There is a lot of “deep pain” within the Republic of Fiji Military Forces, says Commander Major General Ro Jone Kalouniwai.
Maj-Gen Kalouniwai said he intended to address the deep rooted pain brought about by the 2000 mutiny by Counter Revolutionary Warfare Unit (CRW) soldiers on the RFMF’s Queen Elizabeth Barracks which resulted in the death of three soldiers.
“There’s a deep pain that is existing in the RFMF, my intention is not to bury it but to address it,” said Maj-Gen Kalouniwai.
“So that the RFMF can be strong together.”
Maj-Gen Kalouniwai said the military would be going through a reconciliation process where they would be reaching out to CRW and RFMF soldiers who were part of the 2000 mutiny and their families.
“One of my core responsibilities as Commander of the RFMF is to uphold the integrity of our institution.
“I must ensure that the integrity of the RFMF is always in place and then keeping the core together in terms of maintaining our cohesiveness and how we work together on a daily basis within the ranks of the RFMF and then trying to maintain the operational effectiveness in terms of our responsibilities.
“With that in mind the RFMF has gone through a controversial past. We came through 1987, 2000 and then 2006 until today.
“The most pinnacle thing for us was when the mutiny happened in 2000.
“So the process that we had started is focused on the events of November, 2000.
“What we are doing is we will be reaching out to the families of those CRW soldiers and those RFMF that were affected in the mutiny.
“We want to bring back those families that were affected by 2000 because this reconciliation process within government will not be effective if we do not do our job within the RFMF.”
He said remnants of the emotional impact the 2000 mutiny had was still apparent today.
“It is a very sensitive issue but it is a very important issue not just for the RFMF but as a nation as a whole.
“We have lost soldiers. Families have lost fathers and husbands and it is a very critical thing for us to do.
“We believe before we start reaching out, we have to reach within the force first.”
