Luagalau Levaula Kamu

Luagalau Levaula Kamu (died 16 July 1999) was a Samoan lawyer and Cabinet Minister. His 1999 assassination was the first political assassination in Samoa since independence in 1962.[1]

Luagalau Levaula Kamu
Minister of Public Works
In office
26 April 1996 – 16 July 1999
Prime MinisterTofilau Eti Alesana
Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi
Preceded byLeafa Vitale
Member of the Samoa Parliament
for Salega
In office
26 April 1996 – 16 July 1999
Succeeded byTapua'i To'ese
Personal details
Died16 July 1999
Apia
Political partyHuman Rights Protection Party

Kamu trained as a lawyer in New Zealand, at Victoria University of Wellington and the University of Auckland.[1] He served as a chairman of the Samoan Advisory Council in New Zealand, and had practised law in Samoa before entering parliament at the 1996 election. He was appointed to Cabinet as Minister of Public Works by Prime Minister Tofilau Eti Alesana.[2]

Kamu was married to fellow MP Maiava Visekota Kamu-Peteru.

Assassination

Kamu was fatally shot during a social function at St Joseph's College hall, Apia, celebrating the 20th anniversary of the ruling Human Rights Protection Party. Kamu had just introduced Prime Minister Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi when he stepped into a back room to answer a phone call.[3] He was shot through a hole in the wall and declared dead on arrival at Tupua Tamasese Meaole Hospital in Apia.[1] His assassin, Eletise Leafa Vitale, was arrested ten days later.[4] The killer was the son of Cabinet Minister Leafa Vitale,[5] who had been the previous Minister of Public Works (and who had been dismissed from that position the preceding November following a scandal involving accusations of embezzlement of public funds). Vitale was arrested, along with a second MP, Communications Minister Toi Aukuso.[6] On 9 August 1999 Eletise Vitale pled guilty to murder and was sentenced to death;[7] his sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment.[8] Vitale senior and Toi were convicted of assassination in April 2000,[9][10][11] and their death sentences were commuted to life imprisonment in May 2000.[12] The assassination was motivated by corruption, as the Public Works portfolio was a lucrative source of bribes.[13]

Kamu's assassination is commemorated with an annual lecture series on transparency, accountability and good governance.[14]

References
  1. "SAMOAN GOVERNMENT MINISTER LUAGALAU ASSASSINATED". Pacific Islands Report. 19 July 1999. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  2. "BACKGROUND: SAMOA MP LUAGALAU MURDERED BY GUNSHOT IN APIA". Pacific Islands Report. 20 July 1999. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  3. "Anger grabs hold in Samoa". New Zealand Herald. 30 June 2000. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  4. "MAN ARRESTED FOR ASSASSINATION OF SAMOA CABINET MINISTER LUAGALAU". Pacific Islands Report. 29 July 1999. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  5. "NEW TWIST IN INVESTIGATION OF SAMOA CABINET MINISTER LUAGALAU'S ASSASSINATION". Pacific Islands Report. 2 August 1999. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  6. "TWO MORE SUSPECTS ARRESTED IN APIA MURDER OF CABINET MINISTER LUAGALAU". Pacific Islands Report. 6 August 1999. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  7. "SAMOA MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO ASSASSINATION AND SENTENCED TO DEATH, TWO POLITICIANS STILL IN CUSTODY". Pacific Islands Report. 9 August 1999. Archived from the original on 10 September 2021. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  8. "SAMOAN CABINET MINISTER'S SON HAS DEATH SENTENCE COMMUTED TO LIFE". Pacific Islands Report. 14 January 2000. Archived from the original on 1 February 2021. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  9. "Samoan cabinet ministers get death sentence for killing". The Guardian. 15 April 2000. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  10. "COURT FINDS TWO FORMER SAMOAN MINISTERS GUILTY OF ASSASSINATION". Pacific Islands Report. 13 April 2000. Archived from the original on 6 September 2021. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  11. "Two former Samoan ministers sentenced to die for murdering rival". Independent (UK). 15 August 2013. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  12. "SAMOA'S MALIETOA COMMUTES DEATH SENTENCE OF EX-MINISTERS TO LIFE IN PRISON". Pacific Islands Report. 12 May 2000. Archived from the original on 31 August 2021. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  13. "Graft was incentive for Luagalau Kamu assassination". New Zealand Herald. 30 June 2000. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  14. "APIA LECTURES HONOR ASSASSINATED LUAGALAU, PROMOTE GOOD GOVERNANCE". Pacific Islands Report. 25 July 2001. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
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