries and wages upfront for everyone so that everyone puts in hard work as all types of employment is crucial for the country not only the politicians work.
And how dare he give away thousands to constituents for barrel or kava nights. That’s akin to bribery. They should be setting examples in restraint. And on the same token if I want to buy expensive stuff can I approach the ministers? Gosh, only in viti.
We are all unhappy.
The country because of how it is being let down by the current crop of MPs and the MPs because they feel they deserve much more.
This is probably a good enough reason to use the constitutional provisions to replace the MPs who did not vote against the outrageous proposal for pay and perk increase with those who are prepared to work at the current levels of remuneration.
I do see a silver lining to the 2013 constitution in this regard. There are candidates waiting in the queue to replace the sorry MPs who cannot survive on the current packages.
I think voters in Fiji should give Savenaca Narube the chance to lead the country in the next election. He is the right man for the country. The days for old folks like Rabuka, Chaudhry, Bainimarama, Aiyaz, etc are other. We need leaders who have Fiji as their first priority.
Well written and on point!
In addition to the above piece, people should go back and listen to Manoa on Sashi Singh’s Talking Points. You will fall off your chair listening to what he said about MP salaries and what he is saying now.
Manoa should consider competing in 360 degree gymnastics at the Paris Olympics as I doubt anyone will be able to snatch the gold away from him.
Lynda and Manoa need to take a walk around Suva City one of these cold, wet mornings to see how many people are sleeping on cardboard on footpaths.
That’s the stark reality of Fiji and they talk about rewarding themselves for work not done.
Serves the homeless and all those suffering daily right. You had the power to do the right thing, you let these criminals become government.
You deserve the pavement.
Everyone has missed the bloody point. Biman needs the extra money to pay his lawyer. This is necessary as he keep making the bonkers decision and will need lawyer for:
1. Giving money to girmit that nobody understands
2. Giving tax holidays to billionaire – Fiji tax payer says – what?
3. All the people he wants to sue for telling him you made bonkers decisions
4. Lynda Tabuya as she don’t give him nice smiles
5. Sneaky pics of Japanese woman
I didn’t know the economic growth of a nation depends on the salary packages of the parliamentarians. “The higher their salaries ; the better the economic growth”: This probably will be the new economic principle called the Manoa Principle.