Rewa Province

Rewa is a Province of Fiji. With a land area of 272 square kilometers (the smallest of Fiji's Provinces), it includes the capital city of Suva and is in two parts - one including part of Suva's hinterland to the west, and a noncontiguous area to the east, separated from the rest of Rewa by Naitasiri Province. The Province had a population of 101,547 at the 1996 census, making it Fiji's third most populous Province.

For both political and traditional reasons, Rewa is a powerful Province. It is not only the hinterland of the national capital, but also the heart of the Burebasaga Confederacy, one of three traditional chiefly hierarchies. The "Roko Tui Dreketi," or Paramount Chief of Rewa, is also the head Burebasaga. The last two holders of the title have been women: Ro Lady Lala Mara (1931-2004), the wife of Fiji's longtime Prime Minister and President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, and her sister and successor, Ro Teimumu Kepa, who is also Minister of Education in the Qarase government.

Rewa is governed by a Provincial Council. The Chairmanship of the Council is currently vacant, and the Council has decided not to fill it until the Constitution is changed to allow parliamentarians to hold national and provincial office simultaneously - thereby allowing their Paramount Chief, Ro Teimumu Kepa, to take the position. In the interim, Pita Tagi Cakiverata is Acting Chairman.