Cabinet has reappointed, Faimalomatumua Mathew Lemisio, as Samoa's Electoral Commissioner.

The decision was made last month after interviews, following a recruitment process that started in August when the position was publicly advertised.

Faimalomatumua, in response to questions by Samoa Observer, said it was an honour to be reappointed to the position. 

“The way I see it, I’m only a custodian of this post, it is an absolute honour to be serving this country through this post,” he said.

“While I’m given the opportunity, I have to make sure that I serve it with the best of my abilities.”

Faimalomatumua has been working for six years as the Electoral Commissioner and is in his third term, which he said he is grateful for.

Apart from being in the O.E.C, Faimalomatumua previously worked as a driver delivering the Savali newspaper and later joined Samoa Observer as a sports reporter in early 2001.

Speaking as the guest speaker at the World Press Freedom Day at the National University of Samoa (N.U.S), he spoke of his background working in the media industry. 

"I had no idea that one of these days, I would end up leading that office."

Coincidentally, his first major assignment as a reporter with the Samoa Observer was covering the 2001 General Elections.

"The experience I had from the 2001 General Elections gave me a firm ground from the perspective of the media, looking into accessing information from the Electoral Office at the time," he said.

Faimalomatumua said the elections is the process where the people vote for their leader "because if the process is corrupt, that means the leaders that we're going to get will be corrupt" and the media is there to report it.