The Public Service Commission (P.S.C.) has issued a special circular to advise of two vacancies in the positions of the Attorney General and the C.E.O. for the Ministry of Education Sports and Culture.

The P.S.C. special circular was issued last Friday with a post also made on the commission’s official Facebook page last Friday to alert potential applicants to the two vacancies in the Government.

The Facebook post at 11am last Friday (local time) was made hours before the incumbent M.E.S.C. C.E.O. Afamasaga Dr. Karoline Fuata'i came under fire, after her Ministry came under fire for releasing a public notice that advised of school closures effective 14-25 February due to the COVID-19 Alert levels.

Early Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa, in an address to the nation after 1pm last Friday, announced the downgrading of the Government’s COVID-19 Alert to Level 1 and the resumption of classes on Monday.

The M.E.S.C. later released another public notice retracting their early statement and confirming the opening of schools on Monday this week.

The public notice bungle led to criticism by the Fa’atuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (F.A.S.T.) party Chairman and Cabinet Minister, La’aulialemalietoa Leuatea Schmidt who has called for her to resign.

The position of the Attorney General became vacant when the new Government sacked the former Attorney General, Savalenoa Mareva Betham in September last year. Announcing the Government's decision to terminate the contract of Savalenoa, Fiame confirmed she had advised the Head of State to appoint Su'a Hellene Wallwork in the interim period until a permanent appointment is made.

All applicants for the two senior Government positions have until 11 March 2022 to submit their expressions of interest accompanied by the necessary documentation.

It is not known if both Afamasaga and Su’a are applying for their positions and are amongst a host of top bureaucrats whose contracts come to an end this year.

Afamasaga was appointed to the top position in the M.E.S.C. by the previous government in February 2016. She is a mathematician by profession and was the founding Professor of Mathematics at the National University of Samoa.