Ratu
Epenisa Cakobau
Vunivalu of Bau
Member of the Fijian Parliament
for Tailevu South Lomaiviti
In office
15 May 1999 – 1 September 2001
Preceded byNone (constituency established)
Succeeded byAsenaca Caucau
Personal details
Born1959 or 1960 (age 63–64)[1]
Political partySoqosoqo ni Vakavulewa ni Taukei
Conservative Alliance-Matanitu Vanua
Social Democratic Liberal Party

Ratu Epenisa Seru Cakobau (pronounced [ðakomˈbau]) (born ~1959 or 1960) is a Fijian chief.[2] Cakobau is a senior member of the Tui Kaba clan and a high chief on the island of Bau. He is the son of former Governor-General of Fiji and Vunivalu of Bau Ratu Sir George Cakobau, and a great-great grandson of Ratu Seru Epenisa Cakobau, the warlord who established the first unified Fijian Kingdom in 1871 and ceded it to the United Kingdom in 1874.[1]

Cakobau has been involved in politics; he was elected to the House of Representatives of Fiji in the 1999 Fijian general election as a candidate of the Soqosoqo ni Vakavulewa ni Taukei (SVT), representing the open constituency of Tailevu South Lomaiviti.[3] When the Conservative Alliance, a nationalistic political party was founded in 2001, Cakobau was chosen as its first president.[4] In 2007 when the military regime suspended the Great Council of Chiefs in the aftermath of the 2006 Fijian coup d'état, Cakobau was part of a legal challenge to the suspension.[5] He later opposed the military regime's People's Charter for Change, Peace and Progress.[6]

In 2018, he was arrested to prevent a ceremony to install him as the Vunivalu of Bau.[7][8] In July 2019 he revealed that he had relocated his family overseas after receiving death threats over the title.[9]

In July 2020, he was elected president of the Social Democratic Liberal Party.[10][11] He remained with SODELPA when Sitiveni Rabuka split from the party.[12] His term as president expired in 2022,[13] and he was replaced by Manoa Roragaca.[14]

In March 2023, he was installed as Vunivalu of Bau.[15]

Personal life

He married Adi Frances Loloma in September 1986.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Back in Time: Ratu Epenisa weds". Fiji Times. 7 October 2020. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  2. ↑ "Fiji high chief fined for punching Bainimarama's son". RNZ. 14 November 2007. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  3. ↑ "REPUBLIC OF THE FIJI ISLANDS: PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS OF 8-15 MAY 1999". Psephos. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  4. ↑ "Genealogy". Archived from the original on 2018-08-08. Retrieved 2017-10-20.
  5. ↑ "Further challenge expected against suspension of Fiji's GCC". RNZ. 24 May 2007. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  6. ↑ "Leaders of three Fiji confederacies question provisions in draft Charter". RNZ. 28 August 2008. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  7. ↑ "Chiefly claimant in Fiji taken into custody amid title dispute". RNZ. 8 June 2018. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  8. ↑ "Rabuka says no call for armed officers in chiefly dispute". RNZ. 8 June 2018. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  9. ↑ "Death threats force Fiji high chief to relocate family". RNZ. 1 July 2019. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  10. ↑ "Hundreds locked out of Sodelpa meeting as chiefs get nod". RNZ. 28 July 2020. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  11. ↑ "Ratu Epenisa is SODELPA's new president". Fiji Times. 25 July 2020. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  12. ↑ "Ratu Epenisa Calls For Calm, Thanks Rabuka For Service". Fiji Sun. 10 December 2020. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  13. ↑ Apenisa Waqairadovu (22 August 2022). "SODELPA to make executive appointments". FBCNews. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  14. ↑ "No More Drama: Duru Reckons". Fiji Sun. 3 October 2022. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  15. ↑ "Ratu Epenisa installed as the Vunivalu Tui Kaba". Fiji Village. 10 March 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
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