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US Lawyer Filia Uipi denies claims police escorted him out of court at judge’s direction

By
Kaniva Staff
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The United States-based Tongan Lawyer Phil (Filia) Uipi has denied allegations police had escorted him out of a court in Salt Lake City under the direction of a judge.

Lawyer Phil Uipi and Taufa’ahau Tau’atevalu

A woman by the name of Taufa’āhau Tau’atevalu claimed in a video clip uploaded to Youtube last week that Uipi was at the Salt Lake City court.

In Tongan she said: “Na’e toki show up pe ia he ‘aho ko ia”.

An interviewer by the name of ‘Eleni interrupted and asked Tau’atevalu whether the police escorted Uipi out of the court.

Responding, Tau’atevalu said “yes”.

Tau’atevalu’s allegations came after she claimed three Tongan women had been sent to jail after they had allegedly attacked and beat her.

She also claimed Uipi was at the court to represent the women.

But Lawyer  Uipi has denied the allegations against him to Kaniva News.

Uipi said he has not attended any court in Salt Lake City for a year now because of the Covid-19 restrictions.

He said the hearings in which he has been involved have been conducted online.

He said he never knew the three accused.

Uipi said if it was true, the accused had to hire him before he can file the “Entry of Appearance of Counsel” so he could represent them in court.

He said the allegation that he had been sacked from the court by a judge was fragile.  “pelepelengesi”.

Uipi said lawyers and judges in the US have “a very courteous relationship”.

Uipi is a member of the Utah State Bar, United States Supreme Court Bar and has been approved to be a restricted member of Tonga Law Society.

He was a former member of the Utah House of Representative.

He said he has been working as a lawyer in the US for 35 years.

More reforms needed to ensure a fully elected Parliament that meets His Majesty’s wishes that only the right people are voted in

By
Kalino Latu
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Kaniva commentary

The king will need to lead a major political reform before his wish that the right people are elected to Parliament can be fulfilled.

King Tupou VI

His Majesty is clearly unhappy with Parliament and what he sees as its failure to deal with the major crises facing the island kingdom.

Twice this year – most recently at the closing of Parliament – he has expressed his displeasure at what he sees as the MPs’ failure, especially on drugs.

Nobles MP for the Niuas, Lord Fusitu’a, told the Guardian the king’s speech was “a guiding light. He’s the only apolitical body in the constitution so his assessment of a government of the day is always taken into account.”

That may be a sign that the people will expect more from the government. However, it may be the very nature of Parliament and the presence of Nobles who are not popularly elected  that are the stumbling block. What is needed is the creation of a fully democratic Parliament that can fulfil the king’s vision by allowing people  to vote for the best MPs – and that means MPs who are elected on their merits, not because of their ancestry.

While Tonga underwent major political reforms in 2010, they did not go far enough. They left the Nobles holding too many cards and too much power over who runs the country.

The king has repeatedly called for the people to vote wisely and make sure the right politicians represent them, but nothing will happen in a system based on a constitution that has been described as the worst among all Commonwealth countries.

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The people can choose the best candidates to sit in the house on election day, but after that major problems loom. The elected politicians will face another political campaign for the election of a Prime Minister. Since 2010 it has been proved that the involvement of the nine Noble MPS, who are not elected or vetted in any way by the electorate, is a problem.

The Nobles will always be the kingmakers. To control Parliament they only need to persuade five of the popularly elected members to come on side and that means they can determine who will be the Prime Minister and the Speaker.

In 2010, when the Democrats took power, everybody expected the PTOA would form the government because they won the most seats. However, this did not happen because the Nobles and the Independents outnumbered the majority of people’s MPs in the vote for the premiership. The Nobles’ MPs continue to be able to hold power even if they have been convicted or accused of serious crimes.

After the 2019 election brought in the Tu’i’onetoa government, Lord Tu’ilakepa was appointed to Cabinet, even though he had been convicted of firearms charges after a series of drug raids across the kingdom in 2010. In another case, Lord Nuku was fined in the Supreme Court and  ordered to pay the current Lord Luani TP$5,556,000 in compensation for a dispute over a block of land in Malapo. This raised serious concerns among Democrats.

As we reported at the time, Under Clause 23 of the constitution, no civil servant or Member of Parliament convicted of a criminal offence can hold office under the government or be qualified to vote for nor to be elected a representative of the Legislative Assembly, unless he or she has received from the King a pardon, together with a declaration that he is free from the provisions of this clause.

However, Acting Attorney General ‘Aminiasi Kefu said at the time that Clause 23 of the Constitution and Section 37 of the Land Acts only applied if the Noble was convicted in the Supreme Court of criminal offences that entailed a jail sentence of two years or more.

He said Lord Nuku was not convicted in the Supreme Court of criminal offence. Moreover, while Clause 65 said a candidate for Parliament had to get a written clearance from the Supreme Court and Magistrate’s Court showing they had no record of outstanding orders before they could register as a candidate, that clause did not apply to the Noble’s MPs.

Can we continue to have a system where there is even the perception that there is one law for ordinary MPs and another for the Nobles?

What is clear now is that the Nobles will always have the opportunity to entice five elected MPs – effectively stealing five MPs from the people – by horse trading to sell the Premiership, and the most important ministerial positions like Minister of Finance, Education and Infrastructure to the people’s MPs especially the independents. This is extremely unfair.

The Democrats faced the same hurdles in 2014 and in 2018, but Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pohiva had the skills to make a difficult deal to get the votes of the Independent MPs. Now ‘Akilisi is dead and the PTOA Party is in great disarray. The current system will not work for them if they cannot sort themselves out.

The current system must be reformed so that the country can have a proper system based around political parties. Today democracy means a government based on political parties, but Tonga has so far not accepted it.  The existence of the nine Noble MPs in the House and their power to influence the formation of a government proves why it is important for Tonga to accept the party system. Only a party system can successfully form a government that is well organised and work harmoniously according to the policies that can be created from its political leanings.

The king must work with Parliament to complete the democratisation of politics in Tonga so that his wish that only the  best people are elected to Parliament is fulfilled.

TO’O ME’A LALAHI ‘I HE ONGOONGO FAKATONGA’

‘Oku meimei ko e Tonga kotoa ‘oku nau fiefia  he kei tokanga mai ‘a e Tama Tu’i’  ki he kakai ke nau fili fakapotopoto mo fili ‘a e kakai tonu ke fakalele ‘a e pule’anga’. Me’apango pe ‘e ‘ikai lava hoko hono finangalo’ ‘o na  ia he koe’uhi ko e sisitemi fakapolitikale lolotonga ‘oku fakalele ‘aki ‘a Tonga’  te ne kei fakaai pe ha pule’anga ‘e ‘ikai taau mo e faka’amu ‘a e kakai’ pehē ki hono finangalo’ . Ko e me’a ‘oku tonu ke fai’ na’a lava  ke ne finangalo kae fakalelei’i ‘a e sisitemi’. Ko hono mo’oni’, ko e sisitemi fakapolitikale lolotonga ‘a Tonga’ ‘oku palopalema pea ‘oku ‘ikai ko e sisitemi ia na’e loto ki ai ‘a e kakai’ mo e hou’eiki’ ‘o fakapaasi ki mu’a he 2010 ke liliu ki ai ‘a e fa’unga politikale  ‘o e fonua’. Na’e li’aki  ‘a e fokotu’u ia ko ia’ ‘a ia ne ‘osi hono savea’i pea tohi e ola ko ia’ ‘e ha komisoni ne  sea ai ‘a e fakamaau lahi ‘a Tonga he ‘aho ko ia’, ko Gordon Ward. Na’e si’aki ‘a e fokotu’utu’u ia ko ia’  kae toe fa’u pe ‘e he pule’anga ia ‘o e ‘aho ko ia’ ‘a ia ko e pule’anga ‘o Looti Sevele’ ki mu’a e 2010 ‘enau konisitūtone mo ‘enau fokotu’utu’u ‘o fai’aki ‘a e liliu ‘a ‘eni ia kuo tau sio mata hono palopalema’ he ‘aho’ ni pea kuo toutou houhau ai ‘a e tama tu’i’. Ki mui he hili ‘a e liliu 2010 ne  ‘omi ai ‘e he pule’anga ‘o Tu’ivakanoo’ hili ‘enau pule’anga’ ‘a e mataotao he lao fakakonisitutone ‘a e kominiueli ke ne vakai’i e konisitutone na’e fai ‘aki ‘a e liliu’ ko ia’ hili ‘enau sio tonu he fu’u palopalema ‘a e konisitūtone’. Pea ne fakaha tonu ‘e he mataotao  ne ha’u ‘o e fai ‘a e vakai’i ko ia’, ko e konisitūtone ma’olalo taha ia pea ta’efakatemokalati ‘i he ngaahi fonua kotoa ‘o e Kominiueli’. Pea ko ‘etau lele ko ‘eni ‘oku tau lolotonga fetakai he mafai ‘o e konisitūtone ma’olalo ko ia’. Kuopau ai ki he Tama’ ke ne toe fai ha liliu pe ko hono fakafoki e liliu ne fai’ ki he me’a ne ‘osi fai e felotoi ki ai ka na’e ‘ikai fai ia’. Kuo mahino talu mei he 2010 ‘a e kei ikuna pe ‘e he PTOA ‘a e ola ‘o e fili’  ‘o meimei ke  fili atu ‘e he kakai ‘a e toko 9 pe 10 mei he toko 17 pea toenga ko e kau Tau’atāina. Ka e pango’ ne  ‘osi e fili ‘a e kakai’ ne hoko leva ki he  taimi fili palemia’ ne  hu mai e kau fakafofonga nopele ia ‘e toko 9 ne fili pe ‘e he toko 33 ‘o fakatau ‘e kinautolu ‘a e kau lele Tau’ataina ne nau fo’i he toko 9  pe 10 ‘a e PTOA ‘o nau  pule’anga kinautolu pea ne hoko ia ko e palopalema. He ko e fili ē ‘a e kakai kuo ikuna e PTOA ‘o nau tokolahi kae tokosi’i e  kau lele tau’ataina’, ka e toe ‘i ai e fo’i hētolo fakapolitikale fakapoto ia ‘o li ai ki tu’a e ikuna ia ‘a e kakai’ kae pule’anga kinautolu ia ne tokosi’i ia mo e  kau nopele’ ‘o hoko leva e pule’anga ko ia’ ko e pule’anga ‘oku ne fai ‘a e loto ‘o e tokosi’i (minority) kae li’ekina e loto ia ‘o e tokolahi’ (majority)ne  nau vouti he ‘aho fili. Pea ko ‘ene palopalema’ ia. Hange pe ko ia kuo tau sio mata ki he fua ko ia’ ko e minisitā he pule’anga ‘o Tu’i’onetoa’ ko  Looti Tu’ilakepa na’e ‘i ai hono tukuaki’i mamafa kau ki he faito’o konatapu’. Ka kuo hoko ia ko e minisitā ‘o e kapineti’. Tala mai ange ‘e taha pe ko ha fili lelei taha ia ‘a e kakai? ‘Ikai. Ka ko e sisitemi lolotonga’ ‘oku ne fakaava ‘e ia ‘a e matapā ke kei hokohoko atu ‘a e fa’ahinga fili palopalema ko ia’. ‘Oku ‘i he tu’i’ ke fai ha fakalelei’i ‘o e tūkunga ko ‘eni ‘aki hono mafai’ fakakonisitutone’ ka ‘ikai ko e feinga ke solova e palopalema ‘oku ne toutou fakatokanga mai ki ai ke ma’u ha  pule’anga lelei taha ‘e  faingata’a ia ke hoko.

 

 

Brave woman undergoes lifesaving surgery for facial tumour

By
Kaniva Staff
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By One News / TVNZ. Republished with permission

Most of New Zealand is still asleep, but Auckland doctor Zac Moaveni is already at hospital scrubbing up.

Vea Koloa. Source: Sunday

It wasn’t his young children who got him up before dawn, if he wanted to he could still be in bed.

But today is special. Today Zac and a small group of colleagues have volunteered to perform a marathon surgery which they hope will save a woman’s life.

“I couldn’t think of anything better to do on a Sunday than do this for her,” says Zac.

“A lot could go wrong though – I’d be lying if I said I don’t get nervous.”

Their patient is Vea Koloa, a 36-year-old mother of nine children.

Vea lives with her husband Paipa just outside Nuku’alofa in Tonga.

Six years ago her face started swelling.

A tumour kept on growing and growing until it became as big as her head. This year she’s had trouble eating and breathing. So Vea’s doctor in Tonga contacted Zac Moaveni.

“It’s called an ameloblastoma, which is a benign tumour,” says Zac.

“In New Zealand most patients who get them go to a dentist with a bit of swelling and toothache and get it sorted out.”

However, this is by far the biggest tumour of its kind Zac has ever seen.

Tonga doesn’t have a health service capable of treating it and neither Vea nor the Tongan Government can afford the full cost of surgery in a country which does.

So Zac has brokered a deal – the Tongan Government will pay some money, an Auckland private hospital has offered its services at cost and and surgeons Zac Moaveni and Joseph Chen (plastics), Muammar Abu-Serriah (oral and jaw) and Andrew Cho (ear, nose and throat) will do the surgery for free.

Now Vea’s husband Paipa is left at home looking after the kids while Vea, after navigating MIQ, is in Auckland staying with her “aunty” Api.

Zac Moaveni has a well-deserved reputation in the Pacific as a Kiwi plastic surgeon with a compassionate streak.

Yes, he has both private and public health clinics in Auckland but as regular as clockwork is out there doing charity work.

Sunday first met him 12 years ago in Fiji.

Back then he was part of a volunteer surgical team from Australia and New Zealand called Interplast, a charity which reaches across the Pacific and south east Asia, providing surgery for people who might otherwise be disfigured for life.

In the dilapidated Lautoka Hospital they were repairing cleft palates and minor burns.

They organised a mercy flight to Auckland for a boy slowly dying of serious burns who could not be treated in Fiji.

Lautoka Hospital had been state-of-the-art when it opened in the early 1970s, but 30 years on there was no funding to carry out even the most basic maintenance.

These days Zac volunteers in the Solomon Islands where patients travel for days across the archipelago.

“I’ve travelled through many countries in the Pacific. People live under totally different conditions with far less access to what we would see as basic human rights, education, medical care and yet they live with such incredible dignity and humility.”

Zac Moaveni knows about basic human rights.

He was born in Iran and spent his formative years witnessing his former homeland wracked by revolution and war.

By 1985, aged just 14, Zac was due to be conscripted into the Iranian Army.

His dad, an engineer, had other plans and the Moaveni’s moved to South Korea where Zac began learning English.

“We became friends with some Kiwis at the university there and they suggested we might like Wellington.”

No sooner said than done by age 15 Zac was enrolled at Tawa College in Wellington followed by Otago University Medical School.

A decade later he became a plastic surgeon working at Waikato Hospital where he met nursing colleague Primila Faloon.

He was removing dressings to check a patient’s recent surgery.

“Primila was not impressed because she had only just finished dressing the patient,” the softly spoken Zac was as usual diplomatic.

“I told her what a great job she had done, which she had.”

The doctor, nurse chemistry was just right. Eighteen years on Zac and “my Queen” Primila have five children.

It’s not hard to see how easily Zac can relate to the needs of a Tongan mother of nine.

“Vea is an incredibly inspirational person. What she has put up with, without complaining is humbling.”

One of those needs is to fund Vea’s on-going care. Her friends have set up a page to help her. It’s at Givealittle.co.nz #Vea.

You can watch Vea’s journey TONIGHT on SUNDAY, 7.30pm on TVNZ1.

Covid-19 update: 16 new community cases reported in NZ today

By
Kaniva Staff
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By RNZ.co.nz. Republished with permission.

There have been 16 community cases of Covid-19 reported in New Zealand today, according to the Ministry of Health.

In a statement, the ministry said 13 of today’s 16 cases have been epidemiologically linked to previous cases.

There have been 10 unlinked cases in the past fortnight.

There is also one historical community case not associated with the current outbreak and another historical case at the border.

The ministry said the community case deemed to be historical was not associated with the current outbreak in Auckland as this case initially came through the border and has been previously reported and spent 14 days in managed isolation, during which time they routinely tested negative.

“They have subsequently tested positive, but this has been deemed historical and is no longer infectious.”

There are 13 people in hospital with Covid-19, with four in intensive care.

The ministry said 903 of Auckland’s 1129 cases in this outbreak have now recovered.

Yesterday there were nine new community cases of Covid-19 reported in New Zealand, the first time in weeks the number of cases had dropped to single figures.

There has now been a total of 1146 cases in the current community outbreak, and there have been 3806 cases in this country since the pandemic began.

A Waitematā District Health Board spokesperson today said that a patient at Auckland’s Waitākere Hospital had tested positive for Covid-19 after presenting at the emergency department yesterday, but that the overall exposure risk is considered low.

The ministry said today fewer than 10 patients are affected.

Afghani trying to get to New Zealand killed by Taliban

By
Kaniva Staff
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By RNZ.co.nz. Republished with permission.

An Afghani man trying to get a visa to come to New Zealand has reportedly been killed by the Taliban and there are fears for two others.

Community Law chief executive Sue Moroney says the man was a part of a group of 70 people waiting for a court hearing about the processing of their visas.

She says the man was travelling with his family group, which was attacked when trying to cross the border at Pakistan.

Moroney found out yesterday he died from his injuries.

“Communication’s difficult, so it’s sometimes hard to get precise details. We believe that he died just over a week ago, and he died when he was in Pakistan.”

“It’s a very difficult situation for these families.”

Moroney said there are two other clients of concern.

“Another one of their clients has been taken by the Taliban and hasn’t been heard of since so we hold grave fears for him as well, and a third client who we’ve lost contact with as well.

“So, this situation is getting worse by the day.”

Immigration New Zealand says it has not been made aware of the incident, but empathises with the situation of those who remain in Afghanistan.

More than 300 New Zealand nationals and permanent residents, their families, and other visa holders were evacuated last month.

The Defence Force’s rescue mission was cut short following deadly explosions at Kabul airport.

A group of interpreters protested outside Parliament on Monday, saying the government needs to do more for those still stranded in Afghanistan.

‘Huge defeat for Donald Trump’: Arizona election review reaffirms Biden win

By
Kaniva Staff
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By RNZ.co.nz. Republished with permission.

Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden in Arizona’s most populous county, a review of results by his allies in the Republican Party has reaffirmed, capping a widely panned effort spurred by Trump’s false claims of voter fraud.

Arizona Senate President Karen Fann, the Republican who paved the way for the so-called “full forensic audit” of Maricopa County’s ballots, said the review’s overall vote tally matched the initial results in November.

Fann said in a statement the matching counts was the review’s “most important and encouraging finding” and should allay voters’ concerns. The latest recount yielded 99 additional votes for Biden and 261 fewer votes for Trump.

The conclusion will disappoint Trump supporters who had pushed for the review, many in the expectation that it would prove his unfounded assertions that he was robbed of re-election due to orchestrated fraud. So far no such proof has been produced either by Trump or his backers.

Outside groups tied to Trump’s efforts to undermine the 2020 election results raised nearly all of the US$6 million to fund the inquiry, viewing the recount of 2.1 million ballots in Maricopa as a catalyst for similar investigations in Pennsylvania, Michigan and other battleground states that Trump lost.

In Texas on Thursday, the secretary of state’s office said the state had begun an audit of the presidential election in its four largest counties – Dallas, Harris, Tarrant and Collin. Although Trump carried the state, Biden won three of those counties under review.

“This was Donald Trump’s best chance to prove his cases of elections being rigged and fraudulent and they failed,” Ben Ginsberg, a veteran Republican election lawyer, said on a media call organized by the States United Democracy Center, a nonpartisan policy group. “It’s a huge defeat for Donald Trump.”

Hours before the announcement by the Texas secretary of state’s office, Trump publicly called on Republican Governor Greg Abbott to launch an audit.

Harris County’s elections administrator, Isabel Longoria, said the audit was an attempt “to delegitimize the 2020 election.”

In a statement, Trump described the Maricopa review as “a big win for democracy and a big win for us.”

Biden victory reaffirmed

In Arizona, Biden won by just over 10,000 votes, a narrow win confirmed by a hand recount and multiple post-election tests for accuracy. Biden carried Maricopa, which includes Phoenix, by about 45,000 votes, making it critical to his defeat of Trump.

The Arizona review is part of a larger effort by Republicans to raise doubts about the 2020 election and gain more control over the voting process. So far this year, at least 18 Republican-led states have passed legislation curbing ballot access, moves they say are needed to ensure election integrity. Democrats say such laws are aimed at gaming the system since Republicans tend to do better in low-turnout elections.

Fann said the state Senate was working on legislation to achieve an “unimpeachable electoral process”, based on various alleged issues discovered in their review.

The Arizona Senate Democratic Leader Rebecca Rios said Republican lawmakers would pursue laws to suppress votes.

“This fake audit, which has cost Arizona taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars, was never about increasing voter trust,” she said in an emailed statement.

A wide array of election experts, Democrats and some Republican officials had long rejected the Arizona review as a highly partisan boondoggle run by contractors without relevant expertise. The lead contractor is an obscure company, Cyber Ninjas, whose chief executive has promoted conspiracy theories about orchestrated fraud in the election.

The audit has been marked by practices that critics described as ranging from inappropriate to bizarre, including counters marking ballots with blue ink, which can alter how they are read by machines, and workers checking for traces of bamboo fibres based on a conspiracy theory that forged ballots may have been shipped in from Asia.

While finding the overall vote tallies largely matched up, the report highlighted a series of alleged issues, including 10,342 potential voters who voted in different counties, which Cyber Ninjas termed a “critical finding.”

As part of a point-by-point rebuttal on Twitter, Maricopa County called that claim “laughable”, suggesting those conducting the review may have failed to account for people with matching names and birth years in different counties, a not uncommon occurrence in a state of more than 7 million people.

Trey Grayson, a Republican and the former top election official in Kentucky, said the Arizona review was marked by “bias and incompetence” and hoped it would prompt Republicans elsewhere to put a halt to similar initiatives.

“My hope is that people in other states will look at this and say this isn’t worth our time and effort,” Grayson said, criticizing the decision in Texas to “cherry pick” mainly Democratic-leaning counties to review. “That’s a tell.”

Biden won’t block requests for Trump’s records

President Joe Biden’s administration will work to avoid blocking requests for former President Donald Trump’s records in an investigation into the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol, the White House said today.

“The president has already concluded that it would not be appropriate to assert executive privilege,” said White House press secretary Jen Psaki. “And so, we will respond promptly to these questions as they arise.”

Psaki said requests from the US House of Representatives Select Committee investigating the Capitol attack would be reviewed with “an eye to not asserting executive privilege,” a legal principle that allows the president to shield some confidential information.

An administration official later said questions of executive privilege would be evaluated on “a case-by-case basis, as Jen noted.”

A mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 as Congress was meeting to certify Democrat Biden’s election victory, delaying that process for several hours as then-Vice President Mike Pence, members of Congress, staff and journalists fled from rioters.

The House committee has subpoenaed four members of Trump’s administration, including Mark Meadows and Steve Bannon, the panel’s chairman said on Thursday.

Trump said he would fight the subpoenas and records request using executive privilege and other grounds. A spokesman for the Republican ex-president said on Friday the committee has put forth an overly broad request for records that lacks legal precedent.

“Executive privilege will be defended,” said Taylor Budowich, a spokesperson for Trump’s Save America political action committee.

Pasifika-led vaccination buses launched in South Auckland

By
Kaniva Staff
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By Tessa Parker, One News / TVNZ. Republished with permission.

The first Pacific community-led vaccination buses have launched in South Auckland as part of a fleet of 12 to feed into community-led vaccination centres.

The first Pacific community-led vaccination buses have launched in South Auckland. Source: 1 NEWS

Aptly named Busifika Vax, the buses will be loaned to Māori and Pacific healthcare providers to help reach local communities.

The two buses are currently at standstill at a drive-thru vaccination centre in Māngere, but in Level 2 they will travel to different hotspots.

The campaign hopes to promote the Covid jab where there might be a large amount of people, or vaccine hesitancy.

Pacific Peoples Minister Aupito William Sio says “this is all about trying to make sure we leave no stone unturned, to ensure that everyone in Auckland has access to the vaccine.

“South Seas Healthcare and Bader Drive Doctors, these are the providers that know our community well. That know how to reach our community,” he said from the launch.

The minister also noted the buses allow for a vaccine strategy similar to that in Samoa, making the jab easy and accessible.

“It’s fitting also because in the island of Samoa the new Government is today continuing it’s door-to-door approach. They are going from village-to-village and that’s what these buses will enable us to do.”

Dr Sirovai Fuatai acknowledged the difficulty of vaccinating Pasifika throughout Auckland and the rest of New Zealand.

“This weather today is like the challenge we face for the Pasifika people, but as I said like the All Black coach… we’re looking forward to it, every match that comes we’re looking forward to it. ”

Pasifika communities have been hit hardest by the most recent Covid-19 outbreak, with a large portion of cases associated with an Assemblies of God Church of Samoa cluster.

NRHCC Pacific Lead Meg Poutasi said the population density added to the challenge of beating Covid-19.

“Families are really responsive, that’s one of the reasons Delta’s been so devastating for us, because it’s really household transmission in Delta, which is almost always 100 per cent that’s actually seen the Samoan numbers in the August outbreak be so high.”

Community leaders are also hoping the ease of the buses will trump any false information about the vaccine that could be present.

“The main thing is combating the misinformation that’s out there that they see on social media. It’s really nice that they come to us, a trusted source, to see how safe it is,” Dr Api Talemaitoga, chair of the Pasifika GP Network, said.

The two buses in Māngere will form a fleet of 12, sourced by the Northern Regional Health Coordination Centre.

Like other vaccination buses, Shot Bro and Shot Cuz, Busifika Vax buses are being loaned by Auckland Airport.

The reveal of the buses also saw the beginning of a mass vaccination event in the Māngere town centre, aiming to vaccinate 3,000 people in three days.

Jailer ordered to pay $24,000 over ‘defamatory’ posts targeting Finance Minister

By
Kaniva Staff
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A correction officer who accused the Minister of Finance of involving in activities which he claimed led to alleged missing of funds from the ‘Eua Shipping Council has been ordered to pay TOP$24,000 in damages.

Finance Minister Tēvita Lavemaau. Photo/Kalino Lātū

Viliami Havea, a jailer (“sela”) at ‘Eua prison, had made a series of posts on Facebook group with an account under the name of ‘Ao‘aokimāsisiva accusing Hon Tēvita Lavemaau of attempting to deregister the Council.

Havea also called on authorities to audit the Council’s $200,000 funding, the lawyer for the Minister, Dr Viliami Uasikē Lātū reported on his Nepituno webpage today.

Havea also accused the minister of abusing his position as minister by hiring out his tractor to the constituency’s grass-cutting contractor.

The Minister, who is also the MP for ‘Eua, took legal action, stating that this was untrue and defamatory.

Dr Lātū said a formal proof hearing was held before Magistrate Loupua Kulī made her decision on September 22.

The court order came after Tonga’s  Electronic Communication Abuse Offences Act came into force on July 1.

The law was passed to address the use of any communication platform to  abuse, harass or otherwise harm another.

It has played an important part in protecting the ordinary citizens and reminding them that social media now are no different from newspapers, magazines or books when it comes to the dangers of defamation.

Covid-19 update: Nine new community cases reported today

By
Kaniva Staff
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By RNZ.co.nz. Republished with permission.

The number of new community cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand has dropped to single figures for the first time in weeks, with nine new cases, the Ministry of Health has reported.

All of today’s nine cases have been linked to earlier cases. Six are known contacts and three are household cases.

There are now a total of 1131 cases in the outbreak. Of those, 902 have recovered.

There were 15 new community cases reported yesterday, all in Auckland. Just one of those cases remains unlinked.

There are 13 people in hospital, with three people in ICU.

Speaking at today’s media briefing Director of Public Health Dr Caroline McElnay said the number of swabs taken across Auckland yesterday dropped to 6928. There were 297 swabs taken in the new area of interest Mt Wellington, while 1725 swabs have been taken in Clover Park since Tuesday.

Since the start of the month, 20.8 percent of Clover Park have been tested, but Dr McElnay said they still wanted people from the suburb to turn out for testing.

Dr McElnay said there were two exemptions for the new testing requirement for people travelling across the boundary for personal reasons.

One is for one-way travel for people travelling from alert level 2 into level 3 and then remaining there; and people attending a healthcare appointment for people travelling from level 2 to 3 and then back to 2. They will need evidence of their appointment, including vaccination.

Dr McElnay said the testing requirements for essential workers was unchanged.

Mt Albert death: No plea from man charged with murder and sexual violation of Lena Zhang Harrap

By
Kaniva Staff
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By RNZ.co.nz. Republished with permission.

The man charged with murdering and sexually violating Lena Zhang Harrap in Mount Albert this week has entered no plea and will remain in custody.

Lena Harrap
Lena Zhang Harrap. Photo: Facebook / StarJam

He has been granted interim name suppression until the next appearance in the High Court at Auckland on 13 October.

The 31-year-old man was arrested in the early hours of this morning when the police found him sitting in a car in Papatoetoe.

He has been charged with murder and sexual violation, after Lena Zhang Harrap’s body was found near a walkway in Mount Albert on Wednesday.

Harrap, 27, who had Down syndrome, failed to return home after going out for a walk.

Her body was found that afternoon near Ōwairaka Domain in Mount Albert, in bush off a walkway and police launched a homicide investigation.

Police released a statement on behalf of her family this afternoon, in which they say they are eternally grateful for the outpouring of support they have received.

They said Lena received great joy, acceptance, and friendship from two charities – Heart Kids and StarJam and have asked people to direct their aroha by supporting the two charities.

Detective Inspector Aaron Pascoe says it was a sickening and senseless attack on a vulnerable person.

“While nothing will bring Lena back to her family, we hope today’s arrest provides a degree of comfort and reassurance knowing the person allegedly responsible for her brutal murder is in custody where he belongs.”

Pascoe said police received a significant amount of information from the public about a man police were looking to identify yesterday.

Police are not seeking anyone else in relation to the case at this time but are wanting anyone who saw a white Hyundai station wagon, registration EGZ962, since Wednesday, to get in touch.

Police are seeking information about this Hyundai station wagon.
Police are seeking information about this Hyundai station wagon. Photo: Supplied / NZ Police
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