Office of the Ombudsman of Solomon Islands

PERSONAL INFORMATION

Name: Sir. Peter KENILOREA

Date of Birth: 23 May 1943

Home Address: Rara Village, East Are’are, Malaita Province

Marital Status: Married with 8 children

EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND

1956-1963: King George VI School – School Certificate (GCE “O” Level)

1964: Wesley College, New Zealand

1965: Wanganui Boys College (NZ) – Form Six Certificate 

1967: Diploma – Ardmore Teachers’ College, NZ

1972: 2^nd Class Magistrate Certificate

1975: 1^st Class Magistrate Certificate

ACADEMIC QUALIFICATION

1971: Certificate in Public Administration USP (Fiji)

2008: Awarded with Honorary Doctorate by the Senate of the University of Queensland

WORK EXPERIENCE

1968 - 1970: Teacher at King George VI Secondary School

1971: Assistance Secretary Finance

1972: - Transferred to General Public Administration- District Officer (DO) Isabel District 

1973: - District Officer (DO), North Malaita, Malaita Province - Senior Lands Officer, Lands Administration 

• 1974 – First-ever indigenous Solomon Islander as Secretary to the Chief Minister and Deputy secretary to the Cabinet
• 1975 – District Commissioner, Eastern Solomon’s
• 1976 – First elected to the National Legislative Assembly 1976 General Election as MLA for East Are’ Are Constituency – (nominated unopposed).
• 1976 – Elected the Chief Minister (Head of the elected Government) following the General Election that year by the Legislative Assembly.
• 1977 – Was responsible for bringing into being the Solomon Islands National Independence Constitution. Led a delegation of 24 MPs for a successful Constitutional negotiation with Her Majesty’s Government in London in September and earlier in May that year led a delegation to negotiate the Independence Financial Settlement. 
• First Prime Minister during the nation’s independence in 7 July 1978
• 1980 – Re-elected as MP for East Are’ Are Constituency in the General Election and re-elected the Prime Minister by Parliament following that General Election. 
• 1981 to 1984 – Leader of Official Opposition 
• 1984 – Was re-elected MP for East Are’Are Constituency in that year’s General Election and re-elected Prime Minister for the 3^rd consecutive time in December that year. 
• 1991-1994 – Director South pacific Forum Fisheries Agency
• 1995 – First Solomon Islander appointed Member of the “Conciliation and Good Offices Commission” of the UNESCO\
• 1996-2001 – Solomon Islands Ombudsman
• 2000 – Co-Chairman, Peace Negotiation and Chairman Peace Monitoring Council
• 2001 - 8 August 2010 – Speaker of Solomon Islands National Parliament

AWARDS/DECORATIONS

1977: Recipient of the Queen’s Silver Medal

1978: Awarded Solomon Islands Independent Medal

1979: Was conferred a Queen’s Privy Councilor (PC)

1982: Knighted by Her Majesty the Queen (KBE)

1984: Was awarded a Certificate for a Distinguished International Leader of Distinction by the State of Hawaii, USA

1985: Awarded the highest decoration for any foreign citizen – “The Order of Brilliant Star with Special Grand Cordon” by the Republic of China

1988: Awarded Solomon Islands 10^th Anniversary Medal

1993: Awarded 2^nd World War 50^th Anniversary Medal

2008: Awarded Honorary Doctorate Degree from the University of Queensland, Australia

PUBLICATIONS

• Have contributed articles of various disciplines to various South Pacific periodicals.
• Produced and delivered a Paper on international security at the National Defence University in Washington – 1998.
• Published a Personal Autobiography – ‘Tell It as It is’ – Officially launched on 7/7/2008.

HIGHLIGHTS

Instigated an Own Motion Investigation into the establishment of Solomon Mutual Insurance (SMI) by the National Provident Fund, using members’ Fund money.

The only Ombudsman who summoned an Agency Official, the Permanent Secretary/Ministry of Education & Human Resources Development, for not responding to his letters and willful failure to provide requested information.  It ended up positively with the Permanent Secretary acknowledging the Ombudsman’s work by being more responsive and willing to assist the Ombudsman when required.

During the Independence Constitutional Development, one of his submissions for the Independence Constitution included the Office of the Ombudsman.  Source of information was a paper presentation at Waigani Conference at the University of Papua New Guinea.

During the 1^st Parliament, Sir Peter Kenilorea as the first Prime Minister tabled the Ombudsman (Further Provisions) Bill in 1979.

Invited as Ombudsman to the Buala Peace Conference for the warring parties (GRA Militia & MEF Militia).  However, due to his role as an independent person, he refused. He later received another letter by the SPM to chair Auki Peace Conference for the MEF Militia who did not attend the previous one.  His attendance was then as the Ombudsman after clarification of his independent status. 

The issue of non-response by government agencies to the Ombudsman was escalated to the level of the High Court.  This was pursued by complainants themselves on the advice of the Ombudsman after several correspondences made by the Ombudsman received no reply.  This was done on two occasions and on both times, the High Court ruled in favour of the complainants.

It ended up with the Chairman of Trade Dispute then appearing in court for non-compliance.

Refer to - Pacific Architects Ltd v Commissioner of Lands [1997] SBHC 10; HC-CC 175 of 1995 (14 March 1997) - Maesimae v Trade Disputes Panel [1998] SBHC 51; HC-CC 281 of 1997 (27 March 1998)