STILL ON WATCH MODE : Former PM turned opposition leader, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi
By Staff Writer
Where are the overseas forensic auditors to go over the financial records of the previous administration?
This is what the former Prime Minister, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, insisted on yesterday in the first of his weekly Thursday press conferences for the New Year as leader of the opposition Human Rights Protection Party, HRPP.
“Half a million tala has already been budgeted to pay for their services and they’re still not here so where is the money,” he put to the local media.
Tuilaepa has long maintained that there are local auditors equally capable of doing the same work at a lesser cost.
“But they are overlooked simply out of Government insecurity and to us bringing in these overseas auditors is wasted money when we have more than 10 of our own forensic auditors in the country.”
His enquiry comes ahead of Parliament being called for their first session of 2023 in a few days time.
Tuilaepa is looking forward to an update of the whereabouts of the overseas auditors.
He is unable to attend while on suspension from the House since last year along with the opposition MP Lealailepule Rimoni Aiafi.
But he welcomes the investigations into the financial spendings of Government while under his leadership.
“This forensic auditing undertaking is a good opportunity for Government to prove if we stole any money, as repeatedly claimed by La’auli [Minister of Agriculture].
“We have nothing to hide, and it is worth noting also that they [PM Fiame and La’auli] also sat in as members of Cabinet in our Government and knew everything that went on.”
Tuilaepa does not want a repeat of the Government grant to the Samoa Victim Support that ended up with donations of farming tools to Cabinet Ministers electorate villages.
“The farming tools were initially donated by overseas donors to Government for use in the villages, but they were channeled through the Samoa Victim Support as if they were bought from the Government grant handout.”
Tuilaepa came under questioning this week by an overseas based Samoan media over claims of unaccounted 1.2 billion carbon credit during his time in office.
The former PM, however, blasted the claims as smear campaign similar to the pre-election fear campaign of China taking over Samoa for unpaid debt the overseas based Samoan media deliberately spread.
“To this day they have as yet to show any land China has taken and even the Minister of Environment Toeolesulusulu Cedric has confirmed none taken.”
Tuilaepa is not surprised by the wild claims made by overseas Samoan media without substantiating the facts of the report first.
His advice on a better understanding of the carbon credit issue is to learn more from the Ministry of Environment.