With a career that spans over two decades across the military, the judiciary, diplomacy, and now academia, Ana Rokomokoti stands as one of Fiji’s most accomplished and multidimensional public servants.
From serving as a commissioned officer in the Republic of Fiji Military Forces and adjudicating as a Resident Magistrate and Chief Registrar, to contesting national elections and leading the Law School at the Fiji National University, her professional life is a testament to adaptability, integrity, and service.
In this wide-ranging Q&A, Ms Rokomokoti reflects on the lessons she’s learned from each chapter of her career, the realities of public service and justice in Fiji, and her hopes for strengthening legal education and civic leadership. She also speaks candidly about her experiences as a woman navigating male-dominated spaces and offers thoughtful advice for aspiring professionals – especially women – who may be considering stepping into the political arena.
Whether you are a law student, an educator, a civil servant, or a future candidate for Parliament, this is a conversation rich with insight, humility, and purpose.
Public service and legal career
FT: You’ve had a distinguished career spanning military service, judiciary, and now academia. How have these different roles shaped your understanding of justice and public service?
AR: It is often said in the military that one is always a soldier first and everything else later. In 1998 I was granted a commission as an officer and so, from being an officer of the RFMF to undertaking prosecutorial work in the General Courts Martial to Field General Courts Martial to being a legal practitioner in the civil courts representing the military, to being deployed as a peacekeeper, to being senior legal officer for the Ministry of Lands and Mineral Resources, thereafter to being acting principal legal officer in the attorney generals chambers to adjudicator as a resident magistrate and chief registrar and acting chief magistrate to being a diplomat and eventually an academician in the area of law, has certainly had a profound impact on my understanding of justice and public service.
The pursuit of justice is an onerous one. It’s not to be taken lightly. I’d like to believe that these many differing hats have allowed me a unique perspective. One thing I have found is that in the pursuit of justice, we often miss the mark. Justice is about the truth and the pursuit thereof. Once found, it is out of that truth justice flows. It’s never the other way around. If one was to pursue justice with no interest in the truth or with the aim of avoiding the truth, the end result is injustice. Public Service on the other hand in my understanding of things is very old fashioned, “ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country”. Within that there are values and virtues that are required to be met. It ought not to be about fame and fortune.
The experience of contesting the elections was certainly exceptional in the sense that I was in unfamiliar territory at many levels and on different fronts. I made my contributions and was happy to have had the opportunity.
FT: As someone who served as a magistrate and later as the Chief Registrar, what were some of the most significant challenges you encountered within Fiji’s legal system, and how did you address them?
AR: In the ordinary work of any magistrate, there were general challenges. These ranged from heavy caseloads to public scrutiny and criticism to consistency in sentencing to time commitment.
As a magistrate, one applies the rules without fear favour or affection. It’s a non-emotional task. Nevertheless, from a human perspective, it was challenging to see families being torn apart and especially the negative impact of the divorce on the children of the marriage who would bear the brunt of the breakup.
Presiding over criminal and civil cases are just as important and had its challenges. And because the justice business is always about the application of the law correctly, the professionalism demanded of one magistrate was always of the highest standard. And more importantly decision making at the magistrates level is reviewable by the high court therefore the need for precision and proper application of the law was critical to get right.
As the chief registrar of the High Court who is chief administrative and accounting officer of the judicial department, I believe clear direction, teamwork and collegiality are some of the necessary tools that can be used to ensure the proper functioning of the courts. I adopted this approach in my time. In this work the chief registrar is ultimately responsible to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
The adjudicators on the other hand were independently left to undertake their respective tasks according to law.
FT: What prompted your transition from the judiciary to academia, and what do you hope to achieve as the Head of the Law School at FNU?
AR: After the judiciary, I had a short stint as Fiji’s counsellor New Delhi, India with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs after being trained as a diplomat, a course organised by the Public Services Commission. We were trained by the now President of the Court of Appeal Justice Isikeli Mataitoga who was Fiji’s Ambassador to Japan then. After India, I was at home for about 8 months. I’m grateful for that period as it allowed time for self-reflection. I thereafter considered the academic path. Prof Ram Karan the Dean of the College of Business at FNU convinced me to teach law. This gentlemen was such an inspiration. I learnt so much from him. His approach to academia and life in general is quite remarkable. I suspect I had taken up some of his approaches in certain things.
As Acting Head of School of Law Ethics and Governance, I see there is much work to be done. As the School is new there is room for collaboration between Law and Ethics. There are also opportunities to explore outside FNU to advance FNU interests.
One goal which is of particular interest to me is the establishment of the Center of Excellence in National Security and Strategic/Defence Studies at the Fiji National University under our banner. This is a Cabinet approved 2024 National Security Defence Review recommendation. I was part of the 2024 National Security Defence Review team led by Col Jim Sanday and my work was supervised by Professor Satish Chand. So that realisation of that centre is something exciting I’m looking forward to.
FT: How do you incorporate your real-world legal and military experiences into your teaching and mentorship at FNU Law School?
AR: Whilst at law school, the essence of law studies is learning legal precedents and reasoning based on case laws in various areas of law as Fiji is a common law jurisdiction. Breaking down the law in theory and practice is an approach I use. The law has a magnetic pull and with that pull comes an air of mystery. The idea for me is always to de-mystify the law for my students. The idea of bridging theory and practice and using case studies drawn from real legal experiences, where applicable and necessary, help students see how abstract legal doctrines—like the law of armed conflict, international trade law, constitutional law, or rules of evidence—apply in complex, high-stakes environments.
This helps students develop practical judgment, not just academic understanding.
In the area of mentoring, I like to promote authenticity. On a practical level that means, at appropriate times, sharing real stories of my success, failure, or difficult career transitions help students navigate uncertainty with greater confidence. Id like to think that my military service has often helped me instill in students to adopt mission-driven professionalism whilst reinforcing a sense of service and duty, which aligns with legal ethics and public-interest law.
FT: In your view, what makes a law graduate not just employable, but a future leader in Fiji’s legal and political landscape?
AR: One quality that a law graduate ought to possess is the ability to analyse with precision. So, with complex problems, it ought not to be a problem. I like to emphasise using logical arguments. Law graduates are critical thinkers and can be expected to be skeptical. They are trained to spot flaws. They are meant to be master communicators and have the ability to adapt in any given sector. Additionally, at FNU there is the promotion of soft skills. These are qualities of leaders. So, it’s not wrong to think the lawyers are trained to be leaders. Yet there is always the need for proper mentoring after law school in the first 5 years of their legal practice. I say 5 because patterns and habits can be formed in those years.
Gender and leadership
FT: You are among the few Fijian women who have reached leadership roles in several male-dominated fields. What has helped you persevere and lead in these spaces?
AR: I have had very supportive bosses and supervisors of senior military officers and much credit to them. So that was definitely a positive start. It’s also important to maintain a good and positive attitude regardless of circumstances. I always try to see the good in everyone and everything despite discoloring here and there. Generally, in my experience, I found the men I worked with very supportive. I encountered various situations where there were tensions and pressure stemming from disagreements and clashes of ideas yet this is ordinary in any work environment. These differences were professional in nature and not necessarily because I was a woman.
FT: What systemic or cultural changes would you like to see to make leadership pathways more accessible to women, especially in law and politics?
AR: Strictly speaking I don’t see myself as a feminist and neither do I advocate as a feminist. I do believe in giving everyone the opportunity to vote and be educated and the freedom to choose. I believe in equal pay for equal work. I do accept that there is a lot of local women out there with exceptional qualities and abilities who are also grounded on our own traditional/conservative values who can lead. In my view we need more authenticity, especially in this day and age when it can be unpopular to be conservative. To those struggling, I say stay true to yourself and your own homely traditional values. There is room for conservative women at the leadership table. We give that needed balance. We also need to support of our men for this to work.
FT: Have you seen a shift in the attitudes of young female law students in recent years when it comes to leadership, advocacy, or entering public life?
AR: For certain I can say this much, there are more girls in our law courses. I see a drive for success and recognition. It’s great. Success and recognition must and should always lead to the success and recognition of other women around us. We are a very privileged generation, whilst there is a good number of senior hard working women current legal practitioners who would be ideal to enter public life, I’d like to bring it closer to my workplace, Prof Nabobo Baba and Dr Alisi Vudiniabola and other esteemed academicians who are professionals and successful leaders in their own right. Their success and recognition have impacted the wider Fijian community especially women. There are others like, Mrs. Vera Chute a matriarch in the world of Fijian Business. They are visionary and doers. This is the shift desired. The success and recognition must be selfless I’d like to think. It ought not to be about fame and fortune alone.
Political engagement
FT: In 2022, you contested under the SODELPA banner. What motivated you to enter the political arena, and what lessons did you take from that experience?
AR: My desire to contribute to nation building. I was inspired by SODELPA’s express commitment to Jerusalem, Israel. I also did recognise the fundamental principles that SODELPA subscribed to. As for lessons, one lesson learnt is that it’s not always a level playing field. And that the rules of engagement are very different from that what I was used to. Additionally, you got to be prepared to be subjected to public scrutiny. At some junctures of that journey, I felt mostly for my children. The two older ones were mature enough to understand the dynamics of the political arena and appeared to manage it well. But the youngest one, only time will tell how much of an impact that had on him. These are consequences I suppose.
I also learnt a few things about myself on that journey.
FT: Reflecting on your campaign, what were the biggest obstacles you faced as a woman candidate in Fijian politics?
AR: Juggling motherhood with this other additional responsibilities was one. And generally speaking, because I campaigned in Bua and as much as it was family territory for me, I had to make sure my Buan dialect was up to speed and my traditional knowledge and culture was intact. In order to properly appreciate the cares and concerns of the people, it matters when we live in the same place, walk the same roads, ride the same transport, eat the same food, breathe the same air and drink the same water.
FT: What advice would you give to women, especially professionals like lawyers, teachers, and civil servants, who are thinking of standing in the next election?
AR: Generally, to every citizen of Fiji, If you know God has called you to it or you have an unexplainable passion for it, just do it. If it’s God’s will, it’s God’s bill.
FT: How important is political mentorship and party support for first-time candidates, especially women, and did you feel you had enough of that in 2022?
AR: It is very important to have someone to look up and consult with in that arena. On mentors, I’d like to think that it’s not necessarily about looking to whoever’s been there the longest. They ought to be accompanied by tangible achievements that have actually benefited the people. Personally, for me, I found support in forged friendships during that time period.
Vision and future impact
FT: With your experience across institutions and sectors, what long-term reforms or policies do you believe are most urgent for strengthening democracy and rule of law in Fiji?
AR: We have a constitution that works and lays the foundational legal framework for Fiji. It creates the three arms of government and draws the boundaries in terms of their functions and responsibilities. Yes, there could be improvements. Whilst much can be said, politics is about the people and their will and interests.
For every political problem our leaders must find a political solution within the framework of democratic principles. There can only be a political solution to a political problem. One cannot use the legal system to force a political outcome. The will of the people is manifested in Parliament, which is made up of the people’s elected representatives.
FT: How do you see FNU Law School playing a role in building civic awareness and political literacy, especially among youth and first-time voters?
AR: The vision of the university as led by the Vice Chancellor and the council is very optimistic. Collaboration is a method adopted by the University to advance interests similar to those highlighted. I’m all for it with the hope that we achieve balanced and tangible results.
FT: Looking ahead, would you consider running again for public office, and if so, what issues would you champion this time around?
AR: For today, I’m committed to my current role at the University. But what I do hope though is that in the next national elections we have visionary and quality candidates with proven track records to represent us in Parliament. Representatives whose yes be will yes and no will be no. And at the outset, these representatives ought to be socially economically and legally solution-oriented in their approach and genuinely have the Fijian people at heart. They must be demonstrated Fijian patriots that will protect at all costs our national sovereignty and fundamental rights and freedoms.
