Deputy Prime Minister Taniela Fusimālohi has raised concerns about Parliament’s dangerous (“fakatu’utāmaki”) practice of approving critical reports without proper scrutiny.
He was pointing to the near-automatic approval of the Auditor General’s explosive findings, which revealed $60 million in unaccounted Covid-19 funds, without discussion.
The Auditor General’s revelation, previously reported by Kaniva News, revealed no records detailing how the pandemic relief money was spent—a direct violation of the Constitution Clause 53, which mandates the Finance Minister to report all government expenditures to Parliament with full documentation.
Fusimālohi was visibly frustrated while condemning the legislative shortcut.
“Ko e fa’ahinga founga ia ‘oku fakatu’utāmaki,” he said in Tongan.
This translates to English as “That procedure is dangerous.”
The Speaker of Parliament Lord Fakafanua was contacted for comment.
Near-Miss for Accountability
During an interview on RTTI’s livestream show, Fusimālohi claimed that the damning audit was on the agenda for bulk approval alongside routine documents but since he had read all reports that had been handed over to MPs he was well aware of the Auditor’s Covid report. He said he then asked that the report be tabled for discussion.
Fusimālohi reiterated that the Auditor had repeatedly attempted without success to obtain records of the funds’ expenditure from the relevant ministries. He noted that the Minister of MEIDECC overseeing these funds at the time was former Prime Minister Huʻakavameiliku.
He warned that the Auditor’s work can’t be ignored just to expedite agendas, Fusimālohi said, warning that sidelining audits erodes trust.
“Transparency and accountability are two vital mechanisms for the government’s operation,” he said in Tongan, adding that Tonga must account for every dollar of foreign aid.
A pattern of unchecked reports
The Covid fund scandal mirrors past failures.
A Parliamentary Select Committee investigation in 2012 found that the TOP $119 million Nukuʻalofa CBD reconstruction loan was illegal, citing breaches of the Public Finance Management Act. No parliamentary resolution followed.
In the same year, a Land Royal Commission Report was submitted to Parliament after a government team consulted residents in Tonga and the diaspora, but it was never debated.
