Sua Rimoni Ah Chong

Su'a Rimoni Ah Chong (born c. 1954) is a Samoan politician and former Controller and Chief Auditor of Samoa.[1] He was the leader of the Samoa Party.[2] As the Controller and Chief Auditor, Su'a Rimoni's efforts against government corruption in Samoa earned him international notability.

From 1992 to 1995 he refused to authorise illegal payments to Cabinet Ministers as Controller and Chief Auditor. In 1994 he tabled an Annual Report to Parliament that revealed wide-scale corruption in the Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP) government under Tofilau Eti Alesana. The report implicated six out of 13 ministers in improper activities and payments. The government's response was to set up a Commission of Inquiry to discredit the Report.

The Commission looked not into the irregularities, but into the Chief Auditor himself. Included among the committee's members were several individuals criticised in his report.

In July 1995 the government suspended Sua. He then sued the Attorney General and the Legislative Assembly, stating that they had acted unlawfully by referring his report to the Commission of Inquiry instead of the Public Accounts Committee, and in particular that the former had violated Article 99 of the Constitution.[1][3] As such in 1997 the HRPP amended the Constitution to make the Controller and Chief Auditor appointed for a term of three years, and to permit his removal upon motion of the government and a simple majority vote by Parliament.[4] Prior to this amendment the position of Controller and Chief Auditor was like that of the Chief Justice, an appointment with life tenure until the age of 60 with the threshold for removal being a two-thirds vote of parliament.[1][3]

The whole scandal brought Samoa into international scrutiny and questioned its commitment to good governance, as well as democracy and responsible government.

For his efforts, Su'a Rimoni was awarded the Transparency International's Integrity Awards in May 2003.[5] The annual integrity awards recognize the courage of individuals and organizations fighting corruption.

In September 2005 Ah Chong founded the Samoa Party on a platform of restoring the independence of watchdog institutions such as the Auditor-General.[6] During the 2006 Samoan general election, it did not secure any seats.[7] Following the election, Ah Chong was banished from his village for filing an election petition against winning candidate Mulitalo Siafausa Vui.[8] The ban was subsequently overturned by the Supreme Court of Samoa,[9] but this was ignored by the village council.[10] When his election petition was successful,[11] Ah Chong's house was burned down,[12] and the government brought criminal charges of bribery and treating against him.[13] He was subsequently convicted of bribery for giving a member of his extended family a new TV set.,[14] and returned his Transparency International Award.[15]

In 2011 he ran as a candidate for the Tautua Samoa Party.[16]

Su'a Rimoni is of Chinese-Samoan heritage.[17]

References
  1. Ah Chong v Legislative Assembly of Western Samoa, [1996] WSCA 2 (17 September 1996) ("The plaintiff in the Supreme Court proceedings from which this appeal arises was appointed in March 1992 (the date given in his statement of claim) as Controller and Chief Auditor in the service of Western Samoa. ... The plaintiff was about 38 years of age at the time of his appointment.").
  2. "Land Reform Bill not Samoan, says Samoa Party". Radio New Zealand. 30 April 2008. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  3. Ah Chong v Legislative Assembly of Western Samoa, [1996] WSSC 3 (23 January 1996).
  4. "Constitution Amendment Act (No 1) 1997". Samoa Sessional Legislation. Pacific Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 2017-12-17.
  5. "Former Samoan auditor wins TI Integrity Award". RNZ. 16 May 2003. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  6. "Former Samoan auditor general aims to lead new party into parliament". RNZ. 20 September 2005. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  7. "Samoa ruling party returned to office in weekend election". RNZ. 3 April 2006. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  8. "Leader of Samoa Party banished from his village". RNZ. 19 July 2006. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  9. "Samoa Supreme Court overturns village council ban". RNZ. 9 August 2006. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  10. "Samoan village matai reject court instruction to lift ban on politician". RNZ. 14 August 2006. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  11. "Samoa Supreme Court declare void two parliamentary seats". RNZ. 17 August 2006. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  12. "Family home of Samoa Party leader destroyed by fire". RNZ. 19 August 2006. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  13. "Bribery charges laid against Samoan election candidate". RNZ. 23 August 2006. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  14. "Samoa Party leader Su'a guilty of bribery". RNZ. 27 September 2006. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  15. "Leader of Samoa Party to return Transparency award". RNZ. 2 October 2006. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  16. "Tautua Samoa party announces election candidates". RNZ. 7 January 2011. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  17. Pacific Islands Monthly: PIM., published by Pacific Publications., 2000, pg 25
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