Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 25, Number 10, 1 October 2008 — Culture and calls for reform mark Sāmoan election [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Culture and calls for reform mark Sāmoan election

By Liza Simon Public Affairs Specialist The 2008 governor's race in Anierican Sāmoa includes a challenge to incumbent Togiola Tulafono by a businessman, who is positioning himself as an Obama-like agent of change in the U.S. territory. Utu Abe Malae, former director of the Development Bank of American Sāmoa, who spent mueh of his childhood in Honolulu, is ealling for a crackdown on politieal patronage and nepotism in the Sāmoan government. "Accountability and transparency are doubly important in a small jurisdiction like ours, and yet we see often that relatives of (government administrators) receive contracts and jobs, not because of their merit - but because of family connections." Malae is focusing his criticism

on what he says is too mueh overlap between functions of U.S. government and the hereditary authority of matai - or village chiefs, an integral part of fa'a Sāmoa, the culture whieh many consider a prototype for all of Polynesia and whieh includes a system of eommunal land ownership still intact today. "The beauty of our culture is that land cannot be alienated, but our elected leaders must be able to explain why they make

the decisions they do - or we will be denying equal opportunity to people who should be advancing on the merits of their work," said Malae, who holds a prestigious chief's title. If elected, Malae said he will expand government oversight on land claims through the Office of Sāmoan Affairs and enforce eonstitutionally mandated "separation of church and state," as part of overall plan to grow private enter-

prise in the territory's economy, whieh is dominated by the goverment sector and the industry of major tuna canneries, currently exempt from paying workers the U.S. minimum wage. Malae's candidacy has been bolstered by a grassroots movement of citizens, upset by allegations of government corruption in Sāmoa and an FBI investigation of the administration preceding Gov. Tulafono. In a recent newspaper interview Tulafono expressed confidence that the "U.S. court system will bring any wrongdoers to justice and demonstrate that a few bad apples are the rare exception to the majority of hard-working government employees." Citing his administration's track record of increasing college tuition aid for Sāmoans, he said education is key in building an effective govermnent. He also pointed to

improvements of roads, seaport facilities and other infrastructure during his time in office as proof that Sāmoa's unique partnership with the federal government is benefitting the public. A third contender in the governor's race has tabbed citizen outmigration - notably to Hawai'i and New Zealand, as a government problem that he intends to fix. Afoa Moega Lutu said in a recent radio interview that the government work sector is top heavy with soon-to-be retirees who need incentive to move out of their jobs, so that younger Sāmoans, who have been received higher education and training elsewhere, ean return and serve their island home. According to 2006 data, 9,233 Sāmoans liveinHawai'i. Many still elaim residency in the American territory and remain passionately connected to the home island's affairs. Many are expected to vote by absentee ballot in the upcoming governor's eleehon on Nov. 4. E3

Three candidates compete in Sāmoan governor's race:

NŪ HOU - NEWS

Gov. Togiola Tulafono - Photo: Courtesyof wikipedia.org

Afoa Moeqa Lutu Photo: Courtesy ofcandidate headquarters

Utu Abe Malae Photo: Courtesy ofUĪU-m 08