He is the son of former politician
Ratu Semi Seruvakula. Seruvakula joined the army in the early 1980s and served in the
Sinai Peninsula and in
Lebanon from 1986 to 1987 as a platoon commander in the Charlie company of the First Battalion, Fiji Infantry Regiment. He opposed the 2000 coup, and when rebels from the
Counter Revolutionary Warfare Unit mutinied at
Suva's
Queen Elizabeth Barracks on 2 November 2000, he led the third infantry battalion in a counter-offensive to retake the barracks from the rebels. Following the mutiny, Seruvakula made some controversial statements in the media. He alleged that he had been offered F$250,000 to support
George Speight's attempted coup in May, and that former Prime Minister
Sitiveni Rabuka (who led
two coups in 1987) had incited the mutiny and attempted to overthrow the military commander, Commodore
Frank Bainimarama. His police statement became the subject of several investigations, and Rabuka was charged but ultimately acquitted as a result of his allegations. Seruvakula joined the
New Zealand Army in 2001. He was elected as
Chairman of the Great Council of Chiefs in 2024. ==References==