FINANCE AND SPORTS : (l-r) New Minister of Finance Lautimuia Uelese Vaai and Sports Minister Laumatiamanu Ringo Purcell after being sworn in as the newest members of PM Fiame’s full Cabinet.
By Staff Writer
The two new Ministers sworn in today carry the rare distinction of making up the maximum 15 members allowed by the Constitution to make up the numbers.
The new Minister of Finance, Lautimuia Uelese Vaai and Sports Minister Laumatiamanu Ringo Purcell took their oaths at the Tatte Building this morning.
Both are newcomers to politics and earned their places in Cabinet after a surprise Ministerial re-shuffle last week by the Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mataafa.
Finance Minister Lautimuia takes into his Cabinet calling a long service experience with the Ministry of Finance followed by contractual appointments that included the Samoa Shipping Services he headed.
His Cabinet assignment was the surprise of the Cabinet re-shuffling when he replaced previous holder and only woman MP to become Minister of Finance, Mulipola Anarosa Molio’o.
Sports minister Laumatiamanu is virtually unknown in the political context but his many years of service as a police officer made him a well respected presence in law enforcement.
The Head of State, His Highness Tuimaleali’ifano Va’aleto’a Sualauvi II, presided at the swearing in attend by the PM and Cabinet, Opposition leader, diplomatic corps, family members and friends.