Fiji’s Roving Ambassador and career diplomat Ross Ligairi died at the Colonial War Memorial Hospital at 12.05am today. Ligairi, over 50 years of age, was wheeled into the CWMH emergency unit at around mid-night by family members and straight into the mini-operation theatre where doctors and nurses tried to revive him. Moments later a woman’s cry was heard from within the theatre as one of his sons stood outside teary eyed.
Nurses at the hospital could not find any medical records of Ligairi since, as his wife Losalini Kasetimaibau highlighted; he had never visited the public hospital. Ligairi’s private doctor is expected to provide details of Ligairi’s illness later today and hopefully avoid a post mortem examination. The family has also been informed that all mortuaries in the greater Suva, Nausori and Navua areas are filled to capacity. Ligairi is survived by his wife and their three sons. He has four brothers and four sisters and is the second eldest in the family.
He hails from Nabalebale Village in Cakaudrove, Vanua Levu and attended Queen Victoria School. Ligairi joined the civil service in 1978 and has been a diplomat for most of his career. But, before that he had wanted to be a professional boxer and when studying in India held the All-India Universities middleweight title from 1973 to 1977. Later in England, he held the British Universities middleweight title from 1979 to 1980. He had 79 amateur fights, losing three on points. In 1980, Ligairi was posted to the permanent mission at the United Nations as Second Secretary and Vice Consul.
His diplomatic engagements include, being media spokesman for Foreign Affairs from 1986 to 1988. In 1988, he was posted to the Fiji Embassy in Wellington as charge d’affaires. From September 1993 to August 1994, he was the principal assistant secretary and head of policy research and assessment unit. He also worked under Sitiveni Rabuka as the PM’s private secretary before he was transferred as Counsellor to the Fiji Mission to the European Union in 1997. In 2001, he was transferred back to the Foreign Affairs office in Suva to the position of chief assistant secretary for political treaties and later ascended to the position of Foreign Affairs permanent secretary.
In September last year, Ligairi was appointed the new Roving Ambassador for the South Pacific replacing Ratu Finau Mara. Following his new appointment, Ligairi trekked around the region trying to win friends for Fiji. One of his recent engagements, in March this year, was to convey to the Japanese Government Air Pacific’s withdrawal of its Narita service.
