By Mataeliga Pio Sioa
As 2023 winds down to the last quarter of the year, pray that our quota of national scandals is topped up to the max. All available spaces are taken. Totally full.
No more surprises or shocks to threaten our personal security, Godly faith, trust, peace of mind and above all sanity.
The Lefagaoali’i throw back into our dark history of barbaric paganism remains fresh – has to be if it only happened a week ago.
The chilling image of a powerless human being, carted around like a tied up animal, is still there. Too graphic and horrifying to fade out in the space of only a few days.
The echoes of the ‘kao ile umu’ call for the hog tied, 73 year old victim, to be cooked alive on the smouldering stone oven, resonates hauntingly.
No more traumas please. Weak hearts need the break to recover or it is goodbye.
Is that possible? Are we being too hopeful?
The questioning thoughts popped up unexpectedly, after Deputy PM Tuala, announced a Cabinet decision to step up criminal investigations into the unsolved death of a young boy, in a road accident at Vaitele, about 2 years ago.
The hit-and-run tragedy has left prominent Vaitele MP, Lealailepule Rimoni Aiafi, under a relentless cloud of guilty allegations.
Cabinet decided in a special meeting during the week, to hire outside expert investigators to solve the criminal mystery.
MP Lealailepule has welcomed the investigation with open arms, hopeful it will finally clear his good name and restore his innocence.
For the past few days, his already tattered image was again dragged under the dirt, by a reported police witness who claimed he saw the MP ran over the deceased.
The claims were widely circulated on social media to keep the fingers firmly pointed at the outspoken opposition politician, who is a big, twisting thorn, on the side of the FAST party Government.
The unfortunate surprise, however, is the police upstanding reputation is now included in an expanded swing by the same accusing fingers.
Public curiosity is spiked at why the police have not made any arrests in all this time, on the strength of this eye witness account.
Following along that new added flow of suspicion, it is very likely the recent illegal border crossing by the American Samoa boat, Kite Runner, will be sparked back into full focus again, as well.
The issue is still dangling, seemingly without any announced attempt by Government to hold an official inquiry, despite high public interest.
If Cabinet is driven by a moral sense of justice and duty to fork out for the costly hire of outside investigators to solve the Vaitele road death, why not agree to a Commission of Inquiry into the Kite Runner too?
Surely it is not going to cost us an arm and a leg to pay the allowances for Commission members to meet!
Confirmation rather than accusing fingers have pointed to the involvement of several Cabinet ministers in the national security breach of our protected sovereign borders.
Do the honourable thing and check on it.
Government denials are loud and forceful at any claims that Samoa has been left politically unstable, like never before, in the aftermath of our 2021 general elections.
But nothing appears to escape the incorrigible powers of politics to corrupt and poison whatever is within its reach, wherever that maybe.
The sanctity of our judicial services have had their turn too, since the tumultuous uproar of our political troubles left our hard rock foundation of stability, with a bad case of the rattling jitters.
If we are to put all these unwelcome misconducts into the perspective of the bigger picture, what exactly is the image of Samoa we have been projecting to our ever watchful global neighbours?
We are hosts to a major international leadership conference next year, bringing together the heads of the Commonwealth nationhood of more than 50 member countries into Apia.
How will they see Samoa as a country where villagers are very likely, at the blink of an eye, to drag innocent people out of the comforts and security of their homes, trussed up like an animal, to ‘kao ile umu’ alive?
Will they question also the efficiency and honesty of a police force that failed to solve a 2 year old hit and run road death that an eye-witness alleged against a prominent political leader?
What will they think of a Government who will spare no expense to investigate a highly sensitive fatality, that directly implicates an outspoken politician that whip lashes them at their every step?
By the same token, why are they not as equally determined to hold an official inquiry into the Cabinet Ministers, who allegedly masterminded an illegal border crossing for their own benefits at the cost of our national security?
What should loom as a concern to us all, if this is the sad, lawless, politically manipulative image of Samoa seen by our fellow Commonwealth leaders, is what we can or should do about it?
Maybe we can put on a happy, united front and beam out shinning, sincere, friendly smiles, when our distinguished visitors land. Of course we can!
If we promise to do all that and hold our differences together until they leave, surely it will go a long way to having our boastful image restored, as a safe country, protected under the loving and lawful arms of God and Culture.
Why not?
Miracles do happen. Just keep the faith.
How else can our Manu Samoa win the World Rugby Cup?