RAIN drizzled steadily over Queen Elizabeth Barracks on Wednesday afternoon as members of the media gathered at the Delainabua gates, waiting for an event unprecedented in Fiji’s recent modern history.
Inside, beneath grey skies and a subdued atmosphere, the leadership core of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF) assembled at the officers mess and prepared to present a matanigasau, a traditional request for forgiveness, to the reconstituted Bose Levu Vakaturaga, the Great Council of Chiefs (GCC).
It was a moment almost two decades in the making.
The chiefly institution, regarded as the apex of indigenous leadership in Fiji, was suspended in 2007 and formally dissolved in 2012 by decree under then military commander and interim prime minister, Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama, who had seized power in a 2006 coup.
His sharp rebuke of the hereditary chiefs, delivered with a cutting metaphor about an illegal brew and a mango tree, became a symbol of the fractured relationship between the military and traditional leadership during that era.
Today, under Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka’s coalition government, the GCC has been reinstated through an act of Parliament and has reclaimed its place in Fiji’s evolving political landscape.
Wednesday’s ceremony marked a profound and symbolic attempt to mend the rift.
As the rain eased, RFMF Commander Major General Ro Jone Kalouniwai addressed the assembled chiefs with humility and solemnity.
“For a purpose that only the Lord Almighty knows,” he said, acknowledging the significance of the day.
“It has been a long time coming, that we, the members of the RFMF, have carried this weight of this burden on our shoulders over the past number of years.”
He spoke of the difficult decisions of the past, especially those that led to the dismantling of the GCC, and described the apology as a burden the military had long wished to lay down.
Bowing his head, he knelt in front of the chiefs.
“It is my humble duty to kneel before you on behalf of us all,” he said.
“We have here presented before you gifts and offerings, but this gesture does not for once take away from us the importance and true purpose of today’s event.”
Major General Kalouniwai framed the ceremony as a moment of renewal.
“Just as the Lord Jesus Christ died to cleanse us of our sins, the symbolism of today’s ceremony likewise is founded on the principle of renewal and restoration,” he said.
“The RFMF is on a new journey.”
Accepting the matanigasau on behalf of the GCC, the Roko Tui Dreketi, Ro Teimumu Kepa, spoke with equal emotion.
She reminded those present that the military and the chiefly institutions were not strangers, but family.
“This traditional apology is very important to us because it comes from you whp are our children and grandchildren who serve in the Republic of Fiji Military Forces,” she said.
“You are our children, this is our military, this is our vanua.”
Ro Teimumu said the chiefs had waited a long time for this day, calling the gesture deeply significant given the pain caused by past events.
“What happened in the past in relation to the Great Council of Chiefs is something that affected us deeply,” she said.
“That is why what you have done today is so significant.”
She offered the council’s forgiveness, urging the RFMF to safeguard the nation’s wellbeing.
“Never again should the RFMF shake the nation,” she said.
“Think of us, think of your children and grandchildren, and think of our citizens.”
In closing, she blessed the soldiers and those serving abroad, calling the act of apology one that honoured both culture and God’s commandment to seek forgiveness.
As the ceremony ended, the rainclouds lifted slightly and darkness fell over Delainabua.
The gesture of matanigasau by the RFMF to the GCC did not erase history, but it marks a defining moment since the events of December 2006.
This here was a moment of reconciliation between an institution that once wielded decisive force and the traditional authority that represents the soul of the iTaukei people.
But whether this renewed relationship reshapes national unity will depend on actions taken long after the gifts have been exchanged and the voices have fallen silent.
Right: RFMF senior officers mix a tanoa of yaqona after the reconciliation and restoration ceremony at the RFMF Officers mass in Delainabua, Suva this week.
Picture: JONACANI LALAKOBAU
RFMF Commander, Major General Ro Jone Kalouniwai. Picture: JONACANI LALAKOBAU
