Sailosi Wai Kepa was a Fiji

Fiji

Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...

an statesman, judge, and diplomat.

Born in the village of Nukuni on the island of Ono-I-Lau

Ono-i-Lau

Ono-i-Lau is a volcanic and coral island in Fiji's Lau archipelago.One of the southernmost of the Lau Islands, it is located at 20.80° South and 178.75° East, and occupies an area of 7.9 square kilometers. It has a maximum elevation of 113 meters. It is 90 kilometers southsouthwest of Vatoa, the...

, was one of many distinguished public figures to hail from the Lau

Lau Islands

The Lau Islands of Fiji are situated in the southern Pacific Ocean, just east of the Koro Sea. Of this chain of about one hundred islands and islets, about thirty are inhabited...

 archipelago. He was educated at Draiba Fijian School and Lelean Memorial School

Lelean Memorial School

Lelean Memorial School is one of the largest co-ed schools in Fiji today. It was established in 1943 and is run by the Methodist Church of Fiji. It is co-located at the Davuilevu Methodist Compound with the and the Young People's Department, which runs training for Methodist catechists...

, before enrolling in Nasinu Teachers College in 1959. He later studied received a Law degree at the renowned Middle Temple

Middle Temple

The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers; the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn...

 in London, England.

Kepa's legal career was a distinguished one, which took him into politics, diplomacy, and the judiciary. He variously served as the Director of Public Prosecutions

Director of Public Prosecutions (Fiji)

The Director of Public Prosecutions was created under the Fiji Independence Act of 1970 and came into being that year. In 1990 and subsequently in 1997, the powers of the Office of the DPP were provided for in the Fiji Constitution, an entrenched document and the supreme law of the nation...

, a magistrate

Magistrate

A magistrate is an officer of the state; in modern usage the term usually refers to a judge or prosecutor. This was not always the case; in ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest government officers and possessed both judicial and executive powers. Today, in common law systems, a...

, High Commissioner

High Commissioner

High Commissioner is the title of various high-ranking, special executive positions held by a commission of appointment.The English term is also used to render various equivalent titles in other languages.-Bilateral diplomacy:...

 to London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, Minister for Justice and Attorney General from 1988 to 1992, when he became a High Court judge

High Court (Fiji)

The High Court of Fiji is one of three courts established by Chapter 9 of the Constitution of Fiji—the others being the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. The Constitution empowers Parliament to create other courts; these are subordinate to the High Court, which is authorized to oversee all...

. In 1998 he was appointed the first Chairman of Fiji's Human Rights Commission. His last official post was as Fiji's Ombudsman

Ombudsman

An ombudsman is a person who acts as a trusted intermediary between an organization and some internal or external constituency while representing not only but mostly the broad scope of constituent interests...

, a post he held from 2001 till his retirement in August 2003.

In his younger years, Kepa made a name for himself as a rugby player. He was later rewarded by being made Chairman of the Fiji Rugby Union

Fiji Rugby Union

Fiji Rugby Union is the governing body for the sport of rugby union in Fiji. It is divided into over 30 provincial unions. The Fiji Rugby Union is a member of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance , along with Samoa and Tonga. There are approximately 80,000 registered players from a total population...

 from 1983 to 1986. He was granted life membership in 1994.

Kepa was married for many years to Ro Teimumu Kepa

Teimumu Kepa

Teimumu Vuikaba Kepa is a Fijian chief and politician. A former students' coordinator at the University of the South Pacific when Kepa chose to enter the University to embark on her Bachelor of Arts Degree and was a principal of Corpus Christi Collegebefore that, until she succeeded her late...

, an Adi (Fijian chief) and politician in her own right, who is currently (June 2005) the Roko Tui Dreketi

Roko Tui Dreketi

The Roko Tui Dreketi is the Paramount Chief of Fiji's Rewa Province and of the Burebasaga Confederacy, to which Rewa belongs.-Details on the title:...

 (Paramount Chief) of the Burebasaga Confederacy

Burebasaga Confederacy

Burebasaga is the largest of the three confederacies that make up Fiji's House of Chiefs, to which all Fijian chiefs belong.-Composition of Burebasaga:...

 and Minister for Education in the government of Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase

Laisenia Qarase

Laisenia Qarase is a Fijian political figure. He served as the sixth Prime Minister of Fiji from 2000 to 2006. After the military quashed the coup that led to the removal of Mahendra Chaudhry, Qarase joined the Interim Military Government as a financial adviser on 9 June 2000, until his appointment...

. They had three children: Sailosi Jr., Asenaca, and Tupoutu’a..