Ratu Finau Mara given a fitting farewell by the people of Rewa and Lau

The late Lau chief and former government minister and diplomat, Na Vuanirewa Vua na Tui Nayau, Ratu Finau Mara was accorded a fitting farewell by the people of Rewa and Lau today, and was laid to rest next to where his mother, the late Ro Lady Lala Mara was buried in Lomanikoro, Rewa.

The Valelevu clan which was tasked to bury Ratu Finau carried their Vasu Levu from the Burenivudi to the Sautabu.

Family and friends turned up in numbers to pay their final respects to the late Ratu Finau before the Thanksgiving Service at the Stella Maris Chapel in Suva earlier today.

Father Arthur Leger who spoke during the service highlighted that Ratu Finau was a person full of love and he showed it when he was around people.

Father Leger says blessed are the clean of heart for they will see God and also the peacemakers for they will be called the children of God.

Adi Elenoa Mara Taito, the sister of the late Ratu Finau stood up and spoke on a few bible scripts stating that the souls of the righteous are in the hands of God and no torment shall touch them and those who trust in him shall understand the truth, and the faithful shall abide with him in love.

Some of the people who paid their last respects at the chapel this morning included former Prime Minister and Fiji Labour Party Leader, Mahendra Chaudhry and wife Virmati, Speaker, Ratu Epeli Nailatikau, Ratu Tuakitau Cokanauto, Roko Tui Bau Ratu Timothy Daniel, Bau chief Ratu Epenisa Cakobau, Commander of RFMF, Rear Admiral Viliame Naupoto, former Secretary-General to Parliament, Mary Chapman, Adi Finau Tabakaucoro, Amraiya Naidu, SODELPA MP, Lynda Tabuya, and lawyer, Jon Apted.

Women from Lau were also seen sitting on the side of the road as a sign of respect to the eldest son of the late Tui Nayau and Tui Lau, former Prime Minister and President, Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara and the late Ro Lady Lala Mara.

The body of the Vuanirewa Vua na Tui Nayau, Ratu Finau Mara was handed over to the Valelevu clan of Rewa.

His body was then escorted by the Valelevu traditional warriors through the village to the Burenivudi in Lomanikoro.

Ratu Finau who was 60 years old, passed away last Wednesday.

Ratu Finau is survived by his wife Vitinia Buadromo, his two children Ratu Salesi Kinikinilau Mara and Adi Lawerua Mara, his four sisters and one brother, one son-in-law and two grandchildren, Taru and Salesi Dauni.