Joseph Onika is a Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...

 politician.

He worked in catering

Catering

Catering is the business of providing foodservice at a remote site or a site such as a hotel, public house , or other location.-Mobile catering:A mobile caterer serves food directly from a vehicle or cart that is designed for the purpose...

 before going into politics. His career in national politics began when he was elected to Parliament as the member for East Central Guadalcanal in the August 2010 general election

Solomon Islands general election, 2010

A general election was held in the Solomon Islands on 4 August 2010. In May 2010, Prime Minister Derek Sikua announced that the election would be held on 4 August, however, this announcement was deemed to be premature, as only the Governor General has the authority to announce the election date...

, standing as an independent candidate

Independent (politician)

In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...

. He was then appointed Minister for Women, Youth and Children’s Affairs in Prime Minister Danny Philip

Danny Philip

Danny Philip is a politician and diplomat from the Solomon Islands. He is the current Prime Minister, who came into office after the 2010 general election. He served as foreign minister from 1995 to 1996 and from July 2000 to June 2001...

's Cabinet.

In April 2011, he was reshuffled to Minister for Lands, Housing and Survey. When Gordon Darcy Lilo replaced Philip as Prime Minister in November 2011, Onika retained his position in government.