Harold Keke
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Harold Keke
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Harold Keke in a hut on the Solomon Islands, 2003
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| Born | 1971 |
| Allegiance | Guadalcanal Revolutionary Army |
| Service/ |
Militia |
| Rank | General |
Harold Keke (born 1971) is a Solomon Islands warlord involved with the Guadalcanal Revolutionary Army (GRA).
Biography
The grandson of one of the founders of the South Seas Evangelical Church in Australia,[1] Keke was raised a Catholic in the Solomons,[2] but left the faith to become a petty criminal in Papua New Guinea. After a number of years, he returned home, where he took work as a police officer,[3] and embraced evangelical Christianity.[1]
During the 1990s, tensions flared up between indigenous inhabitants of Guadalcanal and immigrants from neighboring Malaita. Following the election of Bartholomew Ulufa'alu, militants, including those led by a newly radicalized Keke, began a campaign of intimidation and violence against Malaitan settlers. This, including Keke's 1998 raid of a police armory, led to the formation of the Malaita Eagle Force (MEF) and all out ethnic warfare in the islands.[citation needed]
Keke views himself as a prophet, leading his people to their "promised land". He also claims that he had political backing for the start of the conflict from then-premier Ezekiel Alebua — who provided money, weapons, and ammunition for the GRA. This claim has been denied by Alebua, who calls Keke "little more than a violent thug".[1]
During the ensuing conflict, the MEF gained the upper hand, deposing the government and gaining control of most police forces; making them a de facto extension of the militias. Many of the militias opposed to the MEF struck a peace deal in late 2000, but Keke refused to sign, moving his soldiers into the jungles of the Weather Coast to avoid capture.[1]
The GRA, under Keke's leadership, has been accused of a variety of crimes, including arson, kidnapping, assassination, and murder. Keke has been personally implicated in more than 50 murders,[4] including that of cabinet minister and priest Augustine Geve,[5] as well as seven missionaries from the Melanesian Brotherhood.[6]
In late 2003, following the arrival of a multi-national intervention force led by Australia, Keke called for a cease-fire, and surrendered to peace-keepers.[7] In 2005, he was convicted of the murder of Geve, and sentenced to life in prison.
See also
- History of the Solomon Islands
- Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands
- Politics of Solomon Islands
References
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- Articles with unsourced statements from August 2013
- 1971 births
- Living people
- Solomon Islands evangelicals
- Former Roman Catholics
- Solomon Islands prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment
- Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by the Solomon Islands
- Solomon Islands people convicted of murder
- People convicted of murder by the Solomon Islands
- People from Guadalcanal Province
- Warlords
