Tingika Elikana | |
|---|---|
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
| Assumed office 8 February 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Mark Brown |
| Minister of Marine Resources | |
| Assumed office 8 February 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Robert Tapaitau |
| Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of the Cook Islands | |
| Assumed office 22 March 2021 | |
| Preceded by | Tai Tura |
| Member of the Cook Islands Parliament for Pukapuka–Nassau | |
| Assumed office 14 June 2018 | |
| Preceded by | Tekii Lazaro |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 5 November 1961 |
| Political party | Cook Islands Party |
Tingika Elikana (born 5 November 1961) [1] is a Cook Islands civil servant,politician and Cabinet Minister. He is a member of the Cook Islands Party.
Elikana was born on Pukapuka and educated at Pukapuka School and Tereora College. [1] He studied law at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand and then a Masters of Business Administration at the University of the South Pacific as well as public sector management at Massey University. [1] He worked as a police officer, [1] and then as a crown prosecutor, [2] Deputy Solicitor General, [3] and Solicitor General. [4] From 2011 to 2018 he was Secretary for Justice. [5]
He was elected to the Cook Islands Parliament at the 2018 Cook Islands general election. After his election,the government charted a special flight at a cost of $32,000 to collect him from the outer islands. [6] The flight was later the subject of a private prosecution launched against Prime Minister Henry Puna by former MP Norman George. [7] As an MP,Elikana chaired the select committee which decided that homosexuality should remain a criminal offence in the Cook Islands. [8] In February 2020 he was accused of orchestrating the sacking of six public servants who belonged to the opposition Democratic Party. [9] Following the election of Mark Brown as Prime Minister he was appointed Associate Minister of Justice,Finance and Economic Management,Foreign Affairs and Immigration. [10] On 22 March 2021 he was elected Deputy Speaker,replacing Tai Tura. [11]
He was re-elected at the 2022 Cook Islands general election. [12]
In February 2024 following the conviction of Cabinet Minister Robert Tapaitau for corruption he was appointed to Cabinet as Minister of Foreign Affairs,Immigration,and Marine Resources. [13] [14] His first action in the position was to travel to Suva to co-chair the Pacific Alliance Leaders Meeting Ministerial Interim Meeting. [15]