A daughter of Tonga’s Police Minister Hon. Pōhiva Tuʻiʻonetoa, signalled for him to intervene when a police officer issued her with a speeding ticket but the minister chose not to.
Hon. Tuʻiʻonetoa and his family were on their way back home from Nukuʻalofa early this month when a Police officer stopped their car at Tufumāhina.
The driver of the car was Hon. Tuʻiʻonetoa’s daughter.
The minister told Tonga Weekly newspaper he was in the front seat sitting beside the driver. He said he could tell how his daughter reacted signalling for him to talk to the officer when he began questioning her.
Hon. Tuʻiʻonetoa said he did not want to interfere with his Police officer’s work and he appreciated what he was doing.
Hon. Tuʻiʻonetoa told the paper he was happy the incident happened to him and his family so it could send a message to everyone in his Ministry of Police no one was above the law.
The minister said he understood the Police officer did not know him and he and his family were not using the ministerial vehicle because they were not allowed to use it if it was for personal matters.
Hon, Tuʻiʻonetoa said the new government was in the process of trying to win back public trusts in the Ministry of Police and he as the head of the ministry must show the example.
