The news that Faatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi Party members are again overseas in the United States etc., raising funds for themselves from our diaspora is further proof that the party has lost its way.
The pursuit of money has overtaken the call to duty and service to the people of Samoa.
The FAST Party was appointed by the Courts to lead the country in 2021 in a tumultuous decision that rocked Samoa to its very core.
In a moment that could have torn our nation apart, the leadership of the Human Rights Protection Party decided that it would be best to hand the beloved child over to the mother who claimed it was hers to keep, and not cut in half and divide.
Sadly, the last four years has shown that the FAST Party had no plan for the development of our nation.
They have never switched from campaign to governing mode.
Its members are more preoccupied with making money for both political and personal gain.
The FAST Party has become a money making and spending machine.
The various infrastructure projects that they have launched were either carried over, or quickly put together for show such as the overpriced “Regional Airport,” which is now a national embarrassment.
Located next to our international airport and flooded with the rising of the Palolo.
The scale of the FAST Party money making is huge but simple.
On one hand, they fly overseas to convince the diaspora to part with their hard-earned money.
At the same time, they hand out a Million Tālā to each district for struggling families to use that money to buy inflated goods and services.
The FAST Party then sits in the middle and collects from both sides.
None of these Millions of Tālā make their way back to long term investments in Samoa’s development.
The pressure on the diaspora is taking its toll as those families have their own financial commitments to meet.
Our local families are also struggling to deal with the high cost of living, worsening electricity services, poor hospital facilities, increasing crime, and under-resourced police who are fighting hard against the methamphetamine epidemic.
All while, the FAST Party are flying first class all over the world raising money and refusing to be accountable to their people.
The Bible tells us that we cannot serve both God and Money.
Through their actions, it is becoming clearer which master is the priority for the FAST Party.
Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi
Leader of HRPP
