Frederick "Fred" Karlomuana Timakata (1936 – 21 March 1995) was a Ni-Vanuatu politician who served as the

president of Vanuatu The president of Vanuatu () is the head of state of Vanuatu. The president is elected for a five-year term by an electoral college consisting of Parliament and the presidents of the regional councils. The president's role is mostly ceremonia ...

from 1989 to 1994. Timakata was born at Makatea Village on the island of

Emae Emae is an island in the Shepherd Islands, Shefa, Vanuatu. Geography Maunga Lasi is the highest peak at 644 m. It forms the northern rim of the (mostly) underwater volcano of Makura, which also covers the nearby islands of Makura and Mataso. ...

, in the Shepherd Group. He attended school on Emae and later at the district school on

Epi Island Epi (or Épi, Api; formerly known as Tasiko or Volcano Island) is an island in Shefa Province, Vanuatu, at the north end of the Shepherd Islands. The island is long northwest–southeast, and wide, with an area of . Its shoreline measures 13 ...

. He undertook teacher training at the Teachers' Training Institute on Santo, and taught there for a number of years. Later, he did pastoral training at the Methodist Theological College and the

Pacific Theological College The Pacific Theological College (PTC) is an ecumenical theological college located in Suva, Fiji. Established in 1965, it opened for training in 1966 and was originally designed as the only regional institution to offer degree-level education in th ...

in Fiji. After serving as a parish pastor for several years, he became Assistant Assembly Clerk and later Assembly Clerk for the Presbyterian Church of New Hebrides. Timakata assisted in the founding of the New Hebrides National Party, and in 1973 became its vice president. He was elected as a member of the pre-independence

Representative Assembly A representative assembly is a political institution in which a number of persons representing the population or privileged orders within the population of a state come together to debate, negotiate with the executive (originally the king or other ...

in 1979, and became its chair. He resigned that position before independence and was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Home Affairs upon independence in 1980. Timakata was Speaker of the Parliament from November 1983 to November 1987, and served as acting President of

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (; ), is an island country in Melanesia located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, east o ...

briefly in 1984. He was subsequently elected as

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

for a five-year term from 30 January 1989 to 30 January 1994.

References

1936 births 1995 deaths Presidents of Vanuatu Speakers of the Parliament of Vanuatu Members of the Parliament of Vanuatu Vanua'aku Pati politicians Interior ministers of Vanuatu Health ministers of Vanuatu Deputy prime ministers of Vanuatu Vanuatuan Presbyterian pastors 20th-century Vanuatuan politicians {{Vanuatu-politician-stub