Sitiveni Rabuka, Fiji’s one-time military commander, coup leader and now prime minister, has finally said aloud what he and others have known for years: the Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF) is draining money from critical national development.
His admission during a meeting with the visiting United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix. With a faint air of irony, they meet at the Black Rock Camp on the outskirts of Nadi — a facility opened in 2022 at a cost of AUD$100 million, entirely paid for by Australia.
By contrast Australia is paying $63 million to upgrade and maintain Suva’s appalling Colonial War Memorial Hospital.
Crypto Dreams, Bankruptcy Memories
What none of them mention — and what matters most to the region — is not the bona fides of Yousuf or Phelps. It is the reputation and behaviour of Naoero’s political class, and the long, well‑documented pattern of governance failure that shadows every new venture.
Perhaps if peacekeeping was ended, Fiji’s health care workers might be able to visit their patients in something better than a leaky old boat.
The Fiji Sun quotes Rabuka saying the meeting was an opportunity to tell Lacroix about the impact and the burden of peacekeeping, particularly the financing of contributions.
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.