Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pohiva has appointed Penisimani Fifita as Tonga’s new Minister of Internal Affairs.
Fifita has replaced the outgoing Internal Affairs minister FeÊ»ao VakatÄ.
“Pursuant to Clause 51 (2) of the Constitution, the Honourable Prime Minister, Samuela ‘Akilisi PÅhiva has nominated the People’s Representative for Tongatapu 9 Constituency and the Chairman of the Committee of the Whole House of the Legislative Assembly, Mr. Penisimani ‘Epenisa Fifita, as the new Minister for Internal Affairs, effective from Friday 14th October, 2016.
“The Ministerial appointment has been granted the approval of His Majesty, King Tupou VI, and was sworn into His Majesty’s Cabinet today, Friday, 14th October, 2016.
“Honourable Penisimani Fifita, began his political career in 2014, when he was elected to Parliament as the People’s Representative for the Tongatapu 9 Constituency. During his tenure as People’s Representative in the Legislative Assembly, Honourable Penisimani Fifita also undertook the esteemed role as the current Chairperson of the Committee of the Whole House, as well as Chairperson for the Standing Committee on Social Services. Since 2015, Honourable Penisimani Fifita was a member of three other Standing Committees of the House, including Agriculture and Fisheries, Population and Development and Anti-Corruption.
“The Honourable Minister has over 38 years of experience in Government at the Ministry of Education and Training since 1975 until he retired from the civil service in 2013.
“From 2011-2012, the Honourable Penisimani Fifita was also the Acting Deputy Director for the Culture Division of Ministry of Internal Affairs”.
