A Comancheros member is still on the run after he allegedly committed
serious offences including assault, participating in an organised criminal
group and possession for supply of meth.
Jerome Fonua ,24, is of very large build and can be identified by his facial tattoos, which include the word Comanchero under his right eye and a diamond with 1% under his left eye.
He also has the word
“Parabellum” on the right side of his forehead.
He has links across Tamaki
Makaurau.
Raids which led to Fonua and others being targeted while some were arrested by Police saw some $4 million of assets seized by police, including firearms and several luxury vehicles such as a Rolls-Royce Wraith and gold-plated Harley Davidson motorcycles, NZ Herald has reported.
Fonua – along with Connor Clausen, 28, Tyson Daniels, 30, and
Pasilika Naufahu, 31 – have pleaded not guilty to the charges.
During the Operation Nova raids, four Range
Rovers worth $150,000 each were seized by authorities as well as the family
home of the lawyer alleged to have laundered $2.4 million for the Comancheros
motorcycle gang.
The lawyer, 40, has name suppression.
He is charged with money laundering and cocaine possession.
A $10,000 gold chain and a $13,000 Louis Vuitton bag were
also seized.
Anyone who sees him should contact 111 immediately. Anyone with
information about his whereabouts is asked to contact Police on 09 259 0666 or
you can contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Recent stories in Kaniva News on the role of the Tongan
monarchy in the democratic reforms have underlined just how far – and just how
little – the kingdom has come.
The stories have been based on
research by former New Zealand High Commissioner to New Zealand Christine Bogle
whose work examined the function of monarchies in Tonga, Bhutan, Nepal and
Thailand.
While her academic focus has been on
the royals, there can be no denying the changes were also the work of
commoners, politicians and the media working in an unspoken partnership.
Unfortunately, that partnership has
faltered.
If democracy is to prosper and progress in Tonga that partnership must be reignited and the onus for doing that lies with the monarchy.
King George V’s support for the 2010
political reforms reflected a forward looking vision that showed a sincere and
genuine desire for the government to be led by the people
Unfortunately, the present monarch
does not seem to have the same commitment.
The late King George V’s political
reforms were transitional, meaning more reforms and improvements were expected
later.
Those reforms can only come with the
support of King Tupou VI, who still holds
most of the political powers in Tonga.
However, Tupou VI’s actions have not
encouraged the belief that he favours democracy.
He has shown no great love for the democratic governments of ‘Akilisi Pohiva and his political stance. Pōhiva was a fierce political rival of his father, the late King Tupou IV.
King Tupou VI’s dissolution of Parliament in 2017 at the behest of Lord Tu’ivakanō, underlined his apparent dislike of democracy.
After the dissolution and the
democrats’ subsequent re-election, the king refused to meet with the PM,
despite the fact that the constitution stipulates that he and the Prime
Minister must meet on regular basis to discuss government matters.
His reluctance to support the six new bills submitted by the government, which would bring more necessary democratic power to the executive, appears to have been influenced by the only people he meets regularly, the nobles and the law lords.
There are still more reforms to be
made and still more work to be done on the constitution.
The Pursglove report and comments by
Dr Rodney Harrison about the constitution and some illegalities regarding the
king’s and his council’s powers are crystal clear.
King Tupou VI, who ordered the Ombudsman and the Attorney General to investigate the Pōhiva government after receiving a series of petitions, should come forward and say something about these important issues.
It
is time for the king to work with the government as a partner in the continuing
process of democratic reforms.
That
way he would honour his late brother’s plans and reflect the wishes of his
people.
Fiji rounded out their preparations for the Rugby World Cup with a 29-19 victory over Tonga in the second game of the Pasifika Challenge in Auckland on Saturday.
‘Ikale Tahi captain Siale Piutau opened the scoring with a third minute try but Fiji capitalised on a Tongan error six minutes later to launch a long-range raid that ended in Josua Tuisova scoring to level the match at 7-7.
Tongan hooker Paula Ngauamo scored through an impressive rolling maul to put the kingdom back in front midway through the first half but despite having close to 90 percent possession in the opening quarter, Tonga were unable to convert most of that pressure into points. It was Fiji who pounced on another turnover four minutes later as Vereniki Goneva scored another thrilling try against the run of the play to tie the match at 12-12.
The Flying Fijians then scored either side of half-time, through former sevens star Semi Kunatani, who impressed throughout, and captain Dominko Waqaniburotu.
The 12 point buffer was extended when hooker Sam Matavesi scored Fiji’s fifth try of the day before the hour mark.
To complete a fine day for hookers, replacement Sefo Sakalia scored for Tonga early in the final quarter to close the deficit back to 12 points but Fiji’s defence held firm for the rest of the match.
Flying Fijian coach John McKee said it was an area where they performed very strongly.
“We knew we were in for a physical encounter and certainly we got that,” he said.
“I thought our defensive effort tonight was very good. We worked very hard in defence – in our phase defence and our goal-line defence at times – so that aspect of our game was for me very positive.
“I thought there was some good individual tackling as well so that worked well for us,” McKee said.
Tongan coach Toutai Kefu was pleased with the way his team started the match but said a string of turnovers and a failure to execute on attack proved too much to overcome.
“Turnovers killed us today,” he lamented post-match.
“I think we got about 15 turnovers so just being a little bit more clinical in attack, making better options (and) probably executing some simple stuff as well,” Kefu said.
“Bar probably three or four moments there we could have been 18-0 up but we made a few mistakes, they got two easy turnover tries but that’s Fiji.
“I thought there was enough good there to keep pressing on and enough there to keep the group positive.”
Tonga will announce their Rugby World Cup squad on Monday and Kefu said the coaching staff were still sorting through some of the final selections.
“We’ve got a squad of 33 so we’ll drop two out and we’ll just discuss like at the moment we’ve got nine front-rowers so we might even discuss whether we take one less and gamble on the props to allow maybe another back to come in so we’ll have those discussions later.”
Free vaccinations are being offered in South Auckland today as a part of the response to the growing outbreak.
Free clinics are also operating at the Clendon Shopping Centre in Manurewa and Middlemore Hospital.
There more than 920 cases of measles across the country prompting outreach programmes like the one at the Free Church of Tonga in Māngere.
A church elder, Reverend Ifalame Teisi, said the church is concerned about what’s happening.
He said people need to get immunised and it’s important to spread the word.
“They need others to raise awareness; to talk to them and make sure they know this is serious in regard to their health and they need to make use of the opportunity we have here today [for vaccinations]. But there’ll be more people coming in.”
A community nurse says it’s important to have drop in centres for measles vaccinations to encourage people to get immunised.
There are now 778 in Auckland. Nationwide that number is more than 920.
That’s prompted vaccinations being offered without charge at three locations in South Auckland today.
Community nurse Sita Moala said it was important to have the drop in centres. More places where people could get vaccinated was crucial, she said.
She was working at the drop in centre at the Free Church of Tonga in Mangere today and said they had been busy.
“Some people because they are busy with working, and going to the doctors can be hard sometimes can be hard because you have to wait in a long queue and have to pay for it, but they come over here and we vaccinate and it’s free,” Ms Moala said.
The majority of the measles cases – 762 – are in Auckland.
School Sport New Zealand said 79 tournaments involving 20,000 students are being held around the country next week. They are in regular contact with health officials and will notify people if there are any cancellations.
A Tongan multi-disciplinary artist in the US has won a New Zealand Pacific artists’ award.
Vaimoana Niumeitolu has been awarded the Tautai International Artist Residency for 2019.
Vaimoana
is a celebrated writer, actor, painter, community muralist, educator and
filmmaker.
Born in
Nuku’alofa, Tonga, raised in Hawai’i and Utah, Vaimoana now lives and works in
New York City. She graduated from New York University in painting and
performance, earned the Ellen Stoekel Fellowship in painting and drawing from
Yale University and attended Columbia University’s Graduate Program in Acting.
Vaimoana has
completed 24 community murals
in Australia, Kenya, Jordan, New Zealand, Palestine, South Africa and in the
United States: California, New York (Brooklyn and the Bronx) and Utah.
The Tautai International Artist Residency is
offered bi-annually to Pacific artists beyond New Zealand. Provided with
return airfares, accommodation and a stipend the ‘gift of time’ gives the
resident artist opportunities to meet and interact with the local Pacific arts community,
and to dedicate time to research and the creation of new work.
Tautai Director
Courtney Sina Meredith says she is thrilled to have Vaimoana in Aotearoa during
an exciting time of growth and expansion at Tautai.
Vaimoana
Niumeitolu will be a featured speaker at the next Tautai First Fridays event,
September 6th at Audio Foundation.
Vaimoana will be
available for media interviews during her stay, from September 2 to September
29 2019.
Thrilled and honoured were the emotions experienced by Tonga Police Detective Acting Superintendent Halatoa Tāufa as he received a regional prestigious police award.
Tāufa received the recognition for Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police (PICP) Chair Award 2019 for his leadership and commitment as the Head of the Police Drug Enforcement Taskforce, during the 48th PICP conference.
It was held in American Samoa from the 21 – 23 August 2019.
He is a member of Tonga police force for 19 years.
His father Mōleni Tāufa was a former prison guard
chief before he retired from the job.
Halatoa said the award has a significant contribution to the efforts police play on the region’s and Tonga’s “war on drugs.”
This is the second time that Tonga Police has been awarded
with the PICP Chair Award, with the first award presented to Acting Chief
Superintendent Tevita Vailea in 2016.
Since the launch of the Drug Enforcement Taskforce in April
2018, police have arrested 270 people to date with the youngest arrest a
13-year-old youth, seized 33.8 kilograms of methamphetamine as well as other
illicit drugs and 45 illegally imported firearms, Police Commissioner Stephen Caldwell
said.
The high rate of drugs arrest by the Drug Enforcement
Taskforce has had a significant impact on serious crimes in Tonga. A reduction
in homicide from 10 last year to 1 this year, robberies from 22 in 2018 to 1,
housebreaking from 396 to 153 and a decrease in road fatalities from 21 in 2018
to only 3 this year.
Preventing drug harm within the communities was the focus of the 2019 PICP Conference that was attended by the Commissioner Caldwell and accompanied by Superintendent Ashley Fua and Detective Acting Superintendent Tāufa.
Tonga Police was a key presenter, presenting its journey in
combating illicit drugs, the challenges, policy response and changing policing
approach in moving forward.
The PICP focus for this year’s conference is in line with
the Tonga Police strategy flowing from the Police Commissioner’s priority, to
strengthen its partnership with communities through education and awareness
campaign in the fight against illicit drugs.
“We understand the importance of working together as a
community to ensure the safety of everyone. One way to improve this community
partnership is allowing communities to
take ownership of existing security issues and working together to come up with
viable solutions.”
“During the conference it was noted that the Pacific region
has seen an increase in the shipment of both methamphetamine and cocaine. For
transit countries the risk of a local user market developing is very high with
some countries recording increase in use and harm. To address this problem the
Pacific Chiefs are committed to cross jurisdictional co-operation and working
together.”
Detective Halatoa said he was thrilled and honoured to receive the award. He said he has been picked among candidates from 21 countries in the Pacific region.
“Thanks for the support I have from the Ministry and the prayers the country has made,” he told Kaniva news.
The Supreme Court has ruled that ‘Etuate and Akosita Lavulavu must jointly stand trial on three counts of obtaining money by false pretenses and three counts of knowingly dealing with forged documents.
The charges arise from
an investigation of the finances of the ‘Unuaki ‘O Tonga Royal Institute, a
private education provider.
Akosita Lavulavu was
the director and ‘Etuate was the president.
An investigation in 2016 concluded that the Institute had been overpaid by hundreds of thousands of pa’anga.
‘Etuate Lavulavu, who
did not have legal representation, argued that he and his wife should have
separate trials.
The Attorney General
argued that the prosecution case was based on a joint enterprise by Mr and Mrs
Lavulavu who allegedly gave instructions or information to their staff to engage
in activities which allowed them to gain government subsidies.
They had applied money
allegedly derived from the false accounting to their private bank accounts
either individually or together.
Two material witnesses
who Akosita Lavulavu admitted were accomplices had been given indemnities to
give evidence of the allegedly dishonest instructions they received.
This resulted in a
significant amount of money being received by the institute and then being transferred
to the Lavulavu’s bank accounts.
The Attorney General
argued that there was an established judicial principle that it was destrable
that the same verdict and same treatment should be brought against those
concerned in the same offence.
Mr Justice Cato,
presiding, said he was satisfied that much of the evidence, particularly from
the Auditor General’s office and the indemnified accomplices, would apply to
both the Lavulavus.
The judge rejected
‘Etuate Lavulavu’s application for a seperate trial.
He also recommended
that Mr Lavulavyu should consider being represented by legal counsel.
“Long trials of this
kind can become complex and protracted and difficult for a lay person to
conduct properly.”
The main
points
The
Supreme Court has ruled that ‘Etuate and Akosita Lavulavu must jointly stand trial
on three counts of obtaining money by
false pretences and three counts of knowingly dealing with forged documents.
The
charges arise from an investigation of the finances of the ‘Unuaki ‘O Tonga
Royal Institute, a private education provider.
Auckland city libraries will host a
range of activities during Tongan language week, which begins next Monday,
September 2.
They include children’s story
telling, Tongan literature and traditional dancing.
All events are free.
Auckland is home to most of New
Zealand’s Tongan population.
Monday,
September 2
From 11-11.30am, Te Matariki Clendon
Library in Manukau will host Tongan story time in partnership with Sia Mo’ui –
Finlayson Park school’s Tongan unit.
On the same day Mangare Town Centre
Library will host a Wriggle and Rhyme session incorporating Tongan songs for
toddlers and pre-schoolers.
Tuesday,
September 3
Te Matariki Clendon Library in
Manukau will offer a session on making Tapa a with its Tutubugs children’s club
from 3.30-4.30pm.
Also on Tuesday, Mangare Town Centre
Library will hold a special after-school programme for students focusing on
Tongan language and crafts.
Wednesday,
September 4
Te Matariki Clendon Library will hold
a Tongan-themed treasure hunt at the Tutubugs children’s club from 3.30-4.30pm.
Thursday,
September 5
Mangare Town Centre Library’s special
guest Susana Vunipola will share some of her favourite Tongan children’s
stories. She will also teach about Tongan ceremonial dancing. This session will
run from 10.30-11am.
On the same day there will be a
demonstration of Tau’olunga, a traditional Tongan dance, at the Waitakere
library in Henderson from 3.30-5pm.
Next Thursday Mangere and Otahuhu
local libraries will host food demonstrations, traditional dance and fun family
activities from 4-8pm.
Te Matariki Clendon Library will show
how to make Otai at the Tutubugs children’s club from 3.30-4.30pm.
Friday,
September 6
There will be a special Tongan story
time at Manurewa Library from 10.30-11am, along with simple yoga and stretches
for children.
Glen Innes Library will hold a bilingual
story time with stories, songs and rhymes from 10-10.30am.
The main points
Auckland city
libraries will host a range of activities during Tongan language week, which
begins on Monday, September 2.
They include
children’s story telling, Tongan literature and traditional dancing.
Young Tongan tenor Manase Lātū begins studying at the Royal College of Music in London next month thanks to a major scholarship.
Lātū won the prestigious $20,000 Circle100 Scholarship.
The
initiative to support promising young New Zealand singers has been running
since 1996.
The
judging panel was led by Director of the Lindemann Young Artist Development
Programme at the New York Metropolitan Opera, Sophie Joyce.
Joyce told RNZ Concert said she was in tears listening to Lātū and praised what she called the ”intimate” quality of his singing.
She
said that because singing was now so competitive, those who were going to
succeed must have a hunger and drive and be prepared to sacrifice a great deal
for their career.
Lātū graduated from the University of Auckland, where he majored in classical vocal performance. He has been a member of vocal group Voices New Zealand Chamber Choir and is an alumnus of Auckland Chamber Choir and New Zealand Youth Choir.
Alongside his operatic involvement, Lātū has also been a member of The Shades, a group of four classically trained singers who perform operatic classics, Mariachi favourites, Pacific Island melodies and popular contemporary greats.
Her
has sung in a variety of locations, from the Islander Hotel in Raratonga to the
Christchurch law courts and the Royal Albert Hall in London.
Manase Lātū is from South Auckland and was educated at St Kentigern’s. He joined the high school choir in 2011.
In
2018 he was a Dame Malvina Major Emerging Artist with New Zealand Opera and won
the NZ Aria award.
“Representing
my family and my little country of Tonga makes me incredibly proud,” he said at
the time.
“Being
the first full Tongan to win this prestigious award is just an indescribable
feeling.”
“I
am passionate to bring awareness to my Pacific Island and Tongan heritage
through my music.”
Lātū described his father as a huge inspiration.
“Although
he is not classically inclined, he loves to sing.”
The
main points
Young Tongan tenor Manase Latu begins studying at the Royal College of Music in London next month thanks to a major scholarship.
Latu won the $20,000 Circle 100 Scholarships were awarded in Auckland.
King George V was disappointed when Lord Tu’ivakanō became Prime Minister in 2010, new research has claimed.
In her PhD thesis, Democratisation
in Asia – Pacific Monarchies , former New Zealand High Commissioner to
Tonga, Christine Bogle, said the king had hoped to see the first election under
the new system come up with a commoner as Prime Minister, presumably to give
additional legitimacy and democratic credentials to the reforms.
She described the Tu’ivakanō and successive Pōhiva governments as “lacklustre” and subject to unsuccessful attempts at a vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister.
In
August 2017, King Tupou VI dissolved parliament and called elections for
November 2017 on the basis of a number of concerns about the government
expressed by the Speaker.
Bogle
described the king’s actions as “constitutional, but hardly democratic.”
Australia and New Zealand
In
her thesis, Bogle highlighted the role of younger members of the royal family
in pushing for the democratic reforms that were finally brought to fruition in
2010.
However,
she also said Australia and New Zealand actively supported the slow move
towards democracy at the beginning of the century.
Australia
and New Zealand provided consistent support for political reform from the time
Tonga announced its decision in 2005 to launch the National Committee for
Political and Constitutional Reform.
While
open promotion of democratic reform was not welcomed by Tongan authorities in
the early part of the 21st century, years of exposure to Australia’s and New
Zealand’s democracies had its effect.
Those
countries encouraged human rights-focused NGOs within Tonga, as well as helping
pay judges’ salaries over a number of years.
During
this period Prince Tu’ipelehake emerged as a champion of political reform.
He
kept in regular contact with New Zealand, Australian and UK diplomats. The prince wrote formally to Australian
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer stating that Tonga needed both political and
economic reform together, as they would “complement each other.”
He
argued that “with the encouragement from the Australian government and the
governments in the Commonwealth, the Tongan government may be persuaded to
implement the necessary political reforms.”
Following
the public service strike in 2005, the Tongan government agreed to Prince Tu’ipelehake’s
proposal for a national consultative process on political reform.
Bogle
said this provided an opportunity for New Zealand and Australia to support Tonga’s
decision to democratise. Australia and New Zealand also helped fund the
subsequent Constitutional and Electoral Commission.
“Tonga’s
international environment has encouraged, rather than impeded, its transition
to democracy, although Tonga has always proudly insisted on doing things on its
own terms and following its own timetable,” she said.
The
main points
King George V was disappointed when Lord Tu’ivakanō became
Prime Minister in 2010, new research has claimed.
Former New Zealand High Commissioner to Tonga, Christine
Bogle, said the king had hoped to see the first election under the new system
come up with a commoner as Prime Minister, presumably to give additional
legitimacy and democratic credentials to the reforms.
For
more information
Former High Commissioner’s work highlights
role of royal family in helping transition to democracy
