American author, speaker, and pastor John C. Maxwell once said “Everything rises and falls on leadership”. The quote is being used millions of times today by leadership experts, coaches and mentors to drive home the point that the success of a company, an organisation, or a country depends on leadership and a leader’s ability to influence others and add value to their lives.

The use of the mantra can be replicated at the national leadership level in Samoa – through the country’s Legislative Assembly – to compel our leaders to realise the importance of their actions and to make the link between their leadership style and how it impacts the well-being of the people and their families.

Looking at several controversies over the last two months, which centred around the actions of some senior Government Ministers, we believe the people of Samoa continue to be let down by poor leadership displayed by our legislators.

Take, for example, the gifting of $40,000 in cash and kind by the American Samoa government to Samoa Government representatives in April this year as part of the fa’aso or the traditional gift exchange during the third Atoa o Samoa talks in Pago Pago. Prime Minister, Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa and all her Cabinet Ministers who travelled to the U.S. territory as well as senior Samoa Government bureaucrats were recipients of gifts in cash and kind. Governments in democracies around the world have guidelines that immediately apply when an official or officials receives gifts “in the course of their official duties”. This often includes a strict policy for cash gifts to be declined. To date, the Government in Apia has not come clear on how the gifts were used or if the cash gifts valued at thousands of tala were donated to charity in order to address concerns about perceived impropriety. 

Another issue is the Kite Runner saga which the various Government agencies handled unsatisfactorily amid attempts by three Cabinet Ministers to brush off scrutiny by this newspaper. The Prime Minister was blunt in her assessment of the response by Samoan authorities, saying it was wrong for local officials to run around sorting out the paperwork for the Pago Pago-registered vessel. Deputy Prime Minister, Tuala Iosefo Ponifasio also said he wasn’t satisfied with the findings of a report prepared by the Ministry of Customs and Revenue. A Samoan government official tipped the Samoa Observer last month on the involvement of a Cabinet Minister with the Minister of Communication and Information Technology, Toelupe Poumulinuku Onesemo later admitting in an interview with this newspaper that the papers for the American Samoa-owned boat were sent to his office.

Since then the Cabinet Ministers, Olo Fiti Va'ai (Works, Transport and Infrastructure) and Faualo Harry Schuster (Police, Prisons and Corrections Services) have also commented when approached by this newspaper, arguing that the vessel underwent assessment and investigation. But the differing views on the issue amongst the Cabinet’s own membership are blatantly obvious and leave the public with a lot of questions than answers.

The previous Sunday 28 May 2023 a 200-strong business delegation from China flew into Samoa with the foreign visitors spending a week in the country exploring potential business opportunities. However, the visit attracted adverse publicity when local tour operators decried the engagement of a 5-week-old firm owned by the children of the current Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, La’auli Leuatea Schmidt. Last Saturday Travel Focus (Hong Kong) Ltd – in a bid to respond to the media coverage and uproar on social media – released a statement to this newspaper confirming the role of Minister La’auli in promoting Samoa as an investment destination with their discussions going back to 2012. The Hong Kong-registered company also revealed that it funded Samoa’s participation at the World Tourism Expo in Hong Kong in 2014 as well as early last month, which the Tourism Minister Toeolesulusulu Cedric Schuster and the Samoa Tourism Authority (STA) Chief Executive Officer, Toleafoa Pativaine Tevita attended. Questions remain on how involved is the Hong Kong-registered company with the STA and how much money it – as a foreign enterprise with a vested interest in tourism – has spent on global tourism events in order for Samoa to participate.

Over the weekend Minister Olo issued a public apology after the inter-island ferry service scheduled to leave for Upolu at 4 pm last Friday had to be delayed for over 3 hours to wait for the visiting Chinese delegation and Samoan Cabinet Ministers who visited the big island and vowed that it will not happen again.

These poor displays of leadership by Samoa’s politicians and Cabinet Ministers have been relentless and through their very actions are setting a bad precedent for the future leaders of the country. How can Samoa become a prosperous and wealthy nation when its leaders continue to lose focus and bungle their way through public office due to the bad decisions that they are making? How can leaders empower citizens and enable them to upskill themselves and become successful in their own fields when the needs of the people are not a priority? And have our leaders ever thought about their circle of influence and realised that living exemplary lives can go a long way in changing the community?

As a leader, you want to add value to the lives of your people and empower people to have the ability to also positively impact the lives of others. Any leader without a sense of appreciation for the value they can add to the lives of their people in the constituency shouldn’t be in the Parliament.