The Tui Cakau is the Paramount Chief of Cakaudrove Province

Cakaudrove

Cakaudrove is one of fourteen provinces of Fiji, and one of three based principally on the northern island of Vanua Levu, occupying the south-eastern third of the island and including the nearby islands of Taveuni, Rabi, Kioa, and numerous other islands in the Vanua Levu Group...

 in 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...

. In Modern Fiji this chiefly title is regarded as the most senior in the Tovata Confederacy

Tovata Confederacy

Tovata is one of three confederacies comprising the Fijian House of Chiefs, to which all of Fiji's chiefs belong.-Details of Tovata:It is located in the north east of the country, covering the provinces of Bua, Macuata and Cakaudrove on the northern island Vanua Levu, as well as the Lau Islands.The...

, and the third most senior in the country.

Recent history

The current Tui Cakau is Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu

Naiqama Lalabalavu

Ratu Naiqama Tawake Lalabalavu is a Fijian Paramount Chief and politician. He was the Minister for Lands and Minister for Mineral Resources in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase, prior to his resignation on 7 April 2005...

; he was installed on 8 May 2001 in succession to his father, Ratu Glanville Lalabalavu, who died in 1999. In April 2002, the courts dismissed a challenge from a rival claimant, Ratu Epeli Ganilau

Epeli Ganilau

Brigadier-General Ratu Epeli Ganilau, MC, MSD, is a Fijian soldier and statesman, who currently heads the National Alliance Party of Fiji. His career has previously encompassed such roles as Commander of the Fiji Military Forces and Chairman of the Bose Levu Vakaturaga...

.

Perhaps the best-known Tui Cakau in modern times was Ratu Sir Penaia Ganilau

Penaia Ganilau

Ratu Sir Penaia Kanatabatu Ganilau, GCMG, KCVO, KBE, DSO was the first President of Fiji, serving from 8 December 1987 until his death in 1993...

, who held the title from 1988 to 1993. He was Fiji's last Governor-General and first President. The present Tui Cakau, Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu, leads a political party, the Conservative Alliance

Conservative Alliance (Fiji)

The Conservative Alliance was a far-right political party in Fiji, and a member of the ruling coalition government. It was commonly known as the CAMV, a combination of the initials of its English and Fijian names...

 and was a 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...

 in the government of Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase

Laisenia Qarase

Laisenia Qarase is a Fijian political figure. He served as the sixth Prime Minister of Fiji from 2000 to 2006. After the military quashed the coup that led to the removal of Mahendra Chaudhry, Qarase joined the Interim Military Government as a financial adviser on 9 June 2000, until his appointment...

 from 2000 to 2005, when he was convicted of involvement in the coup d'état

Fiji coup of 2000

The Fiji coup of 2000 was a complicated affair involving a civilian putsch by hardline Fijian nationalists against the elected government of a non-native Prime Minister, Mahendra Chaudhry, on 19 May 2000, the attempt by President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara to assert executive authority on 27 May, and...

 that deposed the elected government in 2000. On 3 April he became the first-ever Cabinet Minister to be imprisoned while in office, and resigned from the Cabinet four days later. He was released on 14 April, to serve the remainder of his eight-month sentence extramurally. He is the highest-ranked chief

Ratu

Ratu is a title used by Fijians of chiefly rank. An equivalent title, Adi is used by females of chiefly rank.-Etymology:Ra is a prefix in many titles and Tu is simply "chief"...

 in modern times to have been imprisoned.

A brief history

The Tui Cakau ruled what was effectively an independent state until 1865, when Cakaudrove joined the Confederacy of Independent Kingdoms of Viti under the chairmanship of Seru Epenisa Cakobau

Seru Epenisa Cakobau

Ratu Seru Epenisa Cakobau was a Fijian Ratu and warlord who united part of Fiji's warring tribes under his leadership, establishing a united Fijian kingdom.-Background:...

, the Vunivalu of Bau

Vunivalu of Bau

Turaga na Vunivalu ni Bau is the Paramount Chief of the Kubuna Confederacy, loosely translated the title means Warlord of Bau or Root of War. The succession to the title does not follow primogeniture, but the candidate must be a high ranking member of the Tui Kaba clan.-A brief history:The...

. This lasted only until 1867, when the Confederacy was split into two units, the Kingdom of Bau (ruled by Cakobau) and the Confederation of Lau (consisting of the present-day provinces of Cakaudrove, Bua

Bua

Bua or BUA may refer to:*Bua, Luzon, Philippines*Bua Province, Fiji*Bua *ISO 639:bua, ISO code for the Buriat language*Bua, Varberg Municipality, locality in Varberg Municipality, Sweden...

, and Lau

Lau Islands

The Lau Islands of Fiji are situated in the southern Pacific Ocean, just east of the Koro Sea. Of this chain of about one hundred islands and islets, about thirty are inhabited...

). The then Tui Cakau, Ratu Goleanavanua, became the first Captain Supreme of the Confederation of Lau; he was succeeded two years later by Enele Ma'afu

Enele Ma'afu

Enele Ma'afu'otu'itonga, commonly known as Ma'afu, was a man of two kingdoms being traditionally a Tongan Prince and a self forged Fijian chief.-A Brief History:...

, who reigned until the Confederation of Lau joined the united Kingdom of Viti in 1871.

Title holders

Order	Tui Cakau	Reigned	Lived'|	1.	Rokevu	|unknown
2.	Ratu Ratavo		unknown
3.	Ratu Vakamino		unknown
4.	Ratu Naiqama	? - c.1829	? - c.1829
4.	Ratu Yavala	c.1829 - 1845	? - 1845 (Buli mai Vuna)
5.	Ratu Ralulu	1845	? - 1845
6.	Ratu Tuikiakila	1845 - 1854	? - 1854
7.	Ratu Raivalita	1854 - 1862	? - 1862
8.	Ratu Goleanavanua	1862 - 1879	? - 1879
9.	Josefa Lalabalavu	1879 - 1905	1860 - 1905
10.	Ratu Joni Antonio Rabici	1905 - 1925	? - 1925
11.	Ratu Glanville Wellington Lalabalavu	1925 - 1946	? - 1946
12.	Ratu Josefa Ratavo Lalabalavu	1946 - ?	? - ?
13.	Ratu Sir Penaia Ganilau Penaia Ganilau Ratu Sir Penaia Kanatabatu Ganilau, GCMG, KCVO, KBE, DSO was the first President of Fiji, serving from 8 December 1987 until his death in 1993...	1988 - 1993	28 July 1918 - 15 December 1993
14.	Ratu Glanville Lalabalavu	1993 - 1999	1929 - 29 October 1999
15.	Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu Naiqama Lalabalavu Ratu Naiqama Tawake Lalabalavu is a Fijian Paramount Chief and politician. He was the Minister for Lands and Minister for Mineral Resources in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase, prior to his resignation on 7 April 2005...	8 May 2001 - present	...