Epeli Ganilau

Brigadier-General Ratu Epeli Ganilau, MC, MSD, (born 10 October 1951) 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 (Great Council of Chiefs). On 15 January 2007 he was sworn in as Minister for Fijian Affairs in the interim Cabinet formed in the wake of the military coup which deposed the Qarase government on 5 December 2006.

Ganilau was educated at Wanganui Collegiate School, in New Zealand, from 1965. He later graduated from the University of the South Pacific and from the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, England, and the Royal New Zealand Air Force Staff College.

After enlisting with the Royal Fiji Military Forces in June 1972, he was promoted to the rank of captain and participated in several peacekeeping missions to the Middle East. In March 1990, Ganilau resigned his rank of Brigadier General to take up the post of Brigadier, Doctrine, and Policy. In July 1991 he was appointed Commander of the Military, succeeding Sitiveni Rabuka. He held this office for eight years, retiring in 1999 to pursue a new career in politics.

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