REPUBLIC of Fiji Military Forces commander Major General Ro Jone Kalouniwai described the removal of the Great Council of Chiefs in 2006 as a condescending move.
He used the iTaukei word, “kalawaci”, when speaking of events leading to the dismantling of the GCC.
He made the statements while presenting the military’s matanigasau to the GCC at the Queen Elizabeth Barracks in Nabua, Suva yesterday.
He said while the decision to reconcile was not an easy one to make, the officers knew it was a mending of relations that had to take place because of the hurt caused when the august body was removed.
He said officers were not at peace, knowing a matanigasau to their chiefs and the vanua was the right thing to do.
In presenting the kamunaga or the whale’s tooth to chiefly representatives of the three confederacies — Ratu Wiliame Katonivere for Tovata, Ro Teimumu Kepa for Burebasaga, Ratu Celua Cakobau for Kubuna and GCC chairman Ratu Viliame Seruvakula — Mr Kalouniwai said a reconciliation was necessary to pave a better way forward for all. He described yesterday’s event as a new dawn.
In accepting the matanigasau on behalf of the confederacies, Ro Teimumu said the events of the past years hurt everyone in the country.
“You are our sons, our children, our vanua and our grandchildren, and we forgive you,” she said.
“We ask you please and we plead with you all to not repeat the events of the past years. We were all affected, our children and grandchildren, so we ask you please to protect us, protect out nation, our vanua and our people.”
Ro Teimumu said the matanigasau showed humility in accepting and recognising the wrongs of the past years.
As a former military man, Ratu Viliame said sitting among the chiefs was a hard pill to swallow as he knew that the matanigasau was not done to the chiefs.
“It’s like a black cloud that hovered over me and I thank you for this matanigasau because it now clears the way forward for us all,” he said.
Tui Macuata Ratu Wiliame thanked the military for the reconciliation event because it accompanied God’s blessings upon the nation and allowed a reset or a new beginning for all.
