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 Tudravu |  Forwood |  Tikoduadua |
Brigadier-General Manoa Gadai, one of the most senior RFMF officers and head of the Joint Task Force at Blackrock, has broken ranks with the government and security hierarchy over Fiji’s drug crisis.
The trigger was an email from Sydney-based Alexandra Forwood to Police Commissioner Rusiate Tudravu (copied to the PM, senior politicians, RFMF commander and media). She supplied alleged Viber messages between police officers involved in the drug trade and asked why they had not been suspended. Tudravu didn’t reply but Gadai did.
In his reply (in all-caps in parts), Gadai:
Defence Minister Pio Tikoduadua then publicly reprimands him, only days after claiming in Parliament that the RFMF is united and committed to staying out of politics. But Gadai’s intervention shatters that illusion, revealing discontent in the ranks over the state’s weak, possibly compromised response to the drug trade, particularly within the police.
Is Manoa Gadai “correct”?
Substantively, on the threat, yes.
Given Fiji’s coup history, a senior commander saying “I will lead” an internal security campaign from his own base, even if well-intentioned, is not a small thing. It feeds the long-standing idea that when civilians fail, the RFMF can and should step in on its own authority.
Where does Section 131 really stand in the fight against the drug trade?
Section 131(2) of the 2013 Constitution provides that it is the “overall responsibility of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces to ensure at all times the security, defence and well-being of Fiji and all Fijians.”
Defence Minister Pio Tikoduadua has recently said that, under ongoing reforms to the RFMF Act, police remain the lead agency for domestic security and drugs, with the army only called in as a “last resort”, and then only on the request of the Police Commissioner and under clear legal rules of engagement.
That is essentially an attempt to re-domesticate Section 131, to read it as a mandate for physical security in support of civilian authorities, not as a roving licence to intervene whenever the military thinks “well-being” is at risk.
So what does this mean for the drug war?
Section 131 absolutely makes the drug crisis a legitimate RFMF concern.
Brigadier-General Manoa Gadai is correct that Fiji’s drug crisis and police corruption are a national emergency, and Section 131 gives the RFMF a real stake in that fight.
The real battle now is not just against meth and cartels, but over who gets to wage that battle - an allegedly corrupt Fiji Police Force, or a permanently empowered guardian army: the Royal Fiji Military Forces.
The trigger was an email from Sydney-based Alexandra Forwood to Police Commissioner Rusiate Tudravu (copied to the PM, senior politicians, RFMF commander and media). She supplied alleged Viber messages between police officers involved in the drug trade and asked why they had not been suspended. Tudravu didn’t reply but Gadai did.
In his reply (in all-caps in parts), Gadai:
- Expresses shock at the allegations.
- Offers “to lead the Inter-Agency JOINT COUNTER DRUGS OPERATION from Blackrock Camp” – effectively suggesting the drug war be run from his command in the West rather than Suva.
- Questions whether there is really a “WAR against DRUGS in Fiji” despite parliamentary rhetoric.
- Says Parliament must pass a “CLEAR & UNAMBIGUOUS AMENDED DRUG LAW”, implying current laws are inadequate.
Defence Minister Pio Tikoduadua then publicly reprimands him, only days after claiming in Parliament that the RFMF is united and committed to staying out of politics. But Gadai’s intervention shatters that illusion, revealing discontent in the ranks over the state’s weak, possibly compromised response to the drug trade, particularly within the police.
Is Manoa Gadai “correct”?
Substantively, on the threat, yes.
- Fiji’s drug economy has clearly become a national security issue, not just a policing matter; the size of recent meth and cocaine seizures shows the country is now a serious node in regional trafficking. (This is widely acknowledged in regional commentary and by Fiji’s own officials.)
- Allegations that serving police officers are involved in the trade, and that the Commissioner appears slow to act on credible material, go to the heart of state integrity. If key nodes of law enforcement are corrupted, the normal “police first, army last” model starts to wobble.
Given Fiji’s coup history, a senior commander saying “I will lead” an internal security campaign from his own base, even if well-intentioned, is not a small thing. It feeds the long-standing idea that when civilians fail, the RFMF can and should step in on its own authority.
Where does Section 131 really stand in the fight against the drug trade?
Section 131(2) of the 2013 Constitution provides that it is the “overall responsibility of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces to ensure at all times the security, defence and well-being of Fiji and all Fijians.”
Defence Minister Pio Tikoduadua has recently said that, under ongoing reforms to the RFMF Act, police remain the lead agency for domestic security and drugs, with the army only called in as a “last resort”, and then only on the request of the Police Commissioner and under clear legal rules of engagement.
That is essentially an attempt to re-domesticate Section 131, to read it as a mandate for physical security in support of civilian authorities, not as a roving licence to intervene whenever the military thinks “well-being” is at risk.
So what does this mean for the drug war?
Section 131 absolutely makes the drug crisis a legitimate RFMF concern.
- Large-scale trafficking, corrupt law-enforcement, and a growing domestic meth market clearly threaten the “security, defence and well-being” of Fiji.
- Gadai isn’t inventing some new mission; he is drawing on the RFMF’s own self-understanding, as seen on its official website, as “guardian of Fiji” tasked with tackling modern threats including transnational crime.
Brigadier-General Manoa Gadai is correct that Fiji’s drug crisis and police corruption are a national emergency, and Section 131 gives the RFMF a real stake in that fight.
The real battle now is not just against meth and cartels, but over who gets to wage that battle - an allegedly corrupt Fiji Police Force, or a permanently empowered guardian army: the Royal Fiji Military Forces.
