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Nena Sworn into FSM Presidency

PALIKIR, Pohnpei (FSM Information Service): May 12, 1997 - FSM Vice President Jacob Nena was sworn in as the fourth FSM President in a brief ceremony that was held in front of the President's Office Building at the Capital in Palikir at 10:30 a.m., May 8, 1997. A down-pour of rain blessed the occasion.

Over a hundred people attended the ceremony including Cabinet Members, State officials, traditional leaders, local government leaders, Members of the Diplomatic Corps, church leaders and the general public.

The ceremony was broadcasted live nation-wide through the facilities of FSM Telecommunication Corporation and the radio broadcast stations in the four FSM States.

President Nena was born on October 10, 1941 in Lelu, Kosrae. He attended Lelu Elementary School, Kosrae Junior High School, and Intermediate School in Pohnpei where he graduated in 1961. From 1961 to 1964, Nena attended PICS High School and in 1964 to 1969 attended College of Guam where he graduated with a degree in Political and a minor in English and Economics. In 1971, he was on an East-West Center grant and at the same time working for a graduate degree at the University of Hawaii. He graduated with an MA in Public Administration and Business Management at the University of Hawaii (Manoa) in 1972. He was the fourth Vice President of the Federated States of Micronesia who was elected to office in 1991 and re-elected for a second term in 1995.

He became Acting President on November 8, 1996 when FSM Congress Members declared President Bailey Olter unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office after suffering from a cerebral vascular accident on July 16, 1996. President Olter, unable to return to office after 180 days, since November 8, 1996, automatically transfers the powers and duties of the Presidency to his successor.

Nena is no new-comer in the political arena, besides his tenure in Congress for four years and another four as Vice President and Acting President. He became the first elected Governor for the State of Kosrae. He was a member of the Micronesian Political Status and Transition Commission from 1979 to 1981, and in 1982, Nena accompanied President Nakayama to the South Pacific Forum. He was chairman of the Lelu Municipal Government Constitutional Convention in 1986 and a member of the Kosrae State Constitutional Convention.

He is a member of the Kosrae Community Church in Kolonia, Pohnpei, where he also hold the position of lay Minister. He is married to the former Lerina Jack and they have nine children.