Samoa Prime Minister

Over 40 per-cent of Samoan women experience violence

Fiame Naomi Mata’afa said Samoa has zero tolerance on violence against women and girls and that such practices are against our culture.

In a statement made virtually at the Pacific Prevention Summit in Fiji, Fiame said the current global statistic is 1 in 3 but the Pacific is 2 in 3, which makes the Pacific one of the regions with the highest levels of violence against women and girls in the world.

“It is important that both service provision and prevention efforts are maintained as they are considered imperatives to end violence against women and girls.”

Samoa Agreement must be a priority for OACPS: PM Mata’afa

The pact was initialed in April 2021 but remains unratified, 20 months after negotiations concluded between the European Union and African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) States.

PACNEWS reports the special relation that the Organisation of the African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) share with the European Union, governed by Cotonou Partnership Agreement to be soon replaced with the new SAMOA Agreement.

FAST party lawyer dismisses claims Fiame Naomi Mata'afa was sworn in as PM illegally

When asked by Pacific Beat what she made of the claims by Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, who's been Samoa's Prime Minister for more than 20 years, she responded with “bah humbug”.

“We've spent the last five weeks in court challenging all the grubby things that [the HRPP party which has dominated Samoan politics for four decades] have been doing. Misusing the law, and all the officials,” Taulapapa said.

“And the most disgraceful behaviour [on Monday was] locking us out of our house, the people's house.”

Concerns Australian-Samoan man may not get a fair trial in alleged PM assassination plot

Samoan-Australian Talalelei Pauga is wanted by Samoan authorities over an alleged plot to assassinate the country's long-serving Prime Minister.

Pauga was arrested in Brisbane in August after the Samoan Government asked the Federal Attorney-General to extradite him to face a charge of conspiracy to murder.

Amnesty International's Pacific researcher Kate Scheutze said it is a worrying situation.

Samoa PM calls out unethical professionals

The call from the Prime Minister Tuilaepa Dr. Sailele Malielegaoi was issued initially last Friday to the Samoa Law Society during his remarks to commemorate the first ten years since the Samoa Law Reform Commission was established.

But this week in his weekly television Current Affairs Program, Taimi ma le Palemia, hosted by TV Samoa Tuilaepa reiterated that call but extended his public challenge to other professions noting that it is a moral question and a test for the professionals to practice their respective code of ethics to the letter.

Samoa’s PM responds to public criticisms after interview with 60 Minutes

The Prime Minister was questioned about security and prison services in Samoa in light of the case where an Australian tourist was raped by a prison escapee last year.

Social media has been flooded with comments of the PM being unprofessional in his responses.

PM Tuilaepa says he agreed to the interview with 60 minutes as part of his duties, as a leader.

“A leader who does not face problems head on, is no leader at all. It’s easy to just ignore and not say anything, but you can’t just take the good and ignore the bad,” he said in a media conference.

Samoa PM cautions ACP Leaders on the future of the group

Speaking on behalf of the Pacific at the opening of the ACP Leaders Summit Tuesday, Tuilaepa said, “This is a defining Summit for the ACP Group and its international partners and they need to make informed and far-reaching decisions.”