Francis Ona

Francis Ona (15 February 1953 – 24 July 2005) was the Supreme Commander of the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA) during the 19881998 Bougainville conflict. The war began when Ona "went bush" and began organising acts of industrial sabotage against the Panguna mine, which he felt was causing environmental devastation and was not fairly compensating the traditional landowners, himself included. His followers' motives varied. The war killed thousands of Bougainvilleans.

The BRA, which Ona founded in 1989, escalated into a guerrilla movement fighting for Bougainville's secession from Papua New Guinea. Despite peace agreements in 1998, Ona refused to disarm or recognize the interim government. He insisted that Bougainville, a nation he called Me'ekamui, was already separate, based on an unrecognized unilateral declaration of independence issued by the rebels in 1990. He declared himself the president, then the king, of Me'ekamui. Ona died in 2005 within the rebel-controlled "no-go zone", leading the remaining rebels to splinter into various factions.

Category:Deaths from malaria
Category:Papua New Guinean politicians
Category:2005 deaths
Category:1953 births