Epenisa Cakobau

Ratu Epenisa Seru Cakobau (pronounced [ðakomˈbau]) (born ~1959 or 1960) is a Fijian chief.[2] Cakobau is a senior member of the Tui Kaba clan and a high chief on the island of Bau. He is the son of former Governor-General of Fiji and Vunivalu of Bau Ratu Sir George Cakobau, and a great-great grandson of Ratu Seru Epenisa Cakobau, the warlord who established the first unified Fijian Kingdom in 1871 and ceded it to the United Kingdom in 1874.[1]

Ratu
Epenisa Cakobau
Vunivalu of Bau
Member of the Fijian Parliament
for Tailevu South Lomaiviti
In office
15 May 1999 – 1 September 2001
Preceded byNone (constituency established)
Succeeded byAsenaca Caucau
Personal details
Born1959 or 1960 (age 63–64)[1]
Political partySoqosoqo ni Vakavulewa ni Taukei
Conservative Alliance-Matanitu Vanua
Social Democratic Liberal Party

Cakobau has been involved in politics; he was elected to the House of Representatives of Fiji in the 1999 Fijian general election as a candidate of the Soqosoqo ni Vakavulewa ni Taukei (SVT), representing the open constituency of Tailevu South Lomaiviti.[3] When the Conservative Alliance, a nationalistic political party was founded in 2001, Cakobau was chosen as its first president.[4] In 2007 when the military regime suspended the Great Council of Chiefs in the aftermath of the 2006 Fijian coup d'état, Cakobau was part of a legal challenge to the suspension.[5] He later opposed the military regime's People's Charter for Change, Peace and Progress.[6]

In 2018, he was arrested to prevent a ceremony to install him as the Vunivalu of Bau.[7][8] In July 2019 he revealed that he had relocated his family overseas after receiving death threats over the title.[9]

In July 2020, he was elected president of the Social Democratic Liberal Party.[10][11] He remained with SODELPA when Sitiveni Rabuka split from the party.[12] His term as president expired in 2022,[13] and he was replaced by Manoa Roragaca.[14]

In March 2023, he was installed as Vunivalu of Bau.[15]

Personal life

He married Adi Frances Loloma in September 1986.[1]

References
  1. "Back in Time: Ratu Epenisa weds". Fiji Times. 7 October 2020. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  2. "Fiji high chief fined for punching Bainimarama's son". RNZ. 14 November 2007. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  3. "REPUBLIC OF THE FIJI ISLANDS: PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS OF 8-15 MAY 1999". Psephos. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  4. "Genealogy". Archived from the original on 2018-08-08. Retrieved 2017-10-20.
  5. "Further challenge expected against suspension of Fiji's GCC". RNZ. 24 May 2007. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  6. "Leaders of three Fiji confederacies question provisions in draft Charter". RNZ. 28 August 2008. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  7. "Chiefly claimant in Fiji taken into custody amid title dispute". RNZ. 8 June 2018. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  8. "Rabuka says no call for armed officers in chiefly dispute". RNZ. 8 June 2018. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  9. "Death threats force Fiji high chief to relocate family". RNZ. 1 July 2019. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  10. "Hundreds locked out of Sodelpa meeting as chiefs get nod". RNZ. 28 July 2020. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  11. "Ratu Epenisa is SODELPA's new president". Fiji Times. 25 July 2020. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  12. "Ratu Epenisa Calls For Calm, Thanks Rabuka For Service". Fiji Sun. 10 December 2020. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  13. Apenisa Waqairadovu (22 August 2022). "SODELPA to make executive appointments". FBCNews. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  14. "No More Drama: Duru Reckons". Fiji Sun. 3 October 2022. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  15. "Ratu Epenisa installed as the Vunivalu Tui Kaba". Fiji Village. 10 March 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
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