Be True To Your Words: PM
Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama has reminded Fiji Corrections Service officers to be true to their words of support for him.
He made the remarks yesterday after the traditional welcome ceremony pledged the officers’ support for his Government and leadership. He was chief guest at the Corrections passing-out parade for new recruits at Naboro. “Mo ni dinata na vosa ni veitokoni kivei au sa mai
rogo ena tubetube.” (Be true to the words of support for me as expressed during the traditional presentation.) He did not elaborate. He said when he heard the words of support for him uttered during the traditional presentations, he urged all wardens in all ranks to uphold the way forward for a better Fiji.
He asked them to think of him when they worked to support the way forward. Although he did not say it, his comments could be linked to the votes he received at the Corrections Polling Stations in the recent General Election.
This was how voting went:
NABORO – Sitiveni Rabuka 73, Lynda Tabuya 18, Voreqe Bainimarama 12, Mere Samisoni 10, Ratu Suliano Matanitobua 8, Ro Teimumu Kepa 6.…
SUVA – Sitiveni Rabuka 45, Voreqe Bainimarama 32, Lynda Tabuya 25, Ro Teimumu Kepa 23….
LEVUKA – Peceli Vosanibola 6, Sitiveni Rabuka 2, Voreqe Bainimarama 2…
LABASA – Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu 13, Sitiveni Rabuka 9, Voreqe Bainimarama 8, Ro Teimumu Kepa 5….
TAVEUNI – No one voted for Mr Bainimarama
BA – Sitiveni Rabuka 4, Voreqe Bainimarama 3, Lynda Tabuya 2.…
NATABUA – Sitiveni Rabuka 18, Lynda Tabuya 17, Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu 11, Niko Nawaikula 10, Voreqe Bainimarama 6….
The figures showed that the majority of wardens did not vote for Mr Bainimarama.
He said he had earlier cancelled the traditional ceremonies of welcome, but the Corrections Chaplain Reverend Josefa Tikoinatabua and the Fiji Corrections Service (FCS) Commissioner Francis Kean then asked him to allow the ceremonies to be performed. He did not say why he cancelled the traditional ceremonies first.
It is understood that he was not keen on the traditional ceremony of support because it was not reflected in the election outcome. It is also understood that he felt a sense of betrayal after his Government had tried to lift the profile of Corrections. Mr Bainimarama said he was brought up at Naboro when his father was with the Corrections Service and he knew the inside story and all the roads and short cuts in the institution.
Mr Kean said he was trying hard to change the mindset in the Corrections Service, but it would take time. However, he told the Fiji
Sun come 2020 there should be a definite change.
He said they were thankful to the PM for accepting the invitation to be chief guest. Addressing the 78 new wardens, Mr Bainimarama said they were ready to enter the ranks of the Fiji Corrections Service.
“This is the end of a long journey for all of you; our successful graduates. You have now completed the long months of training and preparations for a career of service to your nation, as officers in our Corrections Service,” he said.
He said this was no small feat and it spoke of their discipline, their resolve and their patriotism as Fijians who were dedicating their time, talents and efforts to a cause that was larger than themselves and that was of the utmost importance to the health of Fiji’s democracy.
As new recruits of the Corrections Service, he said, they were now assuming the responsibility for remanding those who had been brought to justice within Fiji’s judicial system. “You are now part of the criminal justice system that maintains law and order in our society and that – at its best – rehabilitate those who have violated our laws and prepare the vast majority of them to, one day, re-enter our society.”
He said every Fijian deserved to know that the institutions entrusted with upholding our laws were wholly independent. They deserve to know, he said, that the women and men who staffed those offices held their positions not on the basis of who they knew, where they came from, who their parents might be or what their ethnicity or religion might be. Mr Bainimarama said the public needed to know that the officers were there on the basis of merit, their qualification and their ability to do their jobs as well as could be done.
That is why, he added, that throughout every level of law enforcement in Fiji there needed to be transparency, accountability and the assurance that all appointments were made on the basis of merit and merit alone.