After the Leaders Formal dinner last night, Interim Prime Minister Commodore Bainimarama requested his Tongan counterpart Dr. Feleti Sevele that he would like to visit the villagers on Vavau Island.
Accompanied by his Permanent Secretary Pramesh Chand and Interim Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum, they were accorded a traditional welcome ceremony reserved for Tongan Nobles at one of the villages he visited.
The Commander and his entourage visited four villages overnight where they drank Kava with the villagers before returning to their hotel at around 1am this morning.
Our News Director, Vijay Narayan filed this report.
Vijay Narayan: It was a night with a difference for Interim Prime Minister Commodore Frank Bainimarama has he went from village to village in vavau island to meet the Tongan community and have a few bowls of kava with them.
After 10 o'clock last night all the leaders attended a formal Dinner then came back to their hotel room and Commodore Bainimarama spoke to Tongan Prime Minister Dr. Feleti Sevele that he wanted to visit the Tongan community in Vavau.
So, Dr. Sevele first of all took him to the Poutakanave Hotel here in Vavau where a formal ceremony was held and according to the members of the Tongan community who were present, the ceremony is only accorded to Nobles here in Tonga and only during big occasions and that’s how they welcomed Commodore Bainimarama and then it was followed by an few bowls of kava.
In Tongan tradition, when this ceremony is done, women serve kava and so Commodore Bainimarama was served kava by a woman in the community which hosted Bainimarama and following that they had a few bowls of kava as a group of men sang Fijian songs before Commodore Bainimarama said his "i-tatau" and then they followed on to four more villages.
He was accompanied by Dr. Feleti Sevele and asked his Permanent Secretary Pramesh Chand and Interim Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum to join him. Village news was part of Dr. Sevele and Commodore Bainimarama's motorcade as he went from village to village where he received a huge reception and arousing welcome every time he entered a village community hall and set down, had a few bowls of kava.
The whole event finished at about 1 o'clock this morning when Commodore Bainimarama and Dr. Sevele returned to their hotel rooms and get ready to fly out of Vavau to Nuku'alofa again at about 7:30 Tongan time.
Commodore accorded noble’s welcome
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