Ro Teimumu Vuikaba Kepa (born 18 December 1945) is a Fijian chief, former Member of the Parliament of Fiji, and former leader of the Social Democratic Liberal Party. She was the first Fijian woman to serve as Leader of the Opposition. She previously held the position of deputy Prime Minister in the Qarase-led Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua (SDL) government from 2001 to 2006. As the paramount chief of the Burebasaga Confederacy, she holds the title Roko Tui Dreketi. Personal life Kepa is originally from Lomanikoro, Rewa, and has maternal links to Nadroga. She graduated from the University of the South Pacific with a Bachelor of Arts, and served as Principal of Corpus Christi College and then as a students' coordinator at the University of the South Pacific. She succeeded her late sister, former Ro Lady Lala Mara, as Roko Tui Dreketi, or Paramount Chief of Burebasaga, in 2004. This is considered to be the highest title in the Burebasaga Confederacy, one of three "confederacies", or tribal networks, of Fijian chiefs. Ro Teimumu Kepa is the widow of Sailosi Kepa, a former High Commissioner to London, Minister of Justice and Attorney General (1988–1992), who went on to become a High Court Judge, Ombudsman, and first chairman of Fiji's Human Rights Commission. In July 2016, Kepa was awarded a Peace Award by the Universal Peace Federation in Nepal and was accorded as a Global Peace Ambassador or Ambassador for Peace. Political career In 1999 Kepa was appointed to the Senate. Following the 2000 Fijian coup d'état she was appointed as Minister for Women, Culture, and Social Welfare in the interim government of Laisenia Qarase. She contested the 2001 election as a candidate for the Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua in the Rewa communal constituency, winning it with 2,636 votes. Following the election she was appointed as Minister for Education. On 5 May 2005 she was elected as chairperson of the Rewa Provincial Council, a position previously held by her sister Ro Lady Lala Mara. This led to claims that she had forfeited her seat in Parliament, resulting in her resigning from the council in August 2005. In October 2005, Kepa was elected to the executive board of UNESCO, to which the Fijian government had nominated her in late September. Kepa stood again for Rewa in the 2006 election, defeating her nephew, Ro Filipe Tuisawau. She was reappointed as Minister for Education, Youth and