Epenisa Cakobau Explained

Honorific-Prefix:	Ratu
Honorific-Suffix:	Vunivalu of Bau
Constituency Mp11:	Tailevu South Lomaiviti
Parliament11:	Fijian
Term Start11:	15 May 1999
Term End11:	1 September 2001
Predecessor11:	None (constituency established)
Successor11:	Asenaca Caucau
Birth Date:	^[1]
Party:	Soqosoqo ni Vakavulewa ni Taukei Conservative Alliance-Matanitu Vanua Social Democratic Liberal Party

Ratu Epenisa Seru Cakobau (pronounced in Fijian pronounced as /ðakomˈbau/) (born ~) is a Fijian chief^[2] and politician. Cakobau is a senior member of the Tui Kaba clan. He is the 13th Vunivalu of Bau.

Biography

He is the son of former Governor-General of Fiji and Vunivalu Ratu Sir George Cakobau, and a great-great grandson of Ratu Seru Epenisa Cakobau, the warlord who established the first unified Fiji and became its king in 1871.^[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]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Back in Time: Ratu Epenisa weds . Fiji Times . 7 October 2020 . 18 February 2023.
2. Web site: Fiji high chief fined for punching Bainimarama’s son . 18 February 2023 . RNZ . 14 November 2007.
3. Web site: REPUBLIC OF THE FIJI ISLANDS: PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS OF 8-15 MAY 1999 . Psephos . 18 February 2023.
4. Web site: Genealogy . 2017-10-20 . 2018-08-08 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180808220927/http://members.iinet.net.au/~royalty/states/fiji/vunivalu.html . dead .
5. Web site: Further challenge expected against suspension of Fiji's GCC . RNZ . 24 May 2007 . 18 February 2023.
6. Web site: Leaders of three Fiji confederacies question provisions in draft Charter . RNZ . 28 August 2008 . 18 February 2023.
7. Web site: Chiefly claimant in Fiji taken into custody amid title dispute . RNZ . 8 June 2018 . 18 February 2023.
8. Web site: Rabuka says no call for armed officers in chiefly dispute . RNZ . 8 June 2018 . 18 February 2023.
9. Web site: Death threats force Fiji high chief to relocate family . RNZ . 1 July 2019 . 18 February 2023.
10. Web site: Hundreds locked out of Sodelpa meeting as chiefs get nod . RNZ . 28 July 2020 . 18 February 2023.
11. Web site: Ratu Epenisa is SODELPA’s new president . Fiji Times . 25 July 2020 . 18 February 2023.
12. Web site: Ratu Epenisa Calls For Calm, Thanks Rabuka For Service . Fiji Sun . 10 December 2020 . 18 February 2023.
13. Web site: SODELPA to make executive appointments . FBCNews . Apenisa Waqairadovu . 22 August 2022 . 18 February 2023.
14. Web site: No More Drama: Duru Reckons . Fiji Sun . 3 October 2022 . 18 February 2023.
15. Web site: Ratu Epenisa installed as the Vunivalu Tui Kaba . Fiji Village . 10 March 2023 . 10 March 2023.