Sir Peter Kenilorea, Solomon Islands founding father, dies

Transcript

Sir Peter Kenilorea, who led the Solomon Islands into independence from Britain in the late 1970s, has died at the age of 72 after a long illness.

Sir Peter was the country's first prime minister, and in the late 1990s, he helped spearhead the peace process as the country fell into violent ethnic conflict.

RNZ International's Jamie Tahana reports.

Born in Takataka village on Malaita in 1943, Peter Kenilorea grew up on his home island before receiving a scholarship to study in New Zealand. He trained as a teacher and returned to his homeland, but entered the public service as the Solomon Islands' amble towards independence grew into a breakneck gallop. In a 1995 interview for the "New Flags Flying" series, Sir Peter says he became the Chief Minister in 1976 as frustration with British rule grew stronger.

PETER KENILOREA: With due respect in hindsight, it's obvious the British hadn't done very much at that time for Solomon Islands. Their main emphasis was on law and order, no emphasis on economic development - that was almost nil - and the colonial administration had only one school. Well, we didn't have to fight for our independence so you can take it from that that they had had enough of the Solomon Islands and just wanted to go away.

In 1978, at the age of 35, Solomon Islands became an independent country and Peter Kenilorea its first prime minister, charged with the daunting task of forming some kind of national unity in a country divided by culture, tradition, and geography.

SIR PETER: It was a very joyous moment, but it was also a very challenging moment because we have not been ourselves alone ever. Of course the people were saying, you know, 'are we doing the right thing?' There were some comments, there was songs, and there were things that said 'we're not ready', 'we don't have money' and 'we don't have that'. But I felt then that political independence is not about money, it is deciding about being yourself, which is your right.

Sir Peter served as prime minister until 1981, and again from 1984 to 1986, where he set in motion land laws and the system of provincial government that still exists today. He then served as foreign minister from 1988 to 1989 and from 1990 to 1993 when he became the director of the Forum Fisheries Agency. But when ethnic tensions in the Solomon Islands boiled over into violent conflict in the late 1990s, Sir Peter returned to spearhead the process of restoring peace to the country. A Solomon Islands academic based in Hawaii, Dr Tarcisius Kabutalaka, who was involved in  negotiation for the Townsville Peace Agreement, a key attempt to resolve the unrest in 2000, says Sir Peter managed to command a level of respect that others couldn't.

TARCISIUS KABUTALAKA: He was one of those individuals who was respected by both sides and by people from all walks of life in Solomon Islands. From the government, or in the church, or in civil society organisations, and even among the so-called militants during the conflict. They saw him as somebody they could trust.

The Townsville agreement ultimately failed, and an Australian-led multinational force arrived in 2003, with Sir Peter serving as the co-chair of the Peace Monitoring Council for years after the conflict ended. He also served as the Speaker of Parliament from 2001 to 2010, but retired from public life as he began a long battle with illness. Dr Kabutalaka says Sir Peter Kenilorea is widely revered as a noble statesman and one of the country's greatest leaders, and his death is a great loss for Solomon Islands.

DR KABUTALAKA: He was a very thoughtful, very honourable person who carried himself very well and because of that he was very well respected in Solomon Islands and in the region as well, he was a very thoughtful person.

Sir Peter Kenilorea died last night at his family home in Honiara, and a state funeral is likely to be held next week. He is survived by his wife, Margaret, and his eight children.