Savea Sano Malifa OM (also known as Fata Sano Malifa) is a Samoan poet, journalist, newspaper editor, and publisher. He is the founder and editor-in-chief of the Samoa Observer , the main newspaper in Samoa. [1] He is the author of the novel Alms for Oblivion. The Pacific Islands News Association awarded him the Pacific Freedom of Information award for defending the right of the Samoan people to freedom of information and expression. In 1998, he received the Commonwealth Press Union's Astor Award and Index on Censorship's Press Freedom Award.
Savea, an outspoken critic of former Prime Minister Tofilau Eti Alesana and his government, lost a civil claim over a story alleging the use of public funds to upgrade a hotel owned by Tofilau's children for a visit by Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex. The Samoa Observer was ordered to pay $WS 75,000 in court costs to Tofilau and $50,000 damages for defamation. [2]
During the 2004 World Press Freedom Day awards, along with veteran reporter Autagavaia Tipi Autagavaia, Malifa made appeals to the government to remove restrictions; they urged Prime Minister Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi and Deputy Prime Minister Misa Telefoni to remove the Printing and Publishing Act, to try to force news media to reveal their sources of information and remove the criminal libel laws, which Autagavaia had described as a relic of the past. [3]
In 2000, Malifa was named as one of the International Press Institute's 50 World Press Freedom Heroes of the past 50 years. [4]
Malifa was appointed to the Order of Merit of Samoa in the 2014 Samoa Honours and Awards. [5]
The Human Rights Protection Party is a Samoan political party. It was founded in 1979 and dominated Samoan party politics for decades thereafter, leading every government until their defeat in 2021. Former prime minister Tuilaʻepa Sailele Malielegaoi has led the party since 1998.
Tofilau Eti Alesana was a Samoan politician who served as the fifth prime minister of Samoa from 1982 to 1985, and again from 1988 until his resignation in 1998.
SusugaTuilaʻepa Lupesoliai Neioti Aiono Saʻilele Malielegaoi is a Samoan politician and economist who served as the sixth prime minister of Samoa from 1998 to 2021. Tuilaʻepa is Samoa's longest serving prime minister and was leader of the opposition from 2021 to 2022. Since 1998, he has led the Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP). Tuilaʻepa first entered parliament in 1981 when he won a by-election to represent the electorate of Lepā. He also served as deputy prime minister and minister of finance in the government of Prime Minister Tofilau Eti Alesana, and also held the portfolios of Tourism and Trade, Commerce & Industry.
Masiofo Laʻulu Fetauimalemau Mataʻafa, also known as Fetaui Mataʻafa, was a Samoan politician, chieftain and diplomat who served as a member of parliament for Lotofaga from 1975 to 1976, and again from 1979 to 1982. Mata'afa was later Samoa's first high commissioner to New Zealand. She was also the wife of Samoa's first Prime Minister, Fiame Mata'afa Faumuina Mulinu'u II. Their daughter, Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa, is a matai high chieftess and former Cabinet Minister, former Deputy Prime Minister and current Prime Minister of Samoa. The honorific title "Masiofo" is the queenly title for the wife of a paramount chief in Samoa.
Samoa is made up of eleven itūmālō. These are the traditional eleven districts that were established well before European arrival. Each district has its own constitutional foundation (faavae) based on the traditional order of title precedence found in each district's faalupega.
Matatumua Maimoana (1935–2012), also known as Matatumua Maimoaga Vermeulen, was a matai, politician, Nurse and Environmentalist of Samoa. Her chief title, Matatumua, was an orator's title from the village of Faleasiu. She was a former member of parliament in Samoa and the founder of the Samoa All People's Party (SAPP), becoming the first woman to lead a political party in the country. SAPP allowed people as young as 16, regardless of gender or whether they were matai to be officers in the organisation which included village branches. She was a founding member of the Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP), which has dominated Samoan politics in the last two decades.
The prime minister of the Independent State of Samoa is the head of government of Samoa. The prime minister is a member of the Legislative Assembly, and is appointed by the O le Ao o le Malo for a five-year term. Since independence in 1962, a total of seven individuals have served as prime minister. The incumbent was disputed due to the 2021 constitutional crisis, when Tuila'epa Sa'ilele Malielegaoi refused to accept the results of the 2021 general election. On 23 July 2021, the Samoan Court of Appeal ruled that the Faʻatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) party had been in government since 24 May. Tuila'epa then conceded defeat, resulting in FAST party leader Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa becoming prime minister.
Lalomalava is a village at the southeast end of Savai'i island in Samoa. The village is part of the electoral constituency Fa'asaleleaga I which is within the larger political district (Itumalo) of Fa'asaleleaga. The population is 307.
Albert Tuaopepe Wendt is a Samoan poet and writer who lives in New Zealand. He is one of the most influential writers in Oceania. His notable works include Sons for the Return Home, published in 1973, and Leaves of the Banyan Tree, published in 1979. As an academic he has taught at universities in Samoa, Fiji, Hawaii and New Zealand, and from 1988 to 2008 was the professor of New Zealand literature at the University of Auckland.
Samoan literature can be divided into oral and written literatures, in the Samoan language and in English or English translation, and is from the Samoa Islands of independent Samoa and American Samoa, and Samoan writers in diaspora. Samoan as a written language emerged after 1830 when Tahitian and English missionaries from the London Missionary Society, working with Samoan chiefly orators, developed a Latin script–based Samoan written language. Before this, there were logologo and tatau but no phonetic written form.
The Samoan Order of Merit is an order recognizing distinguished service in science, art, literature, or religion. Per the Honours and Awards Act 1999, admission into the organization is granted by the O le Ao o le Malo, presently Vaʻaletoʻa Sualauvi II, and is limited to 15 living individuals from Samoa, plus an unspecified number of foreigners. All members receive the ability to use the post-nominal letters OM and a medallion to wear, and in the Samoan order of precedence fall between Companions and Officers of the Order of Samoa.
The Samoa Observer is the largest newspaper group in Samoa published in both English and Samoan. The Samoa Observer is published Monday to Friday, the Weekend Observer on Saturdays and the Sunday Samoan on Sundays with all editions available online. Coverage includes local and international news, editorial opinion, sports and investigative journalism. The Samoa Observer was founded in 1978 by Editor in Chief, Savea Sano Malifa, a poet and leading Pacific journalist who was awarded the prestigious Commonwealth Astor Award for press freedom in 1998.
Autagavaia Tipi Autagavaia is a journalist, the Samoan representative of Radio Polynesia and reporter and correspondent for Radio New Zealand International. He was a reporter for Televise Samoa from 1993 to May 1995 and is also a former president of the Journalists Association of (Western) Samoa (JAWS).
Maposua Rudolf Keil was a Samoan businessman and owner of the Radio Polynesia 98FM radio station. In 1997 it was one of the only radio stations in Western Samoa that were independently owned. He is also the owner of the Majik Cinema in Apia, and in 2007 along with fellow promoters, the Hon Peter Paul, the Hon Sala Ulugia Suivai and the Hon Polataivao Fosi Schmidt, was one of 10 recipients of the Samoa International Pro-Am Boxing Honorary Awards. In 2003 he received a recommendation from Samoa's Ministry of health for his "Significant contribution by broadcasting the proceedings of the symposium free of charge".
Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa, has a population of approximately 188,000 people. Samoa gained independence from New Zealand in 1962 and has a Westminster model of Parliamentary democracy which incorporates aspects of traditional practices. In 2016, Samoa ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities CRPD and the three optional protocols to the CRC.
Mase Fetuao Toia Fiti Alama OM was a Samoan doctor and civil servant. She served as Clerk of the Legislative Assembly of Samoa, Registrar of Electors, and Chief Electoral Officer of Samoa.
Maiava Iulai Toma is a Samoan diplomat and civil servant. He served as Samoa's Ombudsman from 1994 — 2020.
The 2014 Samoa Honours and Awards were appointments made by the O le Ao o le Malo of Samoa, Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese Efi, to various Orders, decorations, and medals of Samoa under the Honours and Awards Act 1999. The investiture ceremony was held on 22 December 2014.
The deputy prime minister of the Independent State of Samoa is the deputy head of government of Samoa. The deputy prime minister is a member of the Legislative Assembly and cabinet, and is appointed by the O le Ao o le Malo on the advice of the prime minister. The incumbent, Tuala Iosefo Ponifasio of the Faʻatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) party, has served since 2021. His role was disputed from 24 May to 23 July due to the 2021 constitutional crisis, which was resolved when the Samoan Court of Appeal ruled that the FAST government was legitimate.
Tupua Friedrich Wilhelm Wetzell O.S. was a Samoan businessman and philanthropist.