Rise of Sogavare

 From the kitchen to the Upper Echelon of SI

Sogavare in his 4th stint as prime minister

Those who know Sogavare, know his political ambitions, and there is no stopping him. In 1997, having been a public servant for a few years, Mr. Sogavare ran for the constituency seat of East Choisel. He won that seat handily and returned to Honiara at a critical time to join the nation’s lawmaking body—the SI’s parliament. 

The year 2000 anxiety

The 1997 National General Election (NGE) brought many changes to the country - a whole new bread of politicians and some old-school MPs returned to Honiara to form the government. After all the negotiations, a new coaltion known by its acronym SIAC - Solomon Islands Alliance for Change, led by veteran politician and unionist, Hon. Ulufala'alu. 

The SIAC was hailed by many people as a “God-chosen Government”. It was responsible for the restoration of the country to its norms and traditions and eradicate Sir. Mamaloni’s past and corrupt dealings and policies. This new coalition was expected to restore the rule of law, institute sound financial policies, and restore confidence in the country’s politics and government.

The country was also bracing for the arrival of the year 2000, which had a profound meaning for the country’s Christians. For most people, the significance of the year gave them anxiety as the nation’s podiums warned of impending calamities. Many people turned to God, and believed that the new prime minsiter would usher in good tidings and much needed jobs. The newspapers heralded the collective voices of the evangelical intellectuals and their view that the coalition (SIAC) was divinely ordained to take the country right into the turn of the millennia. 

Excommunicated Minister

The newly elected MP for East Choisel - Mr. Sogavare, found himself in the opposition camp, led by veteran politician Sir. Solomon Sunaone Mamaloni. It was not the first time Mr. Sogavare was acquainted with the Leader of Opposition. In 1996, after toppling the prime minister in a NCM and became a prime minister of the country, he appointed Sogavare as the Permanent Secretary (PS) of the much coveted Ministry of Finance. A year later, he ran for his constituency seat and sets his eye on the ultimate goal - the PM of SI. 

After the election of 1997, Mr. Sogavare joined the newly established government of Prime Minister Bartolomew Ulufa'alu as Minister of the Ministry of Finance - a suitable position to the well-trained public servant. However, things didn't go well between the two politicians leading to the termination of Mr. Sogavare from the SICA calition. He joined the opposition camp led by his friend Solomon Mamaloni. 

Sogavare joined the Opposition cam as the ‘Shadow Finance Minister’, a task that was wholly appropriate for him as he who was a former PS, and holds a degree in finance. His task was, per the SI’s Constitution, to critique the financial deals of the government and its budget and prepared the Opposition to take over when circumstances permitted. But that change would be dramatic and shocking to the nation. 

Between 1998 and 2000, Sogavare and other shadow ministers graced the front pages of the Solomon Star – the leading newspaper of the time - criticizing the government of reckless spending, flawed financial planning for the country etc. In his editorials, Mr. Sogavare, pointed squarely on the prime minister as the culprit of all the ill-conceived financial ideas for the country, and accused him of hijacking the country with his so-called 'reforms'. The citizens of SI were being treated to a barrage of financial statements by this MP, and all his attacks on the government were punctuated with his call for the prime minister to resign. 

Colliding circumstances

The year 1998 saw a very bitter political battle between the two opposing groups. Prime Minister Ulufa'alu's coalition was firm and unbreakable, and the opposition—though screaming bitterly about the government's reforms—failed to shake up the coalition. The Opposition failed to gain the number necessary to launch a NCM. The government achieved some of its promised reforms, and was looking ahead to the year 1999 and prepped for the general elections. 

The Uprising 

An insurrection erupted throughout the Guadalcanal province, making demands to the government that were unachievable. A group of renegade young Guale men form a rebel group called the Guadalcanal Revolutionary Army known only by its initials GRA, causing mayhem on people they called foreigners or settlers, the majority of them ethnic Malaitans. This movement also resurrected a pro-Guadalcanal group from the colonial era led by Mr. Moro, known as the Isatambu Freedom Movement, or IFM. Together, these two groups launched coordinated attacks on people they deemed to be occupying so-called “stolen lands” throughout the province. These were descendants of plantation workers from Mailaita who were living on lands the British government once owned. The ethnic cleansing of Malaitans throughout the province became a huge burden to the government, which was running short of police officers, and was ill-equipped to face a force as large as the combined force of the GFA and IFM. The tens of thousands flocked into the capital city, Honiara, were housed in government buildings and the government had to feed and cloth them. 

As the battle between Solomon Islands Royal Police and the GRA continued, the Leader of Opposition (LO), Sir Mamaloni, passed away on 11 January 2000. His passing stunned the country, and left an out-of-control Opposition to a bunch of lose canons led by the rookie Manasseh Sogavare.  The country was now mourning one of its founding fathers as the year 2000 kicked off. For Mr. Sogavare, however, the Guadalcanal uprising and the passing away of the country’s LO, meant one thing – it was time to turn the table on the government. 

Sinister Plan

Hon. Sogavare was declared the ‘de facto’ Opposition Leader, where his war against the sitting prime minister, and former colleague. The political tustle became extremely personal and later turned sinister.  Between 11 January and June 2000, the new LO launched his ever more dire warnings and attacks on the government; particularly the sitting prime minister—from failure to preventing the ethnic cleansing of Malaitans and other foreigners living within Guadalcanal lands, to his mismanagement of the insurrection. The new LO pounced! 

On the 4th of June 2000, a joint operation by the Malaita Eagle Force and SI, known as the Paramilitary, stormed the home of the prime minister and forced him on gun-point to resign, which he did a few hours later. In a well-coordinated raid, the paramilitary stormed, every police station, the only telecommunication post of the country— the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Cooperation (SIBC). They essentially shut the country down. The legal advisor of the paramilitary, announced the purpose of the coup, the PM’s fate, and the impending election of a new government. Though the coalition was still intact, certain quarters of the country were intimidating their own MPs to switch side, a move that benefited the opposition greatly. 

In just a week, a parliamentary emergency meeting was held by order of the Governor General (GG), under duress. As expected, the dismantled coalition returned to Honiara to avoid further instability, but by then the Opposition had gained the majority as MPs on the government side crossed to join the Opposition. 11 January, just a week after the coup, Hon. Sogavare was elected Prime Minister. He’d achieved the unthinkable, however controversial it may have been. The battle for the throne which started in the early mid 1997 up until June 2000 had been won but with a huge cost – the collapse of the country as it was founded. The country has never the same again. 

Did Sogavare Participate in the Criminal Activities of the Paramilitary? 

The questions surrounding the rapid ascension of this man to the top office of the country remained unanswered. What did he know about the plot to remove the duly elected PM of the Solomon Islands, and what was his role in that plot? Was he an active participant in the planning, and the execution of the coup? If he wasn’t an active participate in the coup or the planning, then was he privy to the information and the dissemination of the information leading up to the coup? Who was benefiting from this coup? Who was the beneficiary of the coup rewarded after his election? 

These questions can be answered by observing the government of Sogavare at the time – the circumstances leading up to the coup of 2000, and his policy of rewarding criminals that brought the nation to its knees. 

On 3rd June 2000, a police officer who was driving from East Honiara ran into Sogavare. Was it a coincidence? Keep reading. He left his office around 2 am and was heading toward Point Cruz (capital city of Honiara). It was the night before the Coup. The night was pitch-dark according to the officer, but he was determined to get home for some much-needed rest. As he was approaching the Henderson International Airport, a car came out of the Dausabea's home. Mr. Dausabea was one of the leaders of the MEF, who went on to become Member of Parliament for Central Honiara. The officer pulled up closed to the car, and noticed the G on the vehicle's plate, which indicated the vehicle was a government—issued car. The officer followed the car slowly till the mystery car suddenly stopped near the Betikama exit. He pulled up behind the car and waited. The driver exited the car and walked to the officer. He was furious. The officer recognized the driver as Hon. Sogavare. “Why are you following me?” Mr. Sogavare asked. The office explained that he was an officer off duty, and when the car was a government vehicle, he wanted to make sure that the government official was safe and sound. “Leave me alone, I don't need your help,” Sogavare yelled and then returned to his car. The officer sped away. 

A day later, the paramilitary—made up of MEF and former Police Field Force Officers—overthrew the government of late Ulufa'alu. An emergency parliamentary meeting was called and Sogavare was elected prime minister. 

Was that a coincidence? 

In the pre-social-media Solomon Islands, clandestine activities were a little hard to track, but one can deduct from this incident that Sogavare indeed attended a meeting the may have sanctioned the overthrow of the government of Ulufa’alu. What else was he doing at that residence in the wee hours of the morning? Was he there for a simple visit, perhaps so? This incident, which was told for the first time, proved that Sogavare wasn’t a stranger to MEF and the paramilitary operations. He was an active participant, as we shall see, in the criminal activities of these unlawful organizations.