Lala Mara

Ro Adi Lady Lala Mara is a Fijian chief, who is better known as the widow of the late Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, modern Fiji's founding father who served for many years as Prime Minister and President of his country. As Fiji's first lady, Adi Lala took on a diplomatic role, frequently representing her country abroad. She is regarded as a formidable and astute woman, whose influence on her husband was said to be considerable.

From her father, Adi Lala inherited the title of Roko Tui Dreketi, the traditional title of the rulers of the Burebasaga confederacy, which covers the provinces of Rewa, Nadroga, Seru, Kadavu Island (off the coast of Suva, and parts of Ba and Ra. The village of Lomanikoro in Rewa Province is the capital of the confederacy. Adi Lala's marriage, on 9 September 1950, to Ratu Mara, who was to become the Tui Lau and Tui Nayau (the traditional ruler of Nayau and the Lau Islands) was considered a dynastic marriage, as it united two powerful feudal families. Relations between the families had been strained in the past, so the marriage was opposed in certain quarters, especially on Ratu Mara's side. Nevertheless, the marriage was by all accounts a happy one and lasted 54 years, until Ratu Mara's death on 18 April, 2004. The duration of this marriage was in stark contrast to the prevalence of divorce in much of the Mara clan. Three sons and five daughters issued from their marriage; their second daughter, Adi Koila Mara Nailatikau, has pursued a political career of her own and is currently a member of the Fijian Senate.

In the late 1980s, Adi Lala founded the Fijian Political Party (Soqosoqo ni Vakavulewa ni Taukei, or SVT) as the successor to the disbanded Alliance Party that her husband had founded and led, but for the leadership she was outmanoevered by Sitiveni Rabuka, who had led the Fiji coups of 1987. Adi Lala has remained active in the Great Council of Chiefs, where she is regarded as a voice of moderation.