WE want to be very transparent, says the Republic of Fiji Military Forces Commander Major General Ro Jone Kalouniwai.
While acknowledging the Constitution Review Commission’s report on the proposed new Constitution and the sweeping reforms the new supreme law could impose on Fiji’s military system, Maj-Gen Kalouniwai said the current regulations followed by the RFMF were old.
Under Chapter 10 of the report, the commission proposed the introduction of a military court with civilian judges.
The decision marks a departure from traditional internal proceedings, which previously kept officer misconduct shielded from public view under strict confidentiality clauses.
Maj-Gen Kalouniwai acknowledged that institutional secrecy was no longer viable in a modern security environment.
With the proposal to open courtroom doors, the Commander said the RFMF would aim to demonstrate fairness across all ranks, ensuring lower-level personnel and the broader public can witness disciplinary actions taken against high-ranking personnel.
“We want to be very transparent with what we’re doing, looking at the way the world is moving, looking at the way things are happening today,” he said.
“Transparency is very important. As I said, the regulations we were following before was very old.”
He said historically rank carried significant privacy protections during disciplinary inquiries, creating perception gaps regarding how senior officers were held accountable compared to enlisted ranks.
The new guidelines intend to dismantle those protections, treating all breaches with equal visibility.
“They provided a lot of privacy, a lot of confidentiality when it came to rank, so with this one, we’re trying to open things up so that things could be a lot more transparent. So that the soldiers understand when officers are at fault,” said Maj-Gen Kalouniwai.
“It’s appreciated. It is recognised by everybody and at the same time the way things are happening towards the soldiers as well.”
The Commander added that public oversight serves a dual purpose – reinforcing internal discipline while building public trust in the armed forces.
By making proceedings accessible, the military aims to ensure that justice within the institution is seen to be done.
