Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka

The 1987 coups left deep and lasting impacts across key sectors, Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka told the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

He said the uprisings did not fully achieve their intended purpose and added that he cannot say a truthful yes.

Rabuka said the events forced a period of self-reflection. He said the coup brought out a self-realization of who we are, what we are doing and where we need to be.

He added that if this is considered a positive outcome, everyone should learn from it.

He warned of sensitivities around numbers and the perceived imbalance in the distribution of national assets.

“Well, the immediate impact was the exodus of talented and professional people. And one of the corrective actions I took when I was in charge of most of the things was to send away iTaukei men and women to go to some crash courses in the legal profession,the areas of finance.”

Rabuka said discussions about indigenously-owned resources such as land and gold often divide opinions.

He added that legal and administrative arguments exist but ethnicity always plays a role, making these debates rarely objective.

The political upheavals also triggered a mass exodus of skilled professionals, leaving gaps in civil service, education, health, legal and security sectors.

Rabuka said the immediate impact was the loss of talented people.

To address this, he sent iTaukei men and women abroad for crash courses in law and finance with support from Bond University.

He said some returned appropriately qualified while others may not have but the measures helped fill critical gaps even as the country carried the scar for many years.

He said he relied on senior civil servants who remained to maintain continuity.

“I left them to make their own decisions, he added, respecting their right to choose what was best for themselves and future generations.”

On the legal sector, Rabuka said he could only speak from what he heard. He said some may have questioned the integrity of the judiciary but he was not in a position to judge.

In education, he said many good teachers were lost though schools remained staffed by iTaukei and Rotuman teachers.

In health, qualified medical practitioners migrated to safer territories.

He said the police force was also shaken, prompting him to appoint new senior officers after consulting the commissioner who acknowledged the challenges but noted that Rabuka was in charge at the time.

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