Jale Baba
| Jale Baba | |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Political party | Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua |
| Profession | Businessman |
| Religion | Seventh-day Adventist |
Jale Baba (born 27 July 1958) in Lautoka is a Fijian businessman and political organizer. A forestry graduate of the Australian National University, he worked for Fiji Pine Limited for more than 20 years, before leaving in 1999 to start his own company- Baba Forests. He also serves as the campaign director of the ruling Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua Party, or SDL). He was General Secretary and more recently National Director of the party, but relinquished this post on 1 January 2006 in order to take charge of the campaign for the general election to be held from 6–13 May.
In his party role, he worked aggressively to consolidate his party's support among indigenous Fijians, while attempting with little success to make inroads into the Indo-Fijian electorate. At the previous election held in 2001, the SDL received barely one percent of the vote in the seven contested communal constituencies reserved for citizens of Indian descent, a figure that only marginally improved in 2006. He also made a token bid for the Ba Open Constituency for the SDL, but garnered only 60 votes. On 15 June 2006, Baba announced his resignation from his party post.
On 16 December 2005, Baba was accused by two Senators of corruption. Senator Ponipate Lesavua alleged that Baba, along with Laisenia Qarase, Jr. (the son of Laisenia Qarase, Fiji's Prime Minister) and Lalesh Shankar (another SDL official), benefited from a mahogany harvest at Sote Village in Tailevu. Baba was subcontracted to Fiji Hardwood and was operating an illegal circular saw, Lesavua maintained, while Qarase Jr. and Shankar owned a company called Trapper Haulage, which had been granted the contract. "This is nepotism in its highest degree," Lesavua said. Another Senator, Ratu Dr. Epeli Nailatikau, alleged that the Fiji Development Bank had lent Baba F$79,600 for six months, then F$24,000 three months later, to buy the saw. He questioned why Baba should be granted such loans, when the landowners themselves were not.
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