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Life peers agree with king to not stand as candidates in elections, AG says

By
Kalino Latu
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Tonga’s life peers would not stand as nobles’ candidates in general elections despite a change to the electoral law last week allowing them to run for Parliament, Acting Attorney General ʻAminiasi Kefu told Kaniva News.

The revelation came after the life peers agreed to follow the decision made by late King George V about their entitlements.

The law lords were allowed to vote for  nobles’ Members of Parliament since 2010 but they had been barred from running as candidates.

The new Electoral Regulations 2017 which was gazetted on Friday last week meant the life peers could now stand as candidates in general elections, Kefu said.

However, Kefu alleged that he was told by Lord  Dalgety of Sikotilani Tonga His Majesty’s Privy Council had agreed with the life peers that they would never stand as candidates, a decision which was made by late King George V.

Lord Dalgety allegedly told Kefu the Privy Council made the amendment after it had found out the electoral law was incompatible with the constitution.

The inconsistency was detected after the electoral Acts and the constitution were compared.

The old electoral regulation says,

“…a Noble [Life Peer], may vote as a Noble for an Electoral District, but shall not stand as a candidate.”

The constitution says,

“Every noble shall be competent to vote in an election for representatives of the nobles and to sit in the Assembly if chosen according to law.”

The amendment came after it was found the electoral law 2010, 2(2) for nobility representatives was incompatible with the constitution clause 63 (2).

This was the new electoral regulation gazetted last week:

“1 Short Title These Regulations may be cited as the Electoral (Elections of Representatives of the Nobles) Regulations 2017.

2 Electoral Districts of Nobles (1) A Noble shall only vote or stand for election as a representative in accordance with the Electoral Districts set out in the Schedule.

(2) Any person appointed by His Majesty as a Life Peer under clause 44 of the Constitution, and having the same rights and benefits of a Noble, may vote as a Noble for an Electoral District, and shall declare the Electoral District they will vote for to the Supervisor of Elections, and shall maintain it.”

Tonga has five life peers and they are Lord Tangi ‘o Vaonukanuka, Lord Sevele ‘O Vailahi, Lord Matoto, Lord Tupou ‘O Kolofo’ou and Lord Dalgety of Scotland Tonga.

Inquiries after sacked Finance Minister disobeyed cabinet decision on TP$80,000 spending

By
Kalino Latu
-

Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pōhiva’s cabinet passed a resolution yesterday to enquire into a decision by sacked Finance Minister Tēvita Lavemaau to spend TP$80,000 on the opening of the new government house early this month.

Hon. Lavemaau disobeyed a cabinet decision rejecting his proposal to allow TP$22,000 to cover expenses on gifts and a party arranged as part of the ceremony, the Minister of Finance Dr. Pōhiva Tu’i’onetoa told Kaniva News yesterday afternoon.

Hon. Lavemaau said in a press release in Tongan last week obtained by Kaniva News that the spending he authorised for the new government house was legal, fair, appropriate and suitable for such a ceremony.

Dr. Tu’i’onetoa alleged that he was told by the CEO of the Ministry of Finance that Hon. Lavemaau said he authorised the money because he has the power to do so when the government was under the caretaker mode.

The Minister of Finance has been directed to lodge a complaint with the Office of the Ombudsman.

Dr. Tu’i’onetoa said an organising committee for the launch of the government house, known as St George palace, had requested TP$60,000 for the opening ceremony.

He said Hon. Lavemaau approved the request, but instead of approving TP$60,000 he authorised TP$80,000 to make sure the ceremony was organised successfully.

The committee spent about TP$75,000 of the money, Dr. Tu’i’onetoa said.

The money was used to cover the expenses for the ceremony including landscaping, gardening, the hire of tents, sound systems and a cocktail party.

Dr. Tu’i’onetoa said the money included  TP$22,000 which was intended to be spent on cultural activities and stuff such as ngatu, fihu and sila me’a’ofa (envelope of money) to be presented as gifts.

The former Auditor General said because the financial instructions did not say anything about spending on cultural activities and supplies, Hon. Lavemaau then sought the approval of the cabinet.

However, cabinet declined his request, he said.

He said while the policy allowed the minister to approve the TP$60,000 Hon. Lavemaau disobeyed the cabinet decision and paid out the TP$22,000 to the committee.

Dr. Tu’i’onetoa said a report from the Ombudsmen on the inquiries would be significant to his Ministry’s decision while the government was temporarily holding power.

As Kaniva News reported earlier, the Prime Minister said shortly after he sacked Hon. Lavemaau and the Deputy Prime Minister early this month he suspected his rejection of the proposal to spend TP$60,000 on the opening of the St George Palace had turned the pair against him.

In revealing the difference over the money between the cabinet and Hon. Lavemaau Hon. Pōhiva reportedly said if Lavemaau went ahead and authorise the money, it was illegal.

According to the Constitution,  “…caretaker Ministers shall not incur any unusual or unnecessary expenditure without the written approval of the caretaker Minister for Finance.”

The main points

  • The Tongan Cabinet passed a resolution this morning to enquire into a decision by sacked Finance Minister Tevita Lavemaau to spend TP$80,000 on the opening of the new government house.
  • Lavemaau disobeyed a cabinet decision rejecting his proposal to allow TP$22,000 to cover expenses, the Minister of Finance Dr. Pōhiva Tu’i’onetoa told Kaniva News this afternoon.
  • Lavemaau said last week that the spending he authorised for the new government house was legal, fair and appropriate.
  • The Minister of Finance has been directed to lodge a complaint with the Office of the Ombudsman.

For more information  

Rejection of TP$60,000 proposal  may have angered Deputy and Finance Minister, PM says

13 Crowns releases debut single 28 years after The Jets arrived in Tonga

By
Kalino Latu
-

Tongan music band, The Jets which had been well-known in the United States for its pop and freestyle dance music about three decades ago, arrived in Tonga in 1989.

One of the band players was Haini Wolfgramm who was the bassist in the Minnesota family band.

Yesterday Haini’s children released their debut single “Grateful” from their forthcoming five-song extended play album release.

The name of their group band is 13 Crowns.

“…we’re proud to present our families next generation…our nieces & nephews H&S Recording Artists 13Crowns long awaited debut single “GRATEFUL’ lyric video from their YouTube channel”, a post on The Jets Original Family Band’s Facebook account read.

The 13 Crowns wrote on their Facebook page and said: “Hey guys, we are SO excited to announce that we are releasing our very first single “Grateful” on September 11th! This has been a long time coming and we are so excited to finally share it with all of you.”

The song was written by Jason “Poo Bear” Boyd who wrote and arranged songs for Justin Bieber, Usher, 112, Chris Brown and Big Boi.

“Lyrically, the song’s strong message reminds us that, as the band explains, “even though we go through challenges and difficulties, we can rise up, become stronger for it, and in the long run, be grateful for what we’ve learned and overcome”, a statement said.

“13 Crowns is made up of the seven oldest siblings of the 13-member Wolfgramm family, ranging in age from 12 (drummer Nora) to 21 (Eve on keyboards), with 15-year-old Abraham and 16-year-old Tihane the lead singers and songwriters, 18-year-old Isabella on bass, along with Maikeli (14) and Heinrich (20) on guitar”, it said.

The Jets’ arrival in Tonga twenty eight years ago was a huge event in the kingdom with hundreds vying to attend their performances to the public including their first performance to the king at the Royal Palace and a concert at the ʻAtele Indoor stadium.

The Tongan audience was exceptionally moved by the performances especially when the band played some Tongan hiva kakala including the Lavemālie Mai by Late Queen Sālote Tupou III and ‘Aho ‘o e Fiefia by Rev. Dr.  Eric Shumway which was recorded by local band ‘Iongi Brothers.

The Jets members were LeRoy, Eddie, Eugene, Haini, Rudy, Kathi, Elizabeth and Moana Wolfgramm.

Their parents are Mr Maikeli and Vākē Wolfgramm from Vava’u and Matahau in Tonga.

An assassin, a beast and a winning player

By
Philip Cass
-

He’s been called an assassin and a beast, but for Tongan loose forward Vaea Fifita’s team mates, these are words of praise.

Fifita has won praise for his performance during the All Blacks game against Argentina in Chicago.

He scored a try with only 30 minutes left in the game, drawing praise for his 30 metre dash to the line.

The All Blacks won 39-22.

The team’s coach, Steve Hansen, nicknamed him ‘The Silent Assassin.’

Fifita made his mark playing for the Hurricanes in their first Super Rugby win.

Hurricanes team-mate Milner-Skudder described him as “an absolute beast.”

“He had some barnstorming carries in that first half as well and to see him finish a try like that – and that second try he nearly set up for Damian [McKenzie] afterwards – yeah, he’s a bit of a freak and it’s awesome just to see him get an opportunity at this level and just to do his thing,” Milner-Skudder said.

Fifita is from Vava’u. He was selected for the Tonga Schools side tour of New Zealand.

His performance on the tour led to a rugby scholarship to Tamaki College.

Fifita made his debut with the all Blacks against Samoa in Auckland.

During the match he scored a try.

The  main points

  • He’s been called an assassin and a beast, but for Tongan loose forward Vaea Fifita’s team mates, these are words of praise.
  • Fifita has won praise for his performance during the All Blacks game against Argentina in Chicago.
  • He scored a try with only 30 minutes left in the game, drawing praise for his 30 metre dash to the line.
  • The All Blacks won 39-22.

Speaker denies Pōhiva’s claims Sovaleni, Lavemaau, knew about advice to king

By
Philip Cass
-

Lord Tu’ivakanō has denied claims that the Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister knew in advance about the plan to dismiss Parliament.

Hon. Tu’ivakanō, who is the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly and a former Prime Minister, described the claims as “false, unfounded and utterly untrue.”

Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pōhiva alleged that the former Deputy Prime Minister, Hon. Siaosi Sovaleni, and former Minister of Finance and National Planning, Hon. Tēvita Lavemaau were involved in, and knew about, the advice the Speaker had given to His Majesty, King Tupou VI.

The Speaker said they had nothing to do with the advice which led to the dissolution of the Legislative Assembly of Tonga.

The king dismissed Parliament on August 24.

Hon. Pōhiva sacked the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance before he left for Samoa to attend the Pacific Leaders forum.

As Kaniva News reported earlier this month, the Prime Minister alleged they knew about the plan to dissolve Parliament, but did not warn him because they held a grudge against him.

Hon. Pōhiva said Hon. Sovaleni and Hon. Lavemaau should have warmed him about the dissolution.

He implied that if he had been warned of the plan to dissolve the House he might have approached the king first.

It appears Hon. Pōhiva did not approach Hon. Lavemaau and Hon. Sovaleni about their dismissals.

The Prime Minister did not say whether he had proof the ministers knew about plan to dissolve Parliament.

The two dismissed cabinet members reportedly said they knew nothing about their dismissals.

Friends contact Tongan students in Cuba on Facebook as Irma left country with trail of destruction

By
Kalino Latu
-

Friends of Tongan students in Cuba have taken to social media hoping to hear from their loved ones after Cyclone Irma left the country with trail of destruction.

Category 5 hurricane Irma had caused catastrophic damage across the Caribbean as it swept across islands including St Martin, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the British and US Virgin Islands last week.

Irma, one of the most powerful storms ever recorded in the Atlantic basin, had killed nearly 40 people – at least 10 of them in Cuba – before turning its fury on Florida..

A total of 5.6 million people, or 25 percent of the population of the state of Florida in US, were ordered to evacuate the state, according to the Florida Division of Emergency Management.

Tongan Facebook users have tagged some names on Facebook including the names of Rachael Faiva’ilo, Initai Olie and Roxy Latavao.

According to their individual Facebook account Latavao said she lived in Vedado, La Habana, Cuba. ‘Olie said she studied medicines at Escuela Latinoamericana de Medicina in Cuba while Rachael Faiva’ilo wrote under her profile that she studied MD, Medicine at Universidad de Ciencias Médicas, Cienfuegos.

Some of their friends wished they were safe and urging them to keep in touch.

“Hope you all OK”, a commentator wrote on Facebook.

“Love you all”, another wrote.

On Wednesday Latavao took to Facebook and wrote.

“Getting ready for cyclone Irma…….Dear God pliz (sic) have mercy on us n (sic) send da (sic) cyclone far from here.”

About a dozen Tongans were currently studying in Cuba as medical students.

Kaniva News has contacted the students and Tongan ambassador to Cuba, Mahe’uli’uli Tupouniua for comment.

Tongan extinct musical instruments revived as Language Week ends

By
Kalino Latu
-

Four extinct Tongan musical instruments were revived during a performance organised as part of the Tongan Language week in Glen Innes, Auckland on Saturday.

Professor Hūfanga ‘Ōkusitino Māhina, the Master of Ceremonies, said the Tongan ifi fangufangu (nose flute) was on the verge of extinction.

He said tuki pitu (bamboo beating), ‘utete (jaw harp) and mimiha (pan pipes) had been lost for some 200 years, but they had been able to bring them back to life again.

He said a new Fangufangu Mīnoa ‘o Tonga traditional group had been established and tasked with reviving these instruments.

The group’s music director, Tu’ifonualava Kaivelata, said the instruments they used for the performances were his own creations using kofe (bamboos) and papa (timber).

Tuʻifonualava said Professor Māhina, a founding member of the Fangufangu Minoa went to Europe recently to research in libraries about ancient Tongan instruments.

He discovered that European voyagers, including Captain Cook, who first arrived in Tonga in 1773 had pictures and accounts of these extinct instruments which were played to them when they arrived in the kingdom.

The performances on the last day of the Tongan Language week were conducted by the Kanokupolu cultural performance group and members of the Fangufangu Mīnoa led by Tuʻifonualava, Taniela Kaivelata, and Prof. Māhina.

An atmosphere of vela māfana was felt at the Te Oro studio while the performers entertained the guests with the instruments.

A nafa was beaten followed by the accompaniment of the mimihas and the fangufangu played by Taniela Kaivelata and three children. It was followed by a vocal accompaniment by the langitu’a, or singers who performed the songs led by Tu’ifonulava, while the musicians played according to the tune and lyrics of the music.

They performed the ‘O Lātū Lātū e, a part of a song from the Tongan ancient dance, me’etu’upaki or paddle dance.

In the last part of the performance Tu’ifonualava played the ‘utete. It was new to modern Tongan audiences and the listeners were surprised by its sound.

The performance drew some strong reactions from the audience with many calling out “mālie” (excellence).

The performance was implemented in the Tongan way of fakatautauelangi or stirring up the mālie spirit stage by stage from the beginning so when it reached the climax both the performers and the audience were in a euphoric mood or tau e langí.

The performance at the Glen Innes Te Oro centre also included mā’ulu’ulu, me’etu’upaki and solo dances led by choreographer Tukia and the Kanokupolu cultural group.

Homicide investigation launched following death of Kevini Maka

By
Kalino Latu
-

Tonga Police were investigating how Kevini Maka ended up dead in a waterway in Popua last week.

Police have treated the death as suspicious after the body of the 22-year-old was pulled from the newly constructed waterway at 12.45pm Monday 5.

Acting Police Supt Tevita Vailea reportedly said they had enough information to launch the investigation while Police were still awaiting an autopsy report.

The post-modem was completed on Friday but the deceased’s body was still at hospital. No arrests had been made.

As Kaniva News reported, Maka was a resident of Pātangata a village situated next to Popua.

The deceased’s friends and relatives were shocked by the news of his death.

A Facebook user who goes by the name Fiufeinga ki he Lelei Taha lamented Maka’s death and wrote that if he was still staying with them in Talafo’ou he was still alive.

Another Facebook user wrote she was devastated after she found out the body Police were seeking help to identify yesterday was that of Maka.

One commentator has described him as “always smiling” and “enjoyed playing with kids”.

Guilty beyond reasonable doubt on all charges

By
Philip Cass
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A man has been found guilty beyond reasonable doubt of four charges of rape and one of indecent assault.

Faka’anaua Ki Late Niutupuivaha appeared before Mr Justice Cato on charges dating back to  2006.

The charges were brought against him by two women who gave evidence of repeated sexual assaults over several years.

Mr Justice Cato described Niutupuivaha’s behaviour as “predatory.”

He said the accused had taken advantage of very young women by entering their rooms, strangling them to keep them from crying out it and assaulting them.

He said he had no hesitation in accepting the women’s testimony.

Mr Justice Cato did not record a sentence in his report of the case.

Supreme Court reduces sentence for grievous bodily harm after plea

By
Philip Cass
-

The Supreme Court has reduced a prisoners’ sentence after hearing a claim for mitigation from his counsel.

Moale Vi  had pleaded guilty to a charge of grievous bodily harm after hitting Penisimani Fifita on the head with an iron bar and fracturing his skull.

The incident took place at the fire station in Longolongo on December 22, 2016.

Mr Justice Cato said that Vi’s counsel had provided information that indicated that Vi had been involved in a conflict with his fellow fire officers are retraining to the station drunk.

During the struggle to restrain him Fifita  kicked Vi repeatedly in the head.

Some time after the prisoner was taken away by police, he returned to the station and struck Fifita with an iron bar while he slept.

“I  conclude  that  the  prisoner  was  drunk  and  unruly at the station,” the judge said.

“I accept and  it  was  confirmed  by  Officer Paulo  Kolo in  his evidence that this  was out  of character  for  him.  I find that, although the officers were entitled to take reasonable  steps to restrain  and  subdue  the  prisoner  who  had  plainly become a nuisance and prevent  any  violence,  Officer  Fifita  did  use excessive force when kicking him several times to the head  area.”

The judge said that he considered the matter as a mitigating factor in sentencing the prisoner, although not a significant one.

He therefore reduced the starting pint of the sentence by six months.

In further mitigation, he accepted that Vi had pleaded guilty at  an early stage, had been co-operative, probably  was remorseful, and had lost a job of which he was very fond.

He therefore reduced his sentence further to three years, with the last 12 months suspended on condition that he not commit any offence punishable by imprisonment and undertake courses in drug and alcohol abuse and anger management with the Salvation Army.

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