The Great Council of Chiefs should produce annual reports to parliament to maintain transparency once it officially convenes.

This was highlighted by Viliame Seuseu, a participant during the public consultations on the review of the Great Council of Chiefs (GCC) at the Sugar Cane Growers Hall on Wednesday.

Mr Seuseu suggested that a GCC secretariat be appointed with the power to appoint or terminate members who breach the law.

“There are two aspects namely character ethics and personal ethics, I am requesting if character ethics of GCC members could be looked into, mainly maturity, truthfulness, honesty and working transparently,” he said.

“It’s not bad to have degrees but that has to be rooted in character ethics if we want the GCC to be a success.”

He stressed that the GCC’s role was to benefit the iTaukei people and ensure good governance and well-being for them.

“The GCC must be independent and not rely on the Government and there should be other sources of its income.”

He requested that representatives from the iTaukei Affairs Board and iTaukei Land Trust Board be included in the GCC, and if the senate is reinstated, its members could also be chosen along with the GCC.

Story By: Salote Qalubau

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