Meli Bolobolo

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Ratu Meli Bolobolo is a Fijian chief and academic, who lectures at the Fiji Institute of Technology.

Bolobolo was installed on 30 September 2005 as the third Tu Navitilevu, or Paramount Chief of Rakiraki, in Ra Province. He succeeded his late father, Ratu Tevita Bolobolo, who died in 2003.

Bolobolo's installation as Tu Navitilevu was not without controversy. Ratu Esira Nawaqalevu, a spokesman for rival claimant Osea Carawu Naitura, said that two of the three families making up the mataqali, or tribe, had not endorsed Bolobolo, and threatened to challenge his appointment by appealing to the Native Land Commission (NLC) and, failing that, to the courts. Bolobolo maintained, however, that he had been endorsed by the 42 yavusa under the jurisdiction of the Tu Navitilevu. The chief was for the people, he said, and saw no grounds for the NLC or the courts to overturn a decision made by the people.

On 15 December 2005, the NLC ruled in Bolobolo's favour, and on 19 December, Nawaqalevu announced Naitura's intention to appeal the decision in Fiji's High Court. The NLC had based its decision on inaccurate information, the spokesman said. Naitura's line of descent was senior to Bolobolo's, he insisted. He insinuated that political interference had played a role in the NLC's decision to recognize Bolobolo, with Cabinet Minister Jioji Banuve (also of Rakiraki) supporting a pro-Bolobolo faction led by Rasekaiya Tanoa.

Nawaqalevu said that Bolobolo's grandfather and father had held the Tui Navitilevu title improperly. "How the title came to be in the hands of the younger branch of the family is a question that the NLC admits it cannot answer," he told the Fiji Sun on 19 December.