Harold Keke (born 1971) is a

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capita ...

warlord A warlord is a person who exercises military, economic, and political control over a region in a country without a strong national government; largely because of coercive control over the armed forces. Warlords have existed throughout much of h ...

involved with the

Guadalcanal Revolutionary Army The Isatabu Freedom Movement (IFB) was a nationalist militant organisation of the island of Guadalcanal in Solomon Islands. The movement also included other factions such as the Guadalcanal Revolutionary Army and the Guadalcanal Liberation Fron ...

(GRA).

Biography

The grandson of one of the founders of the

South Seas Evangelical Church The South Sea Evangelical Church (SSEC) is an evangelical, Pentecostal church in Solomon Islands. In total, 17% of the population of Solomon Islands adheres to the church, making it the third most common religious affiliation in the country behind ...

in Australia, Keke was raised a Catholic in the Solomons, but left the faith to become a petty criminal in

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

. After a number of years, he returned home, where he took work as a police officer, and embraced

evangelical Christianity Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

. During the 1990s, tensions flared up between indigenous inhabitants of

Guadalcanal Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the south-western Pacific, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomon Islands by area, and the seco ...

and immigrants from neighboring

Malaita Malaita is the primary island of Malaita Province in Solomon Islands. Malaita is the most populous island of the Solomon Islands, with a population of 161,832 as of 2021, or more than a third of the entire national population. It is also the se ...

. Following the election of

Bartholomew Ulufa'alu Bartholomew (Bart) Ulufa'alu (25 December 1950 – 25 May 2007) was the fifth Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands from 27 August 1997 to 30 June 2000.Malaita Eagle Force The Malaita Eagle Force was a militant organisation, originating in the island of Malaita, in the Solomon Islands. It was formed in the early 2000s and soon crossed over to Honiara, the capital of Solomon Islands. It was set up during 'The Ten ...

(MEF) and all out ethnic warfare in the islands. Keke views himself as a prophet, leading his people to their "promised land". He also claims that he had political backing for the start of the conflict from then-premier

Ezekiel Alebua Ezekiel Alebua (June 1946 – 7 August 2022) was the third Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands from 1 December 1986 until 28 March 1989. He served as Foreign Minister from 1981 to 1982. Alebua was the premier of Guadalcanal province from ...

— who provided money, weapons, and ammunition for the GRA. This claim has been denied by Alebua, who calls Keke "little more than a violent thug". During the ensuing conflict, the MEF gained the upper hand, deposing the government and gaining control of most police forces; making them a ''de facto'' extension of the militias. Many of the militias opposed to the MEF struck a peace deal in late 2000, but Keke refused to sign, moving his soldiers into the jungles of the Weather Coast to avoid capture. The GRA, under Keke's leadership, has been accused of a variety of crimes, including arson, kidnapping, assassination, and murder. Keke has been personally implicated in more than 50 murders, including that of cabinet minister and priest Augustine Geve, as well as seven

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

from the

Melanesian Brotherhood The Melanesian Brotherhood is an Anglican religious community of men in simple vows based primarily in the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and Papua New Guinea. History The Melanesian Brotherhood was formed in 1925 by Ini Kopuria, a policeman from M ...

. In April, 2003, seven Christian brothers - Brother Robin Lindsay and his companions - were martyred on the Weather Coast of Guadalcanal by Keke. Six had gone in search of their Brother Nathaniel, who it turns out had already been tortured and killed. During the tensions Nathaniel had befriended the militant group but Harold Keke accused him of being a government spy and he was beaten to death while singing hymns.'I Wait For The Lord, My Soul Waits For Him, And In His Word is My Hope: A resource book of the Martyrs of Papua New Guinea and Melanesia' by Margaret Bride (Anglican Board of Mission - Australia) https://www.abmission.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/4526_Martyrs_Booklet_pp32.pdf They are commemorated by the church on 24 April. In late 2003, following the arrival of a multi-national intervention force led by

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, Keke called for a cease-fire, and surrendered to peace-keepers. In 2005, he was convicted of the murder of Geve, and sentenced to

life in prison Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keke, Harold 1971 births Living people Solomon Islands evangelicals Former Roman Catholics Solomon Islands prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by the Solomon Islands Solomon Islands people convicted of murder People convicted of murder by the Solomon Islands People from Guadalcanal Province Warlords

Biography

See also

References