Amenta Matthew (born 24 June 1952) is a Marshallese politician. She was a member of the Legislature of the Marshall Islands from 2007 to 2011 and from 2015 to 2019, representing the electorate of Utrik. She was Minister of Health under Presidents Litokwa Tomeing and Jurelang Zedkaia from 2008 to 2011 and Minister of Internal Affairs under Hilda Heine from 2016 to 2019. She was the second woman in the Marshall Islands to serve as a government minister. [1] [2] [3] [4]
Matthew was born in Majuro and was educated at Uliga Elementary School in Majuro and Mizba High School in Chuuk in the Federated States of Micronesia before graduating from Defiance College in Ohio in the United States in 1976. She was Secretary of the Marshall Islands Political Commission from 1977 to 1979, Assistant Clerk of Cabinet from 1979 to 1981 and Clerk of Cabinet from 1981 to 2002. She then worked for the Land Registration Administration Authority from 2002 until her election to parliament in 2007. [1] [5]
She was first elected to parliament at the 2007 election, defeating Hiroshi Yamamura. [6] In January 2008, she was promoted to Cabinet as Minister for Health by new President Litokwa Tomeing, becoming the Marshall Islands' first woman minister in twelve years. [3] [7] She had been considered a swing vote in the formation of the new government. [8] As Health Minister, in response to an outbreak of drug-resistant tuberculosis, she drafted legislation that would give the Director of Health the power to quarantine tuberculosis patients who did not comply with prevention requirements. [9] [10] In May 2010, she testified before the United States Congress about the impact of past United States nuclear testing on Utrik Atoll. [11] In September 2011, she called for a global response to non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and heart disease, stating that the amount having to be spent locally was unsustainable, although praising the impact of medical aid from Taiwan. [12] She lost her seat to Yamamura at the 2011 election; she had led on domestic votes, but was defeated after the counting of postal votes. [13] She challenged the result in the High Court of the Marshall Islands, claiming that postal ballots had not been properly certified, but was unsuccessful. [14]
After her 2011 defeat, Matthew was appointed to the Board of Regents of the College of the Marshall Islands. [15] She then won back her seat at the 2015 election, defeating Yamamura a second time. [2] In February 2016, she was appointed to the Cabinet of new President Hilda Heine as Minister for Internal Affairs. [16] In June 2017, she raised concern about the rate of illegal adoptions from the Marshall Islands to the United States through Hawaii, resulting in the U.S. Embassy flagging it as an issue of concern and the Honolulu Star-Advertiser publishing a front-page story about the issue. [17] [18] She was defeated at the 2019 Marshallese general election. [19]
The Marshall Islands, officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands, is an island country west of the International Date Line and north of the equator in the Micronesia region in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. The territory consists of 29 coral atolls and five islands, divided across two island chains: Ratak in the east and Ralik in the west. 97.87% of its territory is water, the largest proportion of water to land of any sovereign state. The country shares maritime boundaries with Wake Island to the north, Kiribati to the southeast, Nauru to the south, and the Federated States of Micronesia to the west. The capital and largest city is Majuro, home to approximately half of the country's population.
Kessai Hesa Note is a Marshallese politician who was President of the Marshall Islands from 2000 to 2008.
The government of the Marshall Islands operates under a mixed parliamentary-presidential system as set forth in its Constitution. Elections are held every four years in universal suffrage, with each of the 24 constituencies electing one or more representatives (senators) to the lower house of RMI's unicameral legislature, the Nitijela. The President, who is head of state as well as head of government, is elected by the 33 senators of the Nitijela. Four of the five Marshallese presidents who have been elected since the Constitution was adopted in 1979 have been traditional paramount chiefs.
Iroij Litokwa Tomeing was the President of the Marshall Islands from January 2008 until October 2009.
Ruben R. Zackhras was a Marshallese politician. He was acting President of the Marshall Islands from 21 October 2009 to 26 October 2009. He previously served as Minister of Finance from 1992 to 1998.
Iroijlaplap Jurelang Zedkaia was a Marshallese politician and Iroijlaplap. He served as the President of the Marshall Islands from 2009 to 2012. He was elected as the country's 5th head of state on October 26, 2009, following the ouster of his predecessor, Litokwa Tomeing, in the country's first successful vote of no confidence.
Leroij Atama Zedkaia was the Marshallese paramount chief, or Leroijlaplap, of Majuro. Leroij Zedkaia spearheaded the movement to break the Marshall Islands away from the rest of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands and form the independent Republic of the Marshall Islands. She was also the mother of Jurelang Zedkaia, who has served as the President of the Marshall Islands from 2009 to 2012. Leroij is a title by a female paramount chief, or Leroijlaplap, in the Marshall Islands.
General elections were held in the Marshall Islands on 21 November 2011. The general election is held every four years.
Christopher Jorebon Loeak is a Marshallese politician who was the President of the Marshall Islands from 2012 to 2016. He was elected by parliament as President in January 2012, following the 2011 general election.
David Kabua is a Marshallese politician who served as President of the Marshall Islands from 2020 to 2024. He has represented Wotho Atoll in the Legislature of the Marshall Islands since 2008 and served terms as Minister of Health and Internal Affairs.
Hilda Cathy Heine is a Marshallese educator and politician who has served as the president of the Marshall Islands since 2024, having previously served from 2016 to 2020. Prior to assuming office, she served as the Minister of Education. She was the first individual from the Marshall Islands to earn a doctorate degree, and the founder of the women's rights group Women United Together Marshall Islands (WUTMI).
Kenneth Kedi is a Marshallese politician. He was Speaker of the Legislature of the Marshall Islands between 2016 and 2024, having been re-elected in 2020. Kedi is a member of the Kien Eo Ad (KEA) party.
Mattlan Zackhras was a Marshallese politician and government minister. He was a member of the Nitijeļā for Namdrik Atoll since 2004 and was serving as Minister in Assistance to the President of Marshall Islands under President Hilda Heine from January 2016 until his death.
India–Marshall Islands relations are the bilateral relations between India and the Marshall Islands. The respective embassies of the two countries in Tokyo, Japan are concurrently accredited to each other. Marshall Islands maintains an Honorary Consulate in New Delhi.
Daisy Alik-Momotaro is a Marshallese politician. She was a member of the Legislature of the Marshall Islands from 2015 to 2019, representing the Jaluit constituency.
Evelyn Konou was a Marshallese politician. She was a member of the Legislature of the Marshall Islands from 1993 to 1997.
Northern Islands High School (NIHS) is a secondary school in Wotje, Marshall Islands. It is a part of the Marshall Islands Public School System.
Carmen Milne Bigler is a Marshallese educator, civil servant and former politician. She was the first and only woman to serve in the Congress of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.
General elections were held in the Marshall Islands on 20 November 2023, alongside a constitutional referendum.
David Paul is a Marshallese politician and senator serving in the Nitijela elected from Kwajalein. He served as Minister of Environment in the cabinet of President Hilda Heine. He was first appointed to cabinet position as Minister-in-Assistance to the President in 2017 when he replaced Mattlan Zackhras the occupant of the office who died suddenly. Paul was known to be a close ally of president Heine. He was appointed as Minister of Finance of the Marshall Islands in January 2024.