Press Release

FICAC bolsters relations with mainstream media

Posted by Media Team 19 July 2024

“The fight against corruption demands a united front, and you the media play a very powerful role in exposing corruption and initiating legal, political and penal action against it.”

This was highlighted by Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption (FICAC) Acting Deputy Commissioner Ms Francis Puleiwai during a “Meet and Greet” with representatives from the local mainstream media industry at the FICAC Headquarters in Suva this morning.

Addressing the senior representatives from the various media organizations, including The Fiji Times Editor-in-Chief Mr Fred Wesley and Fiji Sun Acting Publisher/CEO Ms Rosi Doviverata, Ms Puleiwai emphasized the role of the media in fostering transparency, accountability and integrity as well as promoting good governance and controlling corruption.

Ms Puleiwai says given that the media plays an important role in how the public perceives the Commission and the work it does, FICAC now embarks on garnering a new perception that reinforces the work that it does.

In acknowledging the media’s coverage of the “reactive” side of the Commission’s work, such as investigating and prosecuting cases, the Acting Deputy Commissioner called on the media representatives to also shed more light on FICAC’s “proactive” aspects, in particular, the Anti-Bribery training and awareness sessions that is carried out in the public by the Corruption Prevention Department.

Ms Doviverata then delivered the “Vote of Thanks” on behalf of the media representatives and the Fijian Media Association, adding that the “Meet and Greet” is a good start to future collaboration, especially that it is the first such event between FICAC and the media industry in a long while.

She adds the event has enlightened the media on the processes involved in getting responses from FICAC regarding certain cases and investigations and why some replies from the Commission take a little longer than expected, especially when the media have deadlines to attend to.