Tuala Tevaga Iosefo Ponifasio

Afioga Tuala Tevaga Iosefo Ponifasio[1] is a Samoan politician, lawyer and Cabinet Minister who has served as the deputy prime minister of Samoa since 2021. Elected to parliament as an independent in the 2021 election, he later joined the Faʻatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi party.

The Honourable Afioga
Tuala Iosefo Ponifasio
MP
Tuala Tevaga Iosefo Ponifasio in 2022
Deputy Prime Minister of Samoa
Assumed office
24 May 2021[lower-alpha 1]
Prime MinisterFiamē Naomi Mataʻafa
Preceded byFiamē Naomi Mataʻafa (2020)
Minister of Customs and Revenue
Assumed office
24 May 2021
Prime MinisterFiamē Naomi Mata‘afa
Preceded byTialavea Tionisio Hunt
Member of the Samoan Parliament
for Gagaʻemauga No. 1
Assumed office
9 April 2021
Preceded bySala Fata Pinati
Personal details
Political partyFaʻatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (since 2021)
Other political
affiliations		Independent (until 2021)
Alma mater
Military service
Allegiance New Zealand
Branch/serviceRoyal New Zealand Army
Years of service2004–2008
RankCaptain

Early life

Tuala is the eighth of ten children, born to Samoan catechists - Ponifasio Fune Ah Tani and Gafaomalietoa Telesia Mann. He attended St. Joseph's Primary School, Leauva'a, Marist Brother’s School, Mulivai, St Peter Chanel College, Moamoa and Bishop Viard College in Porirua, New Zealand.[2] Tuala is an ex-serviceman of the Royal New Zealand Army where he held the rank of captain and is currently the President of the Royal Samoa Returned Serviceman Association.[3][4]

Education

He is a law graduate of Victoria University of Wellington, studied tertiary teaching at Auckland University of Technology, and gained a Masters in Business Administration from the Auckland Institute of Studies and Arts Administration at the University of Auckland. Tuala works as a lawyer[5] and operates a hotel business in Apia.[6]

Political Life

Tuala has contested every Samoan election since 2006.[5] Following the 2011 election he sued Samoa's TV3 for libel over a news story broadcast before the election.[7] Following the 2016 election he was banished from his village for filing an electoral petition against the successful candidate, Sala Fata Pinati.[8] He was subsequently convicted in 2017 of bribery and treating in a private prosecution launched by voters in the electorate,[9] but the conviction was quashed on appeal in 2019.[10] In September 2020 he launched a legal challenge to changes to the Electoral Act which would have advantaged incumbents and disadvantaged challengers, but dropped it when the government agreed to amend the Act.[11][12]

2021 General Election
Main article: 2021 Samoan general election

Tuala won the Gaga'emauga No. 1 seat as an independent in the 2021 election, giving him the balance of power between the Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP) and FAST.[13][14] On 21 April, after the HRPP's Tuila'epa Sa'ilele Malielegaoi had refused a demand to step down, he announced he would join the FAST Party.[15][16][17]

Deputy prime minister (2021–present)

On 24 May 2021, Tuala was appointed as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Customs and Revenue in the elected cabinet of Samoa's first female Prime Minister, Hon. Fiamē Naomi Mata‘afa.[18][19] The appointment was disputed by the caretaker government. On 23 July 2021 the Court of Appeal ruled that the swearing-in ceremony was constitutional and binding, and that FAST had been the government since 24 May.[20]

In February 2022, Tuala fired his office assistant for the alleged theft of money. He subsequently announced that he would press charges.[21]

Notes
  1. Disputed: 24 May 2021 – 23 July 2021

References
  1. "LISI O SUI USUFONO O LE PALEMENE LONA XVII MA ITUMALO PALOTA 17 SETEMA 2021" (PDF). samoagovt.ws. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  2. "Deputy Prime Minister Sui Palemia". www.samoagovt.ws. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  3. "The R.S.A. has a new President". Samoa Observer. 11 January 2015. Archived from the original on 18 January 2015.
  4. Sapeer Mayron (25 April 2018). "President of Returned Services Association raises ANZAC issues". Samoa Observer. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  5. Sialai Sarafina Sanerivi (11 April 2021). "Unlikely kingmaker seeks changed politics". Samoa Observer. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  6. Sapeer Mayron (31 December 2020). "PEOPLE OF 2020: Tuala Joe Ponifasio". Samoa Observer. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  7. "SAMOA: Failed politician files libel suit against Samoa's TV3". Pacific Media Watch. 17 June 2011. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  8. Lanuola Tusani Tupufia (24 May 2016). "Election candidates banished". Samoa Observer. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  9. Deidre Tautua-Fanene (12 September 2017). "Election candidate to appeal guilty verdict". Samoa Observer. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  10. "Samoa election candidate's convictions quashed". RNZ. 11 February 2019. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  11. "Samoa AG to amend disputed electoral provisions". RNZ. 9 September 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  12. "Right to Stand as Candidates for General Election Restored". Samoa Global News. 29 September 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  13. Renate Rivers (10 April 2020). "'Kingmaker' Tuala Ponifasio remains undecided". Samoa Observer. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  14. "Independents hold power in forming next Samoa govt". RNZ. 10 April 2021. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  15. Sialai Sarafina Sanerivi (21 April 2021). "Tuala joins F.A.S.T.; insists he's still "kingmaker"". Samoa Observer. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  16. Sina Retzlaff (21 April 2021). "Fiame Confirms Tuala's Decision to Join FAST". Samoa Global News. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  17. "Samoa election: Independent MP sides with new FAST party". RNZ. 21 April 2021. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  18. Marieta H Ilalio (25 May 2021). "Fiame Sworn in as Prime Minister under Marquees on Parliament Grounds". Samoa Global News. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
  19. "First FAST Cabinet Down to Work – When the Impossible Happens". Talamua Online. 29 July 2021. Archived from the original on 31 July 2021. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
  20. Lanuola Tusani Tupufia - Ah Tong (23 July 2021). "F.A.S.T. declared new Government as appeal upheld". Samoa Observer. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  21. Sialai Sarafina Sanerivi (23 February 2022). "Deputy P.M. falls victim to office theft". Samoa Observer. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
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