The first prosecution witness in Ratu Isoa Tikoca’s trial has told the Suva Magistrates Court that no proper approvals were given for Tikoca to use government funds to send his son for education in Australia.
It is alleged that Tikoca failed to declare the liability and the amount of the liability to the Registrar and the Permanent Secretary Responsible for Elections that he had incurred to the Government of Fiji during his tenure as Fiji's High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea in 2009.
Former Director Corporate Affairs for the Foreign Affairs Ministry Kelera Nukutaumaki told the court that there is no recorded file of any approvals by the Public Service Commission for Ratu Isoa Tikoca’s son to be sent to Australia for education.
Nukutaumaki said when she wrote to Tikoca about the issue, he replied in another letter requesting if they could consider his case to be similar to the arrangement by his predecessor, Ratu Inoke Kubuabola.
She told the court Ratu Inoke Kubuabola while being Fiji's High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea was given approval to send his daughter for Education in Australia.
The first prosecution witness said she has seen and read Ratu Inoke Kubuabola’s approval file by the Public Service Commission but there is no recorded file of any approvals for Ratu Isoa Tikoca.
When asked by FICAC Senior Counsel Rashmi Aslam on how much Ratu Isoa Tikoca owed, Nukutaumaki said Tikoca had used $94,526.73 for his son’s education at St Joseph’s College in Brisbane, Australia.
