Roko Tui Dreketi was so much in control!

As the Roko Tui Dreketi she was very much in control and knew exactly what had to be done to keep the respect of her people. As a citizen of her birth country, a dictatorship now, under the dictator Frank Bainimarama her rights has been taken away from her and treated like a common criminal. It is not the Fiji that most of us know. Have we all forgotten the date last Monday, 20th of July 2004? This was the day when it was announced in Suva the passing of her older sister, Ro Lady Lala Mara, who was then the Roko Tui Dreketi. Ironically, it was the day after that, Ro Teimumu was arrested for sticking to her principles and standing up to Frank’s Bainimarama’s illegal military regime. She did it not only for herself but for her people of Rewa and the people of Fiji. From her father, Ro Lala inherited the title of Roko Tui Dreketi, the traditional title of the rulers of the Burebasaga Confederacy which covers the provinces of Rewa, Nadroga-Navosa, Namosi, Serua, Kadavu and parts of Ba and Ra. After her death, she was succeeded by her younger sister Ro Teimumu Vuikaba Kepa, sadly and disgracefully arrested one day after the 5th anniversary ( 21/07/09 ) of her older sister’s death from the stately home of Valelevu in Lomanikoro. As I thought back of the few days after Adi Lala’s death when her daughters, especially Koila was in a state of despair and so distressed because her Nau couldn’t be laid to rest in Lakeba close to their Ratu, the Tui Nayau. Twice the people of Lau in the Fijian traditional way asked for the Roko Tui Dreketi, Ro Lala to be taken to Lakeba for burial but was refused by the people of Rewa who at the time had Ului on their side. ( My apologies for not knowing the correct Fijian terms for what was performed that night. ) For one that stood by the Mara children thick and thin, I was upset and felt every little bit of what they were going through. In the Western world it was the norm and honourable thing to have your parents buried side by side. It was the last beautiful task the children could do for their parents. Here we had a great love story and a marriage that lasted 54 years so naturally they should be together for eternity. I could not understand why they had to be apart now. While I was in the kitchen trying to console Koila, Adi Teimumu walked in and sat down. She then asked me to go and sit next to her which I did. Holding my hands and in a soft pleasing manner she explained to me the demands of the indigenous Fijian traditions, customs and protocol. She said it was continuous, involved and even though at times weary it had to be adhered to. She also mentioned that Adi Lala and the children had enjoyed very much the pampering they had all received from her people so it was only befitting that they bury their chief in their chiefly burial ground in Rewa. She concluded that with grace and dignity, none of us must regret later the erosion of the chiefly values and that these values needed to be exercised for the indigenous people of Fiji. I understood what she was saying because I had been brought up to respect the chiefs of Fiji by my dear parents. I was taken back and it was then that I realized how much Ro Teimumu was in control of what was ahead of her as the next Roko Tui Dreketi. Today, because Fiji is a dictatorship ruled by the dictator Frank Bainimarama this innocent human being born into one of the country’s chiefly systems has been denied her responsibility to her people and treated like a common criminal. What can any of us do? How do you fight a Dictator? Why have her nieces and nephew, Ului the military man allowed it to happen when it was them that broke the law first. Why isn’t her other relatives protecting her, Epeli and Tuki? Where does the chiefly system go from here? A lot of questions are going through my head as is for the majority that can never be answered in a dictatorship but can be resolved democratically in a democracy and a just legal system. Ului, you had listened to your Aunty then, please for all our sakes don’t allow her to be used to justify the stance you and the military have taken. The least you could do is protect her from being treated like a common criminal and give her the respect she is entitled to by your late mother’s people and the rest of us that care and love her deeply. Ro Epeli Malaitini, who at the chiefly village of Cuva at the end of Lady Lala’s mourning period said; “God always had the final say in people’s lives, which was why it is so important to appreciate and maintain the links that bound Fiji’s chiefly clans together.” He called on younger indigenous Fijians to learn from the older chiefs who despite political differences, cherished their links to the different tribes that make up the nation. Ro Teimumu also said; “We must examine the traditional demands of our race and social structure in light of the resources we have at hand and strike a workable balance.” Life was never meant to be easy but if we treated each other with honesty, integrity and fairness, we can deal with life a lot better. My Australian family and I have great respect in our hearts for what you have done. You and your family are with us in thought, wishes and prayer. Bubu Laisa’s daughter,
Rosalind.