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Seven noble MPs vow not to return to Parliament unless motion is tabled, but independents return to House

By
Kalino Latu
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Seven members of the nobility did not return to Parliament this morning after they walked out of it yesterday.

The Speaker, Lord Fakafanua, one of the nine noble representatives in the House returned this morning and reported his other colleagues’ absence.

The other noble MP who was present at the House was Lord Ma’afu, the Minister of Lands and Survey and His Majesty’s Armed Forces.

The Speaker said the nobles would not return unless Parliament agreed to a request by Lord Nuku to include meetings with the public in a consultation process the government is conducting on six new Bills and amendments to the constitution.

Despite the absence of the seven noble MPs, the House conducted business as normal today.

Three independent MPs who joined the nobles’ walk-out yesterday returned to the House this morning.

The government is conducting the public consultation by using a talk back show on Radio Tonga One and Radio FM 87.5.

Lord Nuku insisted that the people wanted to meet and talk with the Prime Minister and the Minister of Justice about the Bills.

As Kaniva Tonga news reported yesterday, Lord Fakafanua told the House that Parliament had no right to make any decision on how the government should conduct the consultation process.

He said it was up to the government to choose what type of consultation process it wanted to use to consult with people on the Bills.

The Prime Minister echoed the same statement in the House.

As we reported earlier, the walk-out was staged yesterday afternoon after the Chair of the Whole House Committee, Veivosa Taka, refused to bring the work of the committee into Parliament so that Lord Nuku’s motion could be tabled.

The Prime Minister told the House the Acting Attorney General was talking to the public over the phone answering questions about the Bills.

Kefu said on the Radio three of the Bills were special amendments to allow other three new Bills to be processed.

These were the:

Tonga Police Amendment) Bill 2019-03-12

Magistrate’s Court (Amendment) Bill 2019-03-12

National Spatial Planning and Management (Amendment) Bill 2019.

Allegations about king’s powers

Kefu said on the radio there was allegation that the Bills were meant to remove the king’s powers, but that was not true.

He said that under Tongan law, if the government wanted to remove any powers of the king, the process must seek the king’s consent.

He said one of the new Bills was intended only to replace the panel which elected the Supreme Court judges, Magistrates, Attorney General and Director of Prosecutors.

The government wanted to move that authority from the Privy Council’s
 Judicial Appointments and Discipline Panel to the Law Commission.

The king maintained his power to appoint the Supreme Court Judges, Magistrates, Attorney General and the Public Prosecutor, Kefu said.

The new Bills are:

Constitution of Tonga Amendment Bill 2019.

Constitution of Tonga Amendment Bill 2019 No. 2.

Judicial and Legal Service Commission Bill 2019.

The main points

  • Eight members of the nobility did not return to Parliament this morning after they walked out of it yesterday.
  • The Speaker, Lord Fakafonua, one of the nine noble representatives in the House, was the only noble MP who returned this morning.
  • Despite the absence of the eight Noble MPs, the House conducted business as normal today.

For more information

Noble and Independent MPs walk out, but work of  Parliament continues as normal

Noble and Independent MPs walk out, but work of Parliament continues as normal

Funeral service for Adiloa Fifita Lātū to be held tomorrow

By
Kalino Latu
-

Former Finland Honorary Consul to Tonga ‘Atiloa Fifita Lātū will be remembered at a āpō  in Tongatapu this evening.

A farewell prayer service will be held tomorrow morning at 7am before she would be laid to rest at Telekava cemetery. .

Fifita Lātū aged 59 died suddenly last week on March 5.

Prayer services conducted by various groups of friends and kāinga had been ongoing at her residence since her death.

The former renowned business woman’s funeral will be held in her daughter’s home village of ‘Ananā.

It was expected to be attended by family, kāinga, friends and government representatives.

On March 6 Tonga Parliament observed a minute’s silence in memory and honour of Fifita Lātū.

The House was told Fifita Lātū was a member of the diplomatic corps and always attended the Legislative Assembly’s opening and closing sessions as part of her capacity as the consul of Finland in Tonga.

Tributes continued to flow in on social media following her death.

“RIP Adiloa. I will miss your beautiful welcoming smile every time I visit your shop. So humbling that you take the time out of your busy day to catch up. I’m glad I bought my gas stove n oven from you last year. Ko’eku tauhi ‘ofa ia kia koe. You’re home now!” a commentator wrote.

“Rest in Peace Adiloa Fifita Latu …really sad but your in a Good place now pray for us and muj love to you Rita Prema in this difficult times..Love and prayers,” another wrote.

“You are missed by many! Rest in love Adiloa Fifita Mad love to Rita Prema ❤ its not gonna be the same seeing you in the store or where we always bump in to each other !!! Toka ihe nonga moe fiemalie ae EIKI ?? till we meet again on the other side ? you was an beautiful loving Soul inside & out,” another Facebook user wrote.  

As Kaniva reported last week, Fifita Lātū owned two One-Stop-shops at One Way road in Nuku’alofa which sold clothing, shoes, fabric, giftware, homeware, hardware and jewellery for more than two decades.

Fifita Lātū was the first person to hold Finland’s honorary consul position in Tonga since 2014.

She is survived by her husband ‘Atonino Lātū and two children from a previous marriage.

She previously married to businessman Naran Prema.

Noble and Independent MPs walk out, but work of Parliament continues as normal

By
Kalino Latu
-

The nobles and three Independent MPs walked out of Parliament  this afternoon after the Chair of the Whole House Committee, Veivosa Taka, refused to bring the work of the committee into Parliament so that a motion by Lord Nuku could be tabled.

The walk-out failed to stop the work of the House as it still had a quorum and the session continued with 13 MPs including the Chair.

It is understood Lord Nuku insisted that the House should discuss how a public consultation on six new government Bills should be conducted.

However, Chairman Taka reiterated what Speaker Lord Fakafanua told the House on March 6, that the Parliament had no right to make any decision on how the government should conduct the consultation process.

“These laws belong to the government. The Minister of Justice said they would work on a public consultation process. That is not work to be done by the Parliament. And it is not part of the Law Committee’s guidelines,” Lord Fakafanua told the House in Tongan.

However, Lord Nuku warned Chairman Taka after the House returned from a break at 3pm that if he did not agree with his request, he and his noble colleagues would walk out.

The nine noble MPs were joined by Independent MPs Samiu Vaipulu of Vava’u 15, MP Tevita Lavemaau of ‘Eua 11 and MP Siaosi Sovaleni of Tongatapu 3.

As Kaniva news reported earlier today, a heated debate erupted in the House before the MPs left.

The government submitted six Bills to Parliament which were labelled urgent by Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pohiva. Hon. Pohiva withdrew the Bills last week, apparently so the public could be consultd on them.

The government conducted a radio talk back show this week as part of the public consultation process.

Lord Fusitu’a asked the Prime Minister in the House whether these Bills had anything to do with the power of the king and Hon. Pohiva agreed that they did.

The Prime Minister told Lord Fusitu’a the constitution allowed them to submit these Bills.

It is understood that the Acting Attorney General ‘Aminisiasi Kefu told a talk back show yesterday there was nothing in the Bills which suggest removing any powers of the king.

The Acting Attorney General was responding to questions from the public during the show about whether the new Bills and amendments to the constitution were meant to remove the kings’ power.

The main points

  • The nobles and three Independent MPs walk out of Parliament  this afternoon after the Chair of the Whole House Committee, Veivosa Taka, refused to bring the work of the committee into Parliament so that a motion by Lord Nuku could be tabled.
  • The walk-out failed to stop the work of the House as it still had a quorum and the session continued with 13 MPs including the Chair.

For more information

Noble and Independent MPs walk out of Parliament, reports say

Noble and Independent MPs walk out, but work of Parliament continues as normal

Tonga joins Australia’s Pacific Labour Scheme

By
Kaniva Staff
-

By Radio New Zealand

Australia has announced Tonga has officially joined its Pacific Labour Scheme.

The government said Tonga’s entry into the scheme will provide more Tongans access to skills development opportunities, while also helping fill labour shortages in rural and regional Australia.

Tonga has participated in the Seasonal Worker Programme for a number of years, providing almost half of the 31,000 workers since 2012.

Tonga will now join Kiribati, Nauru, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu in the revamped Pacific Labour Scheme.

Workers can undertake non-seasonal work in rural and regional Australia for up to three years.

The Pacific Labour Scheme started last July.

The government said the scheme is now uncapped and will be expanded to include more Pacific countries and Timor-Leste in the future.

Flight forced to turn around after mother forgets baby in Saudi Arabia

By
Kaniva Staff
-

A forgetful mother has caused a flight emergency in Saudi Arabia.

The mum was on board Saudia Flight SV832 from Jeddah to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia when she realised she was missing something – her baby.

The infant had been left at the boarding gate as the plane took off.

The pilot radioed back to air traffic control in Jeddah to tell them he was heading back.

Audio of the exchange has been posted on YouTube, reports Gulf News.

At one stage the pilot says: “We told you, a passenger left her baby in the terminal and refuses to continue the flight.”

“Ok, head back to the gate”, said the controller. “This is totally a new one for us!”

Japan calls up Mafi despite assault charges in New Zealand

By
Kaniva Staff
-

(AP) Amanaki Mafi, who is facing assault charges in New Zealand, has been called up to Japan’s extended Rugby World Cup training camp.

The Japan Rugby Football Union announced the selection on Monday, and said it would reconsider the 29-year-old backrower’s involvement depending on how the legal proceedings progress.

Mafi was charged with intent to injure former Melbourne Rebels teammate Lopeti Timani after a Super Rugby game against the Highlanders in Dunedin last July.

He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

He was fined by the Rebels for breaching team protocol and later moved from Australia to Japan, where he resumed playing for Shining Arcs in November after a brief suspension imposed by the Top League club.

Mafi, who was born in Tonga, made four appearances for Japan in the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England, including the upset victory over two-time champion South Africa. Japan is hosting the World Cup, which kicks off in September.

Supreme Court finds former public servant guilty “beyond reasonable doubt” of fraud

By
Philip Cass
-

The Supreme Court has convicted former public servant Viliami Latu of one charge of fraud.

On the first count, Latu was charged that on June 20, 2017, while employed as a Government servant at the Ministry of Finance and National Planning, he made false entries in the Main Cash Book with intent to defraud.

On the second count, he was charged that between September 2016 and June 2017, at Neiafu, he fraudulently converted to his own use $1200 entrusted to him by virtue of his employment  as a Government servant.

Lord Chief Justice Paulsen said Latu began working at the Vava’u branch of the Ministry of Finance and National Planning in 2015. The office handles the public revenue  and disbursements of Government Ministries operating at Vava’u.

Latu was the second in command in the office. He was the Senior Accounting Officer and had duties which included checking vouchers for payment of Government debts, maintaining leave and attendance records and maintaining and balancing the Main Cash Book which recorded the total of all revenue and expenses each month. 

“Latu was a senior Government servant who was familiar with the rules and procedures which applied to the receipt and expenditure  of Government  money and the maintenance of the office’s records relating to it,” the judge said.

“He understood that  he  was required  to maintain  accurate  records and of  the importance of doing  so.”

Another  employee  in  the  office,  Lesieli  Halafihi, has already been convicted of taking government money that was under her control. On occasions Latu asked Halafihi to give him money from her drawer. Miss. Halafihi gave him the money when he requested it and he spent it for his personal needs.

Lord Chief Justice Paulsen said Latu  was  a  poor  witness  and gave different explanations in his record of interview and his evidence of the reasons he made the entries as he did.

“However, he generally maintained that the entries were, to his mind at least, not false and had been completed correctly in accordance with his understanding of what was required,” the judge said.

“He also said that it was usual that the Main Cash Book was given to the Sub-Treasurer to confirm that it was correct after he had prepared it.

“Despite his senior position and  experience, in  the unusual circumstances  of  this case it has not been proven beyond reasonable doubt that Latu wilfully made false  entries intending  to defraud  any person  by them.”

Lord Chief Justice Paulsen found Latu not guilty on the first charge.

On the second charge, the judge said he was satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that as a Government servant Latu had fraudulently converted to his own use TP$1,200 of Government money.

He was therefore found guilty on the second charge.

The main points

  • The Supreme Court has convicted former public servant Viliami Latu of one charge of fraud.
  • On the first count, Latu was charged that on June 20, 2017, while employed as a Government servant he made false entries in the Main Cash Book with intent to defraud.
  • On the second count, he was charged that between September 2016 and June 2017, he fraudulently converted to his own use $1200 entrusted to him as a Government servant.

Parramatta stand down Peni Terepo over alleged drunken behaviour on flight from Tonga

By
Kalino Latu
-

Tongan rugby league player Peni Terepo has been stood down by the Paramatta Eels for allegedly abusing Air New Zealand staff in an alcohol-fuelled incident on a flight from Tonga to Auckland on Saturday night.

Police had been called to escort him off the plane.

The Parramatta Eels has released a statement today saying they have been made aware of an alcohol related incident involving Terepo from the weekend in New Zealand.

It said the Club has stood Terepo down immediately, including this week’s Round 1 game against Penrith.

The Club will now work with the relevant authorities in New Zealand, the NRL Integrity Unit and the RLPA to investigate the incident thoroughly.

This process will then guide our next steps.

The Club will make no further comment until the investigation is completed.

At the end of 2011, Terepo won the Eels NYC Player’s Player award.

The news came two years after the  Eels had stood down Terepo in 2017 after he pleaded guilty at Auckland District Court to careless driving and refusing to give a blood alcohol test.

Terepo was later fined $500 and $130 in court costs as well being disqualified from driving for seven months. He was almost sacked from the club for not reporting the incident but instead was fined $15,000 for the club.

Duped Auckland drug mule Alipate Moala gets new Hong Kong trial after Tongan translation flaws

By
Kaniva Staff
-

By: Jared Savage, NZ Herald, Investigative reporter, jared.savage@nzherald.co.nz@jaredsavageNZH

Former boxing champ and gospel singer to get new trial after lawyers show interpreter struggled to keep up with judge and was not even fluent in Tongan.

An Auckland man duped into smuggling drugs and facing nearly 24 years inside a Hong Kong prison had his conviction overturned because of problems with time pressure and Tongan translation at his trial.

Alipate Moala, 51, was in Hong Kong International Airport to catch a flight to Auckland in September 2015 when 1kg of methamphetamine was found hidden inside his luggage.

The former champion boxer and gospel singer says he thought he was carrying a chemical cleaning agent for which, on safe delivery to New Zealand, his church would receive a cash donation.

Tonga-born Moala had been recruited by email and the “cleaning agent” deception is a scam commonly used by West African crime syndicates to target vulnerable individuals.

Ten others arrested in Hong Kong in similar circumstances around the same time were acquitted at trial.

But Moala was convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to 23 years and 9 months in prison.

However, after a successful appeal by his lawyers Dr Gerard McCoy QC and Dr Nisha Mohamed, Moala will get a new trial.

His legal team argued the translation at the original trial was “fundamentally flawed”.

A rugby player without any previous experience in translation was the only person who could be found in Hong Kong to interpet at the trial.

The delay in finding a translator meant the trial, estimated to last 5 days, stretched to 13.

An impatient jury said the majority would not sit after a particular day. So the judge sat for longer hours and in delivering his summary of the case, spoke at up to 197 words per minute.

For Moala’s hearing in the Hong Kong Court of Appeal, a professor in linguistics submitted a report on the complexity of the judge’s summing up.

He observed professional interpreters for the United Nations can operate at 120 words per minute, but only for 12 minutes at a time.

The Tongan interpreter at trial, who had no experience, translated the judge’s summing up for more than 4 hours.

Sefita Hao’uli, a Tongan radio broadcaster, also gave expert evidence at the appeal.

His opinion was the trial interpreter spoke Tongan with no more than 50 per cent fluency and no more than 40 per cent accuracy in translation.

Under questioning from Dr McCoy, the interpreter conceded he did not know how to say in the Tongan language words such as “suspicion”, “DNA” and “inference”.

Dr McCoy also submitted the judge spoke slowly in his review of the prosecution case but at “galloping speed” in summarising the defence case.

This created a “subliminal impression” the defence case was not worth considering, said Dr McCoy.

The Hong Kong Court of Appeal quashed the conviction and sentence of Moala. He was remanded in custody ahead of the retrial, although a bail application will be made.

The grooming of naive individuals as unwitting drug mules is a hallmark of West African crime syndicates and others have been caught in New Zealand.

Shortly after Moala was arrested in Hong Kong, retired American couple Archie and Karenkay Ross were caught with 7.2kg of methamphetamine at Auckland International Airport in October 2015.

The couple believed they were carrying experimental malaria medication.

In sentencing them to 4 years 2 months in prison, Justice Christian Whata accepted they had been “groomed over several years to be exploited as drug mules” and were deeply remorseful.

In May 2015, Auckland man Trevor Miranda was found not guilty of importing methamphetamine after falling prey to a similar scam.

He refused to take a cleaning chemical back to New Zealand for fear of taking a dangerous substance on a plane.

Instead, Miranda was told the chemicals would be shipped to his Auckland home and has was given a laptop to “track” the progress of the parcel.

Turns out he was carrying 1.5kg of methamphetamine.

Miranda spoke with the Weekend Herald in 2015 to warn others but struggled to explain how he was taken in by the tall tales.

“I’ve never seen this man. I’ve never had a photograph of him. But he kind of brainwashed me,” Miranda said.

“They were preying on my naivety … they could manipulate me. I have lost a lot … it’s something that was a fantasy that they made me feel was to come to fruition. And it didn’t happen. It just didn’t happen.”

Tongasat a “shell company” and financially weak PM says as battle continues outside court

By
Kalino Latu
-

Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pōhiva has claimed Princess Pilolevu Tuita’s satellite company is inactive and financially weak.

Hon. Pōhiva was responding to a number of accusations raised against him in a petition recently submitted to the king.

The petition’s organisers, former cabinet ministers and MPs Sione Teisina Fuko and lawyer Williams Clive Edwards, have accused Hon. Pōhiva of unlawfully using government funds to pay his own legal costs and those of the Public Service Association in the court case against  Tongasat.

The case involved the illegal transfer of a TP$90 million Chinese grant to Tongasat.

The Prime Minister has denied the accusation and said the decision was made by the Acting Attorney General ‘Aminiasi Kefu after a number of considerations and communications among plaintiffs’ and defendants’ legal counsellors.

The Prime Minister claimed that after a decision by Lord Chief Justice Owen Paulsen on August 17, 2018 declaring that the transfer of the money was illegal, Paulsen also ruled that Tongasat and the government must pay the plaintiffs’ legal costs.

Hon. Pōhiva said in a statement to Kaniva news and other news media that the Acting Attorney General made his decision based on the fact that the illegality of the transfer of the money was caused by the government and not Tongasat even though Tongasat was directly involved with the deal. 

Hon. Pōhiva also claimed Tongasat was financially weak and could not pay the whole or part of the plaintiff’s legal costs.

“Today the company’s status is just a ‘shell company’,” the Prime Minister said.

The Prime Minister also said there was little hope that Tongasat’s appeal against the Supreme Court decision would succeed.

Tongasat

Tonga’s venture into satellite communications began in 1987 when the American satellite business operator, Matt C. Nilson, persuaded the late King Taufa’ahau Tupou IV to sponsor a satellite system over the Pacific.

The king agreed and gave right to the operation of Tonga’s satellite slots to his only daughter Princess Pilolevu.

The company, which was named Tongasat or Friendly Islands Satellite Communications Ltd, was 60 percent owned by Princess Pilolevu  and intended to control equatorial satellite slots and a single satellite.

Mr. Nilson was Tongsat’s managing director and had a 20 percent stake in the venture.

In the 1980s, when he was leader of the opposition, Hon. Pōhiva revealed the deal in his newspaper, Kele’a.

Hon. Pōhiva accused the king of breaching the constitution by giving Princess Pilolevu the rights to the business as he believed the space in which the satellites were slotted belonged to the government and the nation as a whole.

“Tongan officials concede that they can put up none of the money for the satellites they are proposing, and that Tongasat has only six employees. But the princess who is Tongasat’s chairperson seemed offended by accusations that the satellite positions are being hoarded to make a quick profit,” the New York Times  said.

”Countries in Asia and the Pacific region have a need for better communications,” the New York Times reported princess Pilolevu as saying.

”They make it sound as if we are only interested in financial gain.”

The Princess’s fortune

The Princess’s involvement with Tongasat attracted worldwide media coverage.

She was often referred to by New Zealand media as a Princess who was turned into a millionaire by the satellite company.

US-based Fortune magazine estimated the princess’s earnings from Tongasat at US$25 million (NZ$38 million).

Princess Pilolevu has always claimed her involvement in Tongasat was party of God’s plan for Tonga to lead the way in Christianising China. It was why Tonga switched its diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to Beijing and moved Tongasat to Hong Kong.

“I believe that God invented us to do this work otherwise we could have become just another foreigner knocking on doors in Beijing for years without having a chance to meet the leaders of China,” she said.

Significant risk

As Kaniva Tonga news reported earlier this month, Tongasat has appealed against a ruling that before any appeal against the judgement that the transfer of money was illegal, it must pay a security deposit to cover court costs.

In handing down the ruling, Lord Chief Justice Paulsen said it appeared an unnamed party was standing behind Tongasat and funding its appeal.

The judge said this was one of the factors he considered when ordering Tongasat to pay a TP$15,000 security deposit into the court before its latest appeal could be dealt with.

He said there was a significant risk that if costs were awarded against Tongasat they would not be paid.

Judge Paulsen said Tongasat’s financial condition appeared to be “parlous.”

The main points

  • Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pōhiva has claimed Princess Pilolevu Tuita’s satellite company is inactive and financially weak.
  • Hon. Pohiva was responding to a number of accusations raised against him in a petition recently submitted to the king.

For more information

“Unnamed party” funding Tongasat unlikely to pay costs if it loses appeal, Lord Chief Justice says; orders security deposit

“Unnamed party” funding Tongasat unlikely to pay costs if it loses appeal, Lord Chief Justice says; orders security deposit
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