Fred Timakata Explained

Honorific Prefix:His Excellency Reverend
Fred Timakata
Term Start:30 January 1989
Term End:30 January 1994
Primeminister:Donald Kalpokas
Maxime Carlot Korman
Predecessor:Onneyn Tahi
Successor:Alfred Maseng
Term Start2:17 February 1984
Term End2:8 March 1984
Primeminister2:Maxime Carlot Korman
Predecessor2:Ati George Sokomanu
Successor2:Ati George Sokomanu
Birth Name:Frederick Karlomuana Timakata
Birth Date: 1936
Birth Place:Emae, New Hebrides
Party:Vanua'aku Pati

Frederick "Fred" Karlomuana Timakata (1936  - 21 March 1995[1]) was a Ni-Vanuatu politician who served as the president of Vanuatu from 1989 to 1994.

Timakata was born at Makatea Village on the island of Emae, in the Shepherd Group. He attended school on Emae and later at the district school on Epi Island. He undertook teacher training at the Teachers' Training Institute on Santo, and taught there for a number of years. Later, he did pastoral training at the Methodist Theological College and the Pacific Theological College in Fiji. After serving as a parish pastor for several years, he became Assistant Assembly Clerk and later Assembly Clerk for the Presbyterian Church of New Hebrides.[2]

Timakata assisted in the founding of the New Hebrides National Party, and in 1973 became its Vice President. He was elected as a member of the pre-independence Representative Assembly in 1979, and became its chair. He resigned that position before independence and was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Home Affairs upon independence in 1980.[3]

Timakata was Speaker of the Parliament from November 1983 to November 1987, and served as acting President of Vanuatu briefly in 1984. He was subsequently elected as President for a five-year term from 30 January 1989 to 30 January 1994.[4] [5] [6]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Index Ta-Ti .
  2. Macdonald-Milne, B and Thomas, P. (eds)(1981) Yumi Stanap: Some People of Vanuatu. Suva: Institute of Pacific Studies
  3. Macdonald-Milne, B and Thomas, P. (eds)(1981) ibid
  4. Web site: 57. Vanuatu (1980-present). uca.edu. 29 August 2019.
  5. Book: Trease, Howard Van. Melanesian Politics: Stael Blong Vanuatu. 29 August 1995. editorips@usp.ac.fj. 9780958330046. 29 August 2019. Google Books.
  6. Web site: Vanuatu: Heads of State: 1980-2019 - Archontology.org. www.archontology.org. 29 August 2019.