Sir Ronald ToVue (1933 – 2021) was a founding member of the

Pangu Pati The Pangu Pati (Pangu Party), officially Papua na Niugini Yunion Pati (), is a nationalist and developmentalist political party in Papua New Guinea. The party is the oldest political party in Papua New Guinea and has held all levels of government ...

of Papua New Guinea (PNG), which formed the first government of the country after its

Independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

. He went on to become the premier of East New Britain Province from 1981 to 1989, as well as a successful businessman.

Early life

ToVue was born in the Rabaul District of East New Britain on 17 February 1933. He attended

Sogeri National High School Sogeri National High School is a school situated in Sogeri in the Central Province of Papua New Guinea (PNG). It was the country's first national high school and it educates students from all over the country in Forms 5 and 6 (Grades 11 and 12), ...

, near

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New ...

, where he became friends with the future first prime minister of PNG,

Michael Somare Sir Michael Thomas Somare (9 April 1936 – 25 February 2021) was a Papua New Guinean politician. Widely called the " father of the nation" (), he was the first Prime Minister after independence. At the time of his death, Somare was also the lo ...

, as well as other future leaders, including Sir Vincent Eri, Sir Paulias Matane, and Sir Alkan Tololo, who were to form the core of the Pangu Pati.

Career

In addition to becoming premier of East New Britain province, he served as the chair of the East New Britain Health Authority and of the Rabaul Development Authority Board. He also became a successful businessman in

Rabaul Rabaul () is a township in the East New Britain province of Papua New Guinea, on the island of New Britain. It lies about to the east of the island of New Guinea. Rabaul was the provincial capital and most important settlement in the province ...

Kokopo Kokopo is the capital of East New Britain Province in Papua New Guinea. It is administered under Kokopo/Vunamami Urban LLG. The capital was moved from Rabaul in 1994 when the volcanoes Tavurvur and Vulcan erupted. As a result, the population o ...

and Port Moresby. He was a strong advocate of autonomy for East New Britain.

Death

ToVue died in Port Moresby on Christmas Day 2021, having been medically evacuated from Rabaul on the previous day.

Awards and honours

ToVue was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in Queen Elizabeth II's 1982 New Year's Honours List and a Knight Bachelor (KBE) in the

1987 Birthday Honours Queen's Birthday Honours are announced on or around the date of the Queen's Official Birthday in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The dates vary, both from year to year and from country to country. All are published in sup ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tovue, Ronald 1933 births 2021 deaths Pangu Pati politicians Papua New Guinean Knights Bachelor Premiers from East New Britain Province Knights_Commander_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire