Sir Peter Kenilorea KBE (23 May 1943 – 24 February 2016) was a Solomon Islander politician, officially styled The Rt Hon. Sir Peter Kenilorea as a member of the

Privy Council of the United Kingdom The Privy Council (PC), officially His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its membership mainly comprises senior politicians who are current or former members of e ...

. He was the first Prime Minister of an independent Solomon Islands, from 1978–81, and also served a second term from 1984–86.

Biography

Kenilorea was born in Takataka village on

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 ...

island, of ꞌAreꞌare ethnicity. He was trained as a teacher for 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 ...

and a co-founder of the

Solomon Islands Christian Association The Solomon Islands Christian Association (SICA) is an ecumenical Christian non-governmental organisation in the Solomon Islands. The association comprises the five largest Christian churches in the country, the Anglican Church of Melanesia, the Ro ...

. As a young man he helped to found the

Solomon Islands United Party The Solomon Islands United Party (SIUP) is a political party in the Solomon Islands. History The party was established in March 1980 by Prime Minister Peter Kenilorea, and was based on the government he had led since 1978.Haruhiro Fukui (1985) ...

. In the 1973 general elections he ran in the ꞌAreꞌare constituency, losing to

David Kausimae David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

. By the time of the 1976 elections the constituency was split and Kenilorea was elected to Parliament in the East ꞌAreꞌare constituency. He became Chief Minister of the Solomon Islands in the same year and led the country to independence from Britain in 1978. He then served as the first Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands until 1981, and again from 1984 to 1986. He served as

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

from 1988 to 1989 and from 1990 to 1993. Following fighting between the

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 ...

and the Isatabu Freedom Movement, Kenilorea was, along with

Paul Tovua Sir Paul Joshua Tovua (1947 – 5 February 2021) was a Solomon Islander politician, who served in Parliament representing the Central Guadalcanal constituency since 1976. He was a founding member of the first National Parliament of Solomon Isla ...

, co-chairman of the peace talks,"Solomon Islands: Cease-fire monitoring group appointed", Solomon Islands Ministry of Commerce web site (nl.newsbank.com), August 4, 2000. and he became Chairman"Solomon Islands: "Final appeal" to militants to hand over weapons", Radio New Zealand International (nl.newsbank.com), December 13, 2000. of the eight-member Peace Monitoring Council, which was created in August 2000. In the Seventh Parliament, which sat from 2001 to 2005, he was

Speaker of Parliament The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerf ...

. He was a candidate for the post of

Governor-General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

in mid-June 2004, but he received only 8 of 41 votes in Parliament, placing second behind Nathaniel Waena, who received 27 votes. Following the 2006 general election, he was re-elected as Speaker of Parliament without opposition in April 2006. He held the position until 2010. He subsequently sought to return to Parliament, and was an unsuccessful candidate in a by-election in East ꞌAreꞌare in August 2012. He died on 24 February 2016 of natural causes. Kenilorea's son Peter Kenilorea Jr. was elected a member of parliament in April 2019.

References

External links

Sir Peter's detailed biography and chronology
on the website of the ''Solomon Star'' newspaper
"Realising political stability"
Transcript of Sir Peter Kenilorea's opening address at a conference on "Political Parties and Integrity Reform",

Honiara Honiara () is the capital and largest city of Solomon Islands, situated on the northwestern coast of Guadalcanal. , it had a population of 92,344 people. The city is served by Honiara International Airport and the seaport of Point Cruz, and lie ...

, August 30, 2008 {{DEFAULTSORT:Kenilorea, Peter 1943 births 2016 deaths Prime Ministers of the Solomon Islands Leaders of the Opposition (Solomon Islands) People from Malaita Province Speakers of the National Parliament of the Solomon Islands Members of the National Parliament of the Solomon Islands Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom