International organisations representing statisticians have called on the Fiji Prime Minister to explain the sacking of the Government Statistician, Kemueli Naiqama.
Naiqama was arbitrarily removed from office last month after publishing the 2019-2020 Household Income and Expenditure Survey which showed three quarters of Fiji's poorest people are indigenous Fijians, the i-Taukei.
Kemueli Naiqama. Photo: Bureau of Statistics, Fiji
Naiqama said the report provided an 'honest snapshot' of the country's poverty situation.
The International Statistical Institute and the International Association for Official Statistics want Frank Bainimarama to quickly provide vindication of his actions to rebuild trust in Fiji statistics.
The organisations said that the Fiji government's move is a breach of the UN's Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics, which would be seen in many countries as unconstitutional.
They said it is the government statistician who guarantees to those outside the country that their trust in official statistics is well founded.