Letter To The Editor – Council Of Chiefs

Some tend to think that the Great Council of Chiefs was established under Section 116 of the 1997 constitution.

Wrong! Two years after Fiji was ceded to the United Kingdom, the British colonial rulers established the Council of Chiefs as an advisory body in 1876.

I wonder what they did for the common people that was so relevant and noteworthy to require adding the term “Great” sometime later in the twentieth century.

Now they are tasked with looking after iTaukei interests and safeguarding matters for all Fijians. Will they?

The council, now seen by many as insignificant, was once viewed as the living embodiment of a unified iTaukei people!

Feedback: letters@fijisun.com.fj