Colonel

Colonel

Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...

 Paul Manueli is a former Commander

Commander

Commander is a naval rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service. Commander is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the armed forces, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Commander as a naval...

 of the Royal Fiji Military Forces

Military of Fiji

The Republic of Fiji Military Forces are the military of the Pacific island nation of Fiji. With a total manpower of 3,500 active soldiers and 6,000 reservists, it is one of the smallest militaries in the world. However, most of its surrounding island nations have no militaries at all...

, a former Fiji

Fiji

Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...

 Cabinet minister

Cabinet (Fiji)

Fiji has the Westminster system - executive authority is vested nominally in a President, but exercised in practice by a Cabinet of Ministers, presided over by the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister is formally appointed, but not chosen, by the President: the President must appoint as Prime...

, Senator and successful businessman.

Military career

Manueli is of Rotuma

Rotuma

Rotuma is a Fijian dependency, consisting of Rotuma Island and nearby islets. The island group is home to a small but unique indigenous ethnic group which constitutes a recognizable minority within the population of Fiji, known as "Rotumans"...

n and Samoa

Samoa

Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...

n descent, he was a soldier in the Royal Fiji Military Forces, and a graduate of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst

The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst , commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is a British Army officer initial training centre located in Sandhurst, Berkshire, England...

 in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. He had a distinguished career with the Fijian military, and while still a lieutenant

Lieutenant

A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...

, was appointed to the post of district officer on Rotuma for an interim period in 1960. He went on to become a Colonel and the first indigenous Commander of the Fiji Military Forces, which he led from 22 February 1974 until February 22, 1979.

Post-Military Career

Following his retirement, he has enjoyed considerable success as a business leader and has served on the boards of numerous corporations, including General Manager of BP

BP

BP p.l.c. is a global oil and gas company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest energy company and fourth-largest company in the world measured by revenues and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors"...

 in the South Pacific

Oceania

Oceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Conceptions of what constitutes Oceania range from the coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific to the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago...

. After the 1987 Fijian coups d'état, Manueli has held the portfolios of Minister for Home Affairs, Finance Minister and Minister for Justice in the Fijian Parliamentary Cabinet. Originally a member of the post-coup interim government, Manueli subsequently sought election and won the sole seat for the Rotuman Communal Constituency

Rotuma (Rotuman Communal Constituency, Fiji)

Rotuma Communal is an electoral division of Fiji, the sole communal constituency reserved for citizens of Rotuman descent. Its boundaries encompass the entire nation; Rotuman-descendants anywhere in Fiji are eligible to vote for, and be a candidate for, this constituency...

 and was made a Cabinet Minister in Sitiveni Rabuka

Sitiveni Rabuka

Major-General Sitiveni Ligamamada Rabuka, OBE, MSD, OStJ, is best known as the instigator of two military coups that shook Fiji in 1987. He was later democratically elected the third Prime Minister, serving from 1992 to 1999...

's governments. He is currently Rotuma's representative on the Great Council of Chiefs

Great Council of Chiefs (Fiji)

The Great Council of Chiefs is a now dormant 1997 constitutional body in the Republic of the Fiji Islands. In April 2007 the council was suspended, due to an unworkable relationship with Frank Bainimarama, leader of an "interim government" which came to power through a military coup in December 2006...

. He also is a member of the executive board of Warwick International Hotels.