By Netani Rika
When Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara sailed over the horizon to his chiefly home on Lakeba in May 2000, it was perhaps the most incongruous exit of any Fijian politician.
As the patrol boat Kiro carried the deposed President of the Republic to political oblivion, his daughter remained hostage in Parliament.
The dream of a united, prosperous Fiji in tatters, health failing and the nation in crisis, Ratu Sir Kamisese’s political death blow was delivered by those charged with his protection.
On May 28, 2000, despite promises that the army would defend him and the Presidency, troops bundled the 80-year-old Head of State into an unmarked vehicle and rushed him aboard the Kiro.
That night, under the cover of darkness, the commander of Fiji’s military and the chief of police betrayed their President.
With them were two former commanders of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces – one of them his son in law.
In an interview with Fiji Television’s Richard Broadbridge in 2001, Ratu Sir Kamisese names the men in the delegation which asked him to tu vakatikitiki (step aside).
Commodore (now Rear-Admiral) Frank Bainimarama, the late Colonel Isikia Savua, Major-General Sitiveni Rabuka, Ratu Epeli Ganilau and four other officers.
He then looks past the cameraman in the interview and asks: “Who was the red-haired guy in the army – from Naselesele?’’
The response – from a member of his security detail is clear: “(Brigadier Iowane) Naivalurua, sir.’’
At birth, Ratu Sir Kamisese was named for Mara Kapaiwai, described in history books as a feared sea marauder whose canoe would be seen vanishing over the horizon as his victims picked up the pieces.
The great Fijian soldier, statesman and chief, Ratu Sir Josefa Lalabalavu Vanaaliali (Vanishing Mast) Sukuna was named after the same infamous kinsman.
Ratu Sukuna and his nephew, Ratu Mara, shared a love for the sea and as often as possible, chose to visit Fiji’s many scattered islands travelling in a Government ship.
For Ratu Sir Kamisese, that meant the Kapaiwai, Degei or the pride of the Marine Department fleet, Cagidonu, sails billowing as it cut though the waves for Lakeba or Vanuabalavu.
Ironical, then, that he would be transported by sea from public life after 50 years of service to the nation.
Ironical, that the navy he introduced in 1975 to protect Fiji’s maritime borders and fishing fleets would provide the instruments of his overthrow and removal from office.
Bainimarama was a former navy commander before assuming command of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces.
The navy provided a floating platform on which a whale’s tooth (kamunaga) was presented to ask Ratu Sir Kamisese to stand aside.
And that same vessel was the means to transport the Father of the Nation into the political wilderness, albeit in his ancestral home at Tubou, Lakeba.
Bainimarama – in a bid to appease George Speight’s rebels who seized Parliament on May 19, 2009 with the support of parts of the military – removed the President.
At the time, the removal was touted as the most peaceful means to end the hostage situation and ensure there was no bloodshed.
Until then, the president had been of the view that the army should invade Parliament to free Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry and the hostages, including his daughter, Adi Koila Nailatikau.
Ratu Sir Kamisese told Broadbridge that he had little choice when Bainimarama and Savua said the only way out of the national impasse was for the President to stand down.
’’I look at these two: Here’s the Commander with all his army and the police – who is going to be with me if I resist?’’ he asked.
“They want me out, they want to abrogate the Constitution, and this is exactly what Speight wants. If they belong to Speight and I don’t belong to them.’’
Speight held the hostages for 56 days.
Before his removal, the President went on national television to call for good sense to prevail. But at no stage did he put the safety of his daughter ahead of Chaudhry and the other hostages.
“By that …. by that time, I had been in touch with a lot of people I thought would stand by me in the front row of the scrum …. didn’t know it was going to collapse. So, I thought the best thing to do is to talk them into their senses,’’ Ratu Sir Kamisese said.
Broadbridge then asked if Adi Koila’s being held hostage had any effect on his decisions.
“No. When I said that I knew when it was already said, (emotional) my, my, my, my daughter was going to be the first to be shot.
“And I said to myself I already got a son who was dead, not shot by soldiers but killed by motorist. We will all going to be dead. She preferred to be in there.’’
Broadbridge: Feel proud of her that she preferred …?
Ratu Sir Kamisese: Very, very proud.
Broadbridge: You were willing to lose a daughter too?
Ratu Sir Kamisese: What else can you do?
This palace coup was Bainimarama’s first illegitimate seizure of power.
His second would take place six years later and propel him to ultimate power which he has held since December 2006.
Police investigations into the events were stalled for lack of evidence with those involved being unwilling to implicate themselves in the oft-forgotten coup within a coup.
In an interview with Radio New Zealand, Rabuka spoke of what happened that fateful night on the Kiro in waters off Beqa Island.
“”We had a very good and frank discussion on the boat. And everything that transpired was with his agreement,” Rabuka said.
‘’He in fact said that if once he handed over to the military and the military wanted to restore the country to civilian rule, he should not be approached to be the next president. He felt that the country had rejected him.”
But, in fact, the country had not rejected Ratu Sir Kamisese. It was Bainimarama and Savua – supported by Rabuka and the security forces – who made the decision.
“I said, yes, if you think that I avoid bloodshed by standing aside, then I will stand aside. After all you are two people (Bainimarama and Savua) that are, eh, my men… and I remarked: I will never ever again come back.’’
Before being rushed unceremoniously from his official residence, Ratu Sir Kamisese had been waiting for the arrival of 80 troops who were on stand by to defend Government House.
The call from the military high command to mount a defence and protect the President was never made.
“The next thing I knew is that (Official Secretary) Joe Brown dashed in and said your family has already moved and you have to move, the boat is ready to take you out,’’ Ratu Sir Kamisese said.
“I didn’t have time to ask, even ask a question. We eventually got off the at the navy (base). When I got out there my whole poor family was all bundled in the Kiro.’’
As he sat aboard the Kiro under the command of his cousin, Lieutenant-Commander Bradley Bower, it is possible Ratu Sir Kamisese’s thoughts would have returned to the events of the previous fortnight.
Shortly after the coup, Rabuka called upon the President to offer help.
“I didn’t know what he was ready for. He said I’m ready. To help I suppose. So, I got him to come. Two mornings afterwards I… both Savua and I usually called him, Savua and (Acting Commander Colonel Alfred) Tuatoko,” Ratu Sir Kamisese said.
“That Sunday morning Ratu Epeli Ganilau also came to see me and I said you should wait until we hear what we discussed. As soon as they sat down, I said – You two, I want you to know (and I pointed Rabuka and Savua) you have a hand in this thing.’’
Asked how the men reacted, Ratu Sir Kamisese was certain of their culpability.
“Oh, you could see it on their face.’’
And then, out of the darkness, the patrol boat Lautoka drew alongside carrying military men who would use tradition to remove their Commander in Chief.
To remove the single thorn in the side of Speight and his treasonous mob.
More than 100 years earlier, the seafaring, rampaging Kapaiwai was lured to his death with a whale’s tooth and promises of safe passage.
Instead he was taken to Bau and hanged.
Did thoughts of treachery pass through Ratu Sir Kamisese’s mind as he sat and watched and listened to the platitudes so common in iTaukei presentations?
One can hardly imagine the mental anguish of a man who had laid the foundation stones of a nation, and guided it into independence as he wrestled with his thoughts.
The future of his homeland, the safety of a cherished child, the inability of the army and police to protect the people.
One would imagine that Ratu Sir Kamisese may have pondered over words of scripture – for he found much solace in his Catholic faith – as he clawed through 50 years of political experience for an answer.
Here, in the twilight of his career and life, Ratu Sir Kamisese was put in a position to choose between personal comfort and the nation which he had helped mould.
And in that moment, on a rocking patrol boat, on a dark night, surrounded by men of war with the lights of Suva twinkling in the distance, Ratu Sir Kamisese sacrificed his political life.
In the Gospel of Saint John, Jesus says: Greater love has no one than this – to lay down his life for his friends.
When Fiji’s Police Commissioner, Andrew Hughes, was removed in 2006, Ratu Sir Kamisese’s removal as President was one of the cases under investigation.
There is no Statute of Limitations on capital offences, which means that those involved can still be investigated if there is sufficient evidence to prove that treason was committed aboard the Kiro that fateful night.
If that should happen, once again the sails of Kapaiwai will be seen on the horizon, not far from where Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara vanished on a fateful night in May 2000.
This month marks the 101st Birthday of late Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara.
Netani Rika is an award-wining journalist and part owner of the regional Islands Business magazine. He is former Editor-in-Chief of The Fiji Times.
