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*LAST month NAKARAWA had sacked a prison officer from the Fiji Corrections Service following an alleged positive drug test for methamphetamine. This termination, the sacked prison officer claimed, was based on incorrect information, and the prison officer respectfully sought an urgent review of his case.
*"Upon learning of the results, I took the initiative to verify the findings directly with the Lab responsible for conducting my test. During our conversation, he confirmed that my test result did not indicate methamphetamine but instead showed MDMA, a compound found in certain painkillers. This aligns with my medical condition at the time, as I was taking painkillers to manage a severe toothache."
The terminated Prison Officer, 6 February 2025.
The Commissioner of Fiji Corrections Service, Doctor Jalesi Nakarawa has been suspended by the Constitutional Offices Commission following several allegations against him that warrant an investigation.
The Commission in accordance with section 137(4) of the Constitution has advised the President to suspend the Commissioner pending investigation and pending referral to a tribunal and appointment of a tribunal.
The Commission has endorsed the appointment of Sevuloni Naucukidi, presently the Assistant Commissioner, to act as Commissioner of Fiji Corrections Service with immediate effect. The COC says this decision is made to ensure the continued efficiency and effectiveness of the Fiji Corrections Service pending the investigation and pending referral to a tribunal of the Commissioner.
In early February this year after a fijivillage News investigation looking into allegations that Doctor Nakarawa had appointed his wife as the Corrections Service Senior Medical Officer, we managed to get comments from the Fiji Medical Association.
The Association raised serious concerns about the alleged conflict of interest by the Commissioner of Corrections, Doctor Nakarawa in the appointment of his wife as a Nurse Practitioner at the organisation on the same day as the termination without cause of the Corrections Senior Medical Officer, Doctor Singh.
Association President, Doctor Alipate Vakamocea also says Doctor Nakarawa’s wife working in the senior medical officer role is outside her scope as a Nurse Practitioner.
Doctor Vakamocea says the Fiji Medical Association is deeply concerned about the decision to terminate the doctor following the meeting with the Commissioner and the doctor’s supervisor regarding a racist email.
The Association says it is concerned that the decision to terminate the doctor’s contract without cause was also personally motivated by the Commissioner of Corrections. Doctor Vakamocea says this termination led to the Commissioner’s wife, to take over as the senior medical officer in charge.
He says from the position of the Fiji Medical Association, doctors are trained to have the breadth of knowledge or skills to treat patients to a safe standard and this is not to the same standard as a Nurse Practitioner.
The FMA President says their position is that Nurse Practitioners have their own scope of practice as outlined by the Fiji Nursing Council which dictates that they cannot replace a doctor.
He says nurse practitioners are not allowed to practice medicine unsupervised and as such, Mrs Nakarawa cannot be allowed to practice in this senior medical role or even act as such. Source: Fijivillage News.
The Commission in accordance with section 137(4) of the Constitution has advised the President to suspend the Commissioner pending investigation and pending referral to a tribunal and appointment of a tribunal.
The Commission has endorsed the appointment of Sevuloni Naucukidi, presently the Assistant Commissioner, to act as Commissioner of Fiji Corrections Service with immediate effect. The COC says this decision is made to ensure the continued efficiency and effectiveness of the Fiji Corrections Service pending the investigation and pending referral to a tribunal of the Commissioner.
In early February this year after a fijivillage News investigation looking into allegations that Doctor Nakarawa had appointed his wife as the Corrections Service Senior Medical Officer, we managed to get comments from the Fiji Medical Association.
The Association raised serious concerns about the alleged conflict of interest by the Commissioner of Corrections, Doctor Nakarawa in the appointment of his wife as a Nurse Practitioner at the organisation on the same day as the termination without cause of the Corrections Senior Medical Officer, Doctor Singh.
Association President, Doctor Alipate Vakamocea also says Doctor Nakarawa’s wife working in the senior medical officer role is outside her scope as a Nurse Practitioner.
Doctor Vakamocea says the Fiji Medical Association is deeply concerned about the decision to terminate the doctor following the meeting with the Commissioner and the doctor’s supervisor regarding a racist email.
The Association says it is concerned that the decision to terminate the doctor’s contract without cause was also personally motivated by the Commissioner of Corrections. Doctor Vakamocea says this termination led to the Commissioner’s wife, to take over as the senior medical officer in charge.
He says from the position of the Fiji Medical Association, doctors are trained to have the breadth of knowledge or skills to treat patients to a safe standard and this is not to the same standard as a Nurse Practitioner.
The FMA President says their position is that Nurse Practitioners have their own scope of practice as outlined by the Fiji Nursing Council which dictates that they cannot replace a doctor.
He says nurse practitioners are not allowed to practice medicine unsupervised and as such, Mrs Nakarawa cannot be allowed to practice in this senior medical role or even act as such. Source: Fijivillage News.
From Fijileaks Archive, 10 May 2024
*In 1987, the 68-year-old Jalesi Nakarawa was a prison officer at the Naboro Maximum Security Prison (he had joined the prison service in 1974) when his future PAP leader, coupist and treasonist SITIVENI RABUKA, an obscure third-ranking army colonel, captured Dr Timoci Bavadra and his FLP-NFP coalition government at gunpoint on 14 May 1987.
*According to Nakarawa, as he recalled to Sashi Singh's Talking Point last year, he was locking the cells on the top floor at the maximum security prison when the deposed prime minister Dr Timoci Bavadra was brought into the prison by coupist Rabuka's thuggish soldiers.
Nakarawa: 'After all the prisoners were locked up in their cells, Dr Bavadra was the last man up to his cell. When I was locking him up, a lot of prisoners in their cells were making a lot of noise because by then they knew what was happening. To be frank, I never forgot the anguish on Dr Bavadra's face. As I was about to lock the door, he actually grabbed my boots and requested me for assistance, basically saying what about these people shouting at him. So I had to stand there and give him a bit of comfort. I told him, "Sir, take a bit of rest, and when I lock this door, it will not open until tomorrow morning." So, when I was standing there, I was thinking, what a dilemma: from Prime Minister's Office one day, to maximum security prison cell the next day. I guess that is where my interest in politics started.
*Nakarawa claimed that after the encounter with Bavadra in the prison cell, he developed an interest in politics and went on to study at USP and in New Zealand, and ended up at the FNU. Now, Nakarawa has been appointed the new Commissioner of Prisons for the next five-years.
*Ironically, very recently he was questioning the legitimacy of the 2013 Constitution in an opinion piece in the media, the very Constitution under which he has been selected as the new Prisons Commissioner.
