Kamisese Mara

Quotes

• “"Above all there is our fixed joint determination to build a strong and united Fiji, rich in diversity and pampered with tolerance, goodwill and understanding." (Attributed to Mara by his successor as President, Ratu Josefa Iloilo, 10 October 2005).”
• “How could I stand by and watch my house on fire? (This quote, and the one following, were part of his defence for joining Sitiveni Rabuka's military government in 1987).”
• “At that stage my heart ruled my head".”
• “It is with obedience to your call that I take up the burden of government leadership for the final time.”
• “Here was an action that touched on raw and sensitive nerves in a community that had already undergone the trauma of two military takeovers. There was an undoubted threat to public order, welfare and freedom. I suspect the psychological pressure associated with that crisis caused the first mental blackout I had ever suffered. It contributed to a deterioration in my health that later required the insertion of a heart pacemaker.”
• “(On his Catholic faith): "Certainly it has been the rock on which I have always been able to rely in good times and in bad, and it is the lodestone of my life."”

via Wikiquote · CC BY-SA

Key facts

Prime minister

Sitiveni Rabuka , Mahendra Chaudhry , Ratu Tevita Momoedonu

Preceded by

Ratu Sir Penaia Ganilau

Succeeded by

Frank Bainimarama , Head of the Interim Military Government

President

Ratu Sir Penaia Ganilau

Governor general

Ratu Sir Penaia Ganilau

Monarch

Elizabeth II

Governors general

Sir Robert Sidney Foster , Ratu Sir George Cakobau , Ratu Sir Penaia Ganilau

Deputy

Edward Cakobau , Penaia Ganilau , David Toganivalu, Mosese Qionibaravi

Governor

Sir Derek Jakeway , Sir Robert Sidney Foster

Born

6 May 1920, Lomaloma , Vanua Balavu , Colony of Fiji , British Empire

Died

18 April 2004 (2004-04-18) (aged 83), Suva , Fiji

Resting place

Tubou , Lakeba , Fiji

Party

Alliance Party

Spouse s

Ro Lady Lala Mara (née Tuisawau), 11 September 1949 – 18 April 2004 (his death)

Children

Ateca Ganilau Koila Nailatikau Asenaca Kakua Finau Mara Joji Tuisawau Litia Cakobau Elenoa Tuilau Tevita Mara

Parents

Tevita Uluilakeba III (father) Lusiana Qolikoro (mother)

Alma mater

University of Otago , London School of Economics , Wadham College, Oxford

Profession

Economist

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Image

Kamisese Mara.jpg

via Wikidata · CC0