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Rugby great’s family repeats denials that convicted drug smuggler is related to Lomu

By
Kalino Latu
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Selaima Fakaosilea is co-accused of importing methamphetamine and participating in an organised criminal group. Photo/DENISE PIPER/STUFF

The family of Jonah Lomu have repeated denials that convicted drug smuggler Selaima Faka’osilea was the late Tongan rugby star’s niece.

Selaima Faka’osilea, 30, and a co-accused, Stevie Norua Cullen, 36, were tried in the High Court at Whangārei on charges of importing methamphetamine and participating in an organised criminal group.

On June 12, 2016, police in the Far North seized 449kg of methamphetamine from a campervan and 52kg buried in sand dunes on Ninety Mile Beach. The  haul was worth almost half a billion dollars.

The mainstream media has repeated the claim about Faka’osilea’s alleged relationship in stories this week about a prison guard who resigned after having a relationship with her.

According to the reports the prison guard formed a romantic relationship with the prisoner and smuggled items into the women’s prison in Wiri where she is serving a 12 and-a-half year sentence.

Cousins of Lomu and people who know Lomu and Faka’osilea’s families well from church and cultural communities have said the convict is not Lomu’s niece.

They accused the mainstream media of using Lomu as click bait to attract  readers by publishing negative stories about the Pacific Islands community.

They said this was done to gain popularity and ignore the Pacific Islands community’s achievements.

Stories published by Stuff and the New Zealand Herald as well as NewstalkZB have been criticised, with some people telling Kaniva News  they were blocked from the Herald’s Facebook page after they questioned its sources.

In 2019 Kaniva News quoted Jonah Lomu’s younger brother Sione as denying the media reports and confirming they had no blood connection with Faka’osilea. 

At the time Stuff described Fakaosilea as a first cousin of Lomu, although she referred to him as “uncle.”

It said the mother-of-one “comes from a proud sporting family and was a relative of late rugby star Lomu.”

Sione Lomu told Kakalu ‘O Tonga newspaper “that was a lie.”

“She is not my cousin and I do not know her,” Sione told the paper, which is printed in Tongan. 

Sione also denied to Kakalu that Jonah and Selaima’s mother, Sela Tutu’ila, were first cousins.

15-year-old boy arrested after ‘Eua hit-and-run kills pedestrian

By
Kaniva Staff
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A 15-year-old driver has been arrested after a 21-year-old man was killed in a hit-and-run in ‘Eua on Friday 11.

Tonga Police. Photo/Kalino Lātū

The victim from Angahā sustained severe head injuries and later died at the hospital around 9.14 pm that night, Police said.

Police arrested the unlicensed driver from Futu not long after the incident.

“He was driving in vehicle L15821 heading east on the main road and had swayed too far to the left side and hit the deceased from behind, who was on foot heading in the same direction, forcing him off the ground, and landed on his head”.

The driver failed to stop after the impact.

The doctor confirmed that the deceased died from the severe injuries to his head.

The driver had been remanded in custody while investigation continues.

This road fatality has pushed Tonga’s road death toll so far this year to 12.

Police said: “We are approaching the festive season and Tonga Police is urging the public to be more responsible for safety on our roads, not only for their safety but also for the safety of other road users. It should always start from home, where parents and adults should never allow unlicensed and/or intoxicated persons to get behind the wheel. Road safety is everyone’s responsibility”.

Woman who allowed vulnerable husband to die fails to overturn conviction

By
Kaniva Staff
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By RNZ.co.nz

A woman who allowed her vulnerable husband to die has failed to overturn her conviction in the Court of Appeals.

Last year, Malia Li was sentenced to five years in prison after her husband, Lanitola Epenisa, developed sepsis and died in a filthy room that contained maggots, mice and urine.

Malia ‘Unalotokipea Li. Photo/Facebook

Li was charged with manslaughter for failing to provide Epenisa with the necessities of life, a major departure from the standard of care expected of a reasonable person with her responsibilities.

Witnesses who had visited Epenisa described a “really disgusting smell,” like a “dead animal”. He had suffered multiple strokes in the years before his death in 2016, had serious diabetes, high blood pressure and kidney failure.

The couple had refused assistance from support workers, with Epenisa requesting that his carer not be a stranger. Li accepted responsibility for his care.

Visitors remembered Epenisa looking skinny and smelling of urine, always sat in a La-Z-Boy chair that he rarely left. On multiple occasions, Epenisa’s family had found him home alone, was not fed and looking malnourished.

He had been visited by an aunt and cousin the day before he died, who told the courtroom that the carpet around his chair was soaked. Epenisa’s aunt offered to bathe him, but Li had refused – asking her to come back the next day.

Epenisa passed away in the early hours of the next morning, after his severe bedsores became rapidly infected.

A police investigation found a black plastic bag that contained maggot-infested clothing, and when they moved his La-Z-Boy chair a mouse ran out into the room.

The jury concluded that Li had become aware of the bedsores with enough time to prevent infection, but chose not to do so. Li had also filed an appeal against her sentence, but it was abandoned.

Tongatapu teenage boy arrested on suspicions of grievous bodily harm

By
Kaniva Staff
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Photo/Kaniva Tonga News

A 19-year-old young man has been arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm with intent after a man was hospitalised with head injuries on Sunday. 

He has been charged with grievous bodily harm.

The 26-year-old victim from Matahau remains at Vaiola Hospital in a very critical condition, Police said.

Police believed “that irresponsible intake of alcohol was involved and meanwhile, the investigation continues”.

The suspect, also from Matahau was arrested on Monday, November 14.

Covid-19: ‘This is very much our third Omicron wave’ – epidemiologist

By
Kaniva Staff
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A leading epidemiologist says the long-term effects of catching Covid-19 could be the most significant consequence of the pandemic.

Daily Covid-19 cases topped 4000 for the first time in three months yesterday, and it remains unclear when this third wave will peak.

No caption

Michael Baker. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone

University of Otago epidemiologist professor Michael Baker told First Up it was hard to tell when this wave of Covid-19 would peak.

“This is very much our third Omicron wave. Fortunately, it’s not as intense as the first two but it’s certainly happening.”

Long term effects of Covid-19 were the biggest worry at the moment, he said.

“They’re grouped into Long Covid but there are obviously a whole lot of things that go on and I think the neurological effects can be very severe and quite disabling.”

Every time you are reinfected, you run the risk of Long Covid, he said.

“So I think we still want to minimise the amount of times people get this virus.”

There were three ways people could protect themselves, Baker said: stay up to date with vaccinations, take precautions at social events and isolate and test if you have symptoms.

People were currently missing out on vaccines that they were entitled to, he said.

“We know that over 50 percent of people who are eligible for their fourth dose haven’t had it yet.”

The government said it has no plans yet to launch an annual Covid-19 vaccination booster for the majority of people.

But Baker said he was sure it would look at an additional booster in 2023 before winter, when waning immunity became a “real problem”.

“The big thing is, whatever booster we have next year will probably be called this bivalent vaccine, so it’s going to cover the original strain and Omicron as well.”

“It’s not so surprising to see those [Covid-19] numbers go up at the moment,” Covid-19 modeller Dion O’Neale told Morning Report.

Since restrictions were reduced, a number of new variants which could evade immunity had arrived on NZ shores, O’Neale said.

Currently, about two-thirds of cases would be missed in reporting, he said.

That’s because some cases were asymptomatic and would not be testing, he said.

“Around 30 to 40 percent of infections are asymptomatic.”

Masking, particularly indoors, and good ventilation were important, he said.

“Everything that worked well for us in the past still works well for us, even with those new variants.”

Tonga Ministry of Lands CEO resigns in wake of dispute with staff

By
Kaniva Staff
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Rosamond Bing has allegedly resigned as chief executive of the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources in the wake of complaints against her to the Public Service Commission (PSC).

Rosamond C. Bing. Photo/Melemanu Bloomfield (Facebook)

Her resignation was expected to take effect this Friday 18, a reliable source told Kaniva News.

The source claimed Bing was handed a formal warning by the PSC.  

It said the PSC, however, decided to take no further action on the complaints due to lack of evidence.

The source also claimed Bing declared her resignation after further arguments with senior officers in the Ministry.

Kaniva News contacted Bing for comment.

The source said the Minister has vowed to reform the Ministry after several claims had been made against it including the dramatic jump in the number of land court cases in the last 10 years.

It has been claimed that there were 173 land court cases which involved the Ministry during this period compared to 19 cases only in the previous same period.

The Ministry lost millions in land lawsuit costs and there appears to be a breach of its annual reporting procedure.

Documents seen by Kaniva showed there were concerns after the Ministry allegedly paid $300,000 to rent an office but the Ministry was later blocked from occupying it after a warning letter from a lawyer.  

Police reinvestigate Vava‘u fatal house fire

By
Kaniva Staff
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Detectives in Tonga have launched a new investigation after a house fire in Vava’u’s Neiafu town claimed a woman’s life.

Deputy Police Commissioner Tevita Vailea said Police from Tongatapu were expected to arrive in Vava’u this week to conduct another investigation after concerns raised with them by the family of the victim, Tu’imala Uinisē Moala.

Deputy Commissioner Tevita Vailea

The Tongan Police previously said an inquest determined that the 46-year-old woman died from smoke inhalation and severe burning in a house fire at Neiafu.

Her body was laid to rest Wednesday last week, a day after her death.

Police said Moala and her husband were in the third floor of the three-storey building before the husband escaped the inferno by jumping from the rooftop.

In a statement Police said: “At around midnight on Monday, 7 November, they went to bed on the third floor of the house only to be awakened by a loud cracking sound from downstairs. When they opened their bedroom door, the flames had already engulfed the building, leaving them no way out but to tear down another door and climb to the rooftop. From the rooftop, they tried and jumped to the deck on the second floor.”

“In trying to escape the extreme flames, the husband held his wife’s hand so that they could jump down to the ground, but she let go of his hand because she was too terrified to jump. When the husband reached the ground, he called out for help and a male neighbour rushed over with a ladder but unfortunately, it was too short to reach the second floor. Both the husband and the male neighbour urged her to jump, and they would catch her, but she refused as she was confused, panicked, and terrified, and in the end, the fire caught up with her.”

Moala’s family said that livestreamed videos taken at the scene and shared to Facebook on the day of Moala’s death held some key information about what they thought would explain more about the cause of her death.

A young brother of Moala reportedly said on Facebook they were conducting their own independent investigation and have contacted New Zealand police.

As Kaniva News reported last week, Moala was born in New Zealand.

“The enquiry is now in the hands of a trusted NZ Senior Detective, who understands the complexities of Tonga’s systems and able to escalate the matter with the proper NZ Authorities in Tonga”, according to a media release posted to Facebook last week by the family.

It said the family have launched their own enquiries with the Tonga Police to acquire the information that prompted their official report and conclusions.

“We are continuing to follow this up and we won’t stop until we get to the bottom of this.

“Thank you to everyone that has shared information with us thus far, you are all greatly appreciated. Malo aupito!

“Our Sister deserves a thorough investigation and we are demanding nothing less than the whole Truth”.

Tonga Health denies claims doctors go on strike; Treasury addresses overtime pay concerns

By
Kaniva Staff
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The Ministry of Health has denied rumours circulated on social media that doctors in Tonga went on strike over their delayed overtime payments.

The Minister of Health and the Health Chief Executive have dismissed any walk out to Kaniva News saying the doctors had been disappointed after they did not receive their overtime payments as expected.

Dr Siale ‘Akau’ola

They said the delays had been due to the Public Service Commission (PSC) and the Treasury wanting to address an issue regarding the Ministry’s overtime pay policy.

They said the PSC and Treasury had resolved the issue and the doctors are expected to receive their overtime payments for August and September this week.

The chief executive Dr Siale ‘Akau’ola has described the issue as a misunderstanding arising during interpretations of two clauses of the policy.

The policy was created in response to requirements by Development Partners who are providing the budget support to supplement the Ministry’s salaries.

Dr ‘Akau’ola said a clause in the policy states that doctors only have a limited overtime working hours of four a day.

“It was designed to make sure the budget is being spent wisely”, Dr ‘Akau’ola said in Tongan.

However, another clause of the policy says an exception was made in times of emergency. This meant, doctors could still be paid an overtime payment rate if they worked more than four hours.

Dr ‘Akau’ola said the interpretation of the two clauses by the authorities involved had delayed paying out of the doctors’ payments.

He said the issue had been resolved and the policy was upgraded so that this it could not affect the doctors in the future.

He said the doctors had been working long hours during the Covid 19 pandemic to meet the demand for medical helps.

Dr ‘Akau’ola said his doctors did not go on strike and the situation had been due largely to the consequences of the coronavirus cases.

Daily Covid-19 cases top 4000 for first time since August

By
Kaniva Staff
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By RNZ.co.nz

There were 4282 daily Covid-19 cases reported today, breaking a plateau that has lasted about three weeks.

Collage of Covid test and person wearing a mask.

The number was 9.4 percent higher than the previous Tuesday, usually the highest day of the week because it captured some slow weekend reporting.

The last time cases were in the 4000s was 17 August, as the country came down from the major winter wave.

Cases began to increase again in mid-October, before hitting the plateau.

The Ministry of Health said it expected the current infection wave to keep rising but could not accurately predict when that would happen and how big it would be.

Experts have said that was because it was unclear how the several new variants would play out, and what the impact of immunity from previous infections will be.

It said BQ 1.1 was increasing faster than the previous dominant variant BA.5 and the new arrival XBB is showing some evidence of being able to evade people’s immunity but more evidence was needed.

Wastewater testing suggests about three quarters of all cases are being reported.

COMMENTARY: Prime Minister Pōhiva warned about use of circulars, said they muzzled Opposition MPs

By
Kalino Latu
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EDITOR’S NOTE: This commentary was edited to reflect the fact that the response from the Deputy Clerk was meant to say that the Parliament using the circular was a normal means of communication.

COMMENTARY: It is time for the practice of using circulars to make decisions in Parliament was reviewed.

Circulars should only be used on agendas that are urgent.

They should not be used on important issues such as pay rises for Parliamentarians.

Such issues should be properly debated in the House so that they can be recorded in the minutes for the public to read and also broadcast for people to listen.

As Kaniva News reported yesterday, the government’s use of a circular to canvas MPs’ views on a pay rise has been called into question.

However, the Legislative Assembly’s Deputy Clerk, Dr Sione Vikilani, said the circular was a normal means of communication approved by the House and any information sent through it was legal.

In Tongan he said: “Ko e tohi ‘avetakai ko e founga ngāue pe ‘oku ‘ataa ke ngaue’aki pea ‘oku ‘ikai ke ta’efakalao ha tu’utu’uni ‘i hono fakahoko ‘i he founga koia”.

Dr Vikilani did not respond to a question asking why a circular was used to ballot the pay hike and not a face-to-face voting in the House.

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In 2018 Tonga’s former Prime Minister, the late ‘Akilisi Pōhiva, warned that using circulars in Parliament was open to abuse.

Speaking to Kaniva News, Pōhiva said the use of circulars was normal but did not allow for discussion.

MPs, especially the Opposition, could not debate whatever agenda was being circulated.

He said that traditionally Speakers and the Noble’s representatives, who were mostly the majority  in the House, used it to ballot issues they wanted to be decided in their favour.

The late Prime Minister’s comments were made during an interview in 2018 about the decision to approve an invitation from the Tonga Rugby League for a Parliament delegation to attend a match.

The decision was adopted through a circular, by collective resolution of Parliament.

Prime Minister Pōhiva’s concerns are just as relevant today as they were four years ago.

Debates and voting in the House must be open so that all citizens can see how their MPs voted and debate can be held in public.

This was illustrated in our story yesterday when Dr Vikilani would not say how MPs voted on the circular. 

A Parliament with secrets is not truly democratic.

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