Peseta Vaifou Tevaga

Peseta Vaifou Tevaga (also known as Peseta Vaifou Tevagaena) is a Samoan politician and Member of the Legislative Assembly of Samoa. He is a member of the Human Rights Protection Party.

Peseta Vaifou Tevaga
Member of the Samoa Parliament
for Faasaleleaga No. 5
Assumed office
4 March 2011
Preceded byVui Tupe Ioane
Personal details
Political partyHuman Rights Protection Party

Tevaga is a former policeman[1] and runs a construction business.[2] He was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Samoa at the 2011 Samoan general election and appointed Associate Minister of Finance. In late 2011 he allegedly hit a disabled man while driving a government vehicle. He was subsequently charged with negligent driving causing injury,[3] but this was subsequently upgraded to dangerous driving causing death after the victim died.[4] The charge was dropped in August 2013 after key witnesses were unable to attend the hearing.[5][6] In the interim he was sacked as Associate Finance Minister over concerns around conflicts of interest when tendering for government projects.[7] In August 2014 he was arrested and charged with drunk-driving after an accident involving a government vehicle.[1] In May 2015 he was convicted of dangerous driving over the incident and fined $100.[8]

Tevaga was re-elected in the 2016 election[9] and appointed Associate Minister for Prime Minister & Cabinet.[10] In October 2015, shortly before the election, he began a long-running legal dispute with fellow MP Laauli Leuatea Polataivao over a business they were partners in.[11] An investigation of his complaints by police resulted in Tevaga being charged with forgery and falsifying documents[12] over a share-transfer form.[13] The charges were dismissed in October 2016.[14] In 2017 he commenced legal proceedings against Polataivao, accusing him of dishonesty in managing the company.[15][16] The civil claim was dismissed in November 2017.[17] Polataivao subsequently resigned from Cabinet after being charged with more than a hundred counts of forgery and theft;[18] he was acquitted of all charges in June 2020.[19]

In 2018 a company part-owned by Tevaga was awarded a $1.3 million contract to build an airport on Upolu.[20][21] He denied any conflict of interest.[22]

Tevaga was re-elected in the 2021 election.[23]

References
  1. "Samoa Minister charged with drunk driving". RNZ. 13 August 2014. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  2. "Samoa MP denies in parliament involvement in public tender". RNZ. 19 June 2013. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  3. "Samoa associate minister to stand trial on negligent driving charge". RNZ. 3 February 2012. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  4. "Samoa associate minister to face serious traffic offence charge". RNZ. 14 March 2012. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  5. "Samoan Minister Cleared Of Charge In Fatal Car Accident". Pacific Islands Report. 29 August 2013. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  6. "Samoa MP walks free from road death case". RNZ. 27 August 2013. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  7. "Two associate finance ministers in Samoa dumped". RNZ. 21 May 2013. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  8. "Samoa MP guilty of dangerous driving". RNZ. 11 May 2015. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  9. Pai Mulitalo Ale (7 March 2016). "Peseta returns to serve his constituency". Samoa Observer. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  10. "Samoa's former deputy PM left out". RNZ. 25 March 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  11. "Samoa minister goes against speaker in a civil court fight". RNZ. 27 October 2015. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  12. "Samoa Associate Minister charged with forgery". RNZ. 27 November 2015. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  13. "Samoan minister testifes against cabinet colleague". RNZ. 28 September 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  14. "Samoa associate minister not guilty of fraud and forgery". RNZ. 28 October 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  15. "Samoa Associate Minister Sues Minister For $1.2 Million Over Business Dispute". Pacific Islands Report. 6 June 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  16. "Samoa politician takes legal action over nonu juice business". RNZ. 19 January 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  17. "Court rules in nonu Peseta's civil claim". Samoa Observer. 30 November 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  18. "Former Samoa govt minister and four others face 233 charges". RNZ. 11 October 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  19. "Samoan MP found not guilty but media man guilty of forgery". RNZ. 27 June 2020. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  20. "Samoan minister involved with tender-winning company". RNZ. 25 September 2018. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  21. Joyetter Feagaimaali’i-Luamanu (25 September 2018). "Peseta a major shareholder in company that won Airport contract". Samoa Observer. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  22. "Samoa MP denies conflict of interest over tender process". RNZ. 4 October 2018. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  23. "FAST Ushers In More New MPs Than HRPP". Newsline Samoa. 11 April 2021. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
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