Ro Teimumu Vuikaba Kepa has been appointed the new Tertiary Scholarships and Loans Service (TSLS) Board Chair.
Also announced as new Board of Directors are Nilesh Lal and Kirti Patel.
They have been appointed in accordance with Section 4 of the TSLS Act 2014.
Dr Penuel Immanuel has been reappointed under the same provision.
TSLS chief executive, Dr. Hasmukh Lal while welcoming the new appointments said they bring valuable expertise and perspective that will help provide effective strategic direction and oversight to the organisation.
Ro Teimumu was first elected in 2014 as the head of SODELPA and became the first Fijian woman to serve as Leader of the Opposition.
She was re-elected in 2018 and continued as a Member of Opposition in the Fijian Parliament.
Prior to her election following the 2006 coup, she held the position of Minister for Education in the SDL Government from 2001 to 2006.
As a traditional leader, she is the paramount chief of the Burebasaga Confederacy and holds the title of Roko Tui Dreketi.
She began her political career in 1999 and has since served on various capacities as Senator, Minister for Women, Culture and Social Welfare and Minister for Education, Youth and Sports.
Lal is the Executive Director of Dialogue Fiji, a civil society organisation in Fiji.
His research and work focus on democratic consolidation, electoral processes, ethnic relations, development in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and media politics.
Patel served as a member of the Government’s Fiscal Review Committee.
She was a former director of the Unit Trust of Fiji Ltd and is a former school librarian at the Central College in Lautoka.
Dr Emi is an experienced Senior Consultant Specialist Physician practicing in Internal Medicine carrying out medical admissions and in-patient care and specialist clinics.
She previously worked at CWMH Divisional Hospital, Taveuni Subdivisional Hospital, Ba Mission Hospital, Fiji Care Medical Centre.
From 2003 till the present, she has worked at Oceania Hospitals Pte Ltd.
