Court to Fix Trial Date for Former PM

The High Court in Suva will soon fix a trial date to hear former Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama’s civil case seeking payment of his pension and entitlements.

Bainimarama’s lawyer Fatima Gul appeared before Acting Master Liyanage Kashyapa Wickramasekera yesterday saying that all orders have been compiled including pretrial matters.

Claim 

According to their claim, having served as Prime Minister from 2009 to 2022, Bainimarama was entitled to receive 75 per cent of his annual pension for gratuity payment.

This means that he should have received $246,562.50, which is 75 per cent of his annual salary of $328,750. This amount was reduced to $184,921.87.

On top of this claim, the Plaintiff has also pointed out that Bainimarama was entitled to receive a one-off gratuity payment of $770,507.87.

They claimed that of this, government has only paid him $433,296.75 leaving a shortfall of $337,211.12.

The Plaintiff has sought relief for: 

•  The remaining gratuity balance of $337,211.12 be paid,
•  The government pay him his correct fortnight pension of $7112.37,
•  He is entitled to provisions offered under Section 9 of the Prime Ministers Pension Act 1994,
•  He ought to be paid his respective pension and retirement allowance based on the salary payable to him under Parliamentary Remuneration Act,
•  An order that government pay pre-judgment interest on the judgement sum of at the current lending bank’s overdraft interest rate of 13.5 per cent per annum.
•  An order that government pay post judgement from the date of judgement until full payment is made.
•  That government should pay plaintiff’s cost on a full solicitor client indemnity basis.

The Acting Master has notified all the parties that the Registry will list the matter before a Judge to fix trial dates.

Both parties concur that the trial would only take up approximately a day with the AG’s office calling three witnesses while the Plaintiff is calling two.

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