| Honorific-Prefix: | The Honourable |
| Faumuina Fong | |
| Office3: | Minister of Public Enterprises |
| Primeminister3: | Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa |
| Term Start3: | 24 May 2021 |
| Predecessor3: | Lautafi Fio Selafi Purcell |
| Office7: | Minister of Commerce, Industry and Labour |
| Primeminister7: | Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa |
| Term Start7: | 24 May 2021 |
| Term End7: | 1 October 2023 |
| Predecessor7: | Lautafi Fio Selafi Purcell |
| Successor7: | Leota Laki Lamositele |
| Office8: | Member of the Samoan Parliament |
| Constituency8: | Faleata No. 2 |
| Term Start8: | 9 April 2021 |
| Predecessor8: | Taefu Lemi |
| Constituency9: | Urban West |
| Parliament9: | Samoan |
| Term Start9: | 4 March 2016 |
| Term End9: | 9 April 2021 |
| Predecessor9: | Seat established |
| Successor9: | Seat abolished |
| Birth Date: | June 1959 |
| Otherparty: | Human Rights Protection Party (until 2020) Independent (2020-21) |
Leatinuu Faumuina Asi Pauli Wayne Fong (also known as Leatinuu Wayne Soʻoialo)[1] (born June 1959)[2] is a Samoan politician and Cabinet Minister who has served as the minister of Commerce, Labour and Industry since 2021.[3] [4]
Faumuina worked as a cargo manager for Polynesian Airlines in the United States, before moving to Hawaii.[5] After returning to Samoa he ran a shipping company.[5] He was first elected to the Samoan Parliament in the Urban West seat at the 2016 Samoan general election.[5]
In March 2017 Fong called for a law change to allow Samoans to gamble in casinos.[6] In October he criticised "dirty politics" within the Human Rights Protection Party, alleging that factions were moving against Prime Minister Tuilaʻepa Saʻilele Malielegaoi while he was in hospital in New Zealand.[7] In December he called for a relaxation of border controls with American Samoa.[8] In 2018 he opposed the government's Customary Land Alienation Bill.[9] In June 2019 Fong criticised the government's budget, claiming it was "unbalanced".[10]
In May 2020 Fong was asked to leave the Human Rights Protection Party by Prime Minister Tuilaʻepa Saʻilele Malielegaoi over his opposition to Tuilaʻepa's proposed constitutional reforms.[11] [12] In July 2020 he was sacked from the party.[13] He remained in parliament as an independent.[14]
In September 2020 Fong pledged his loyalty to former Deputy Prime Minister Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa following her resignation, and promised to follow whichever party she joined in the 2021 election.[15] On 17 October Fong registered to run as a candidate for the F.A.S.T. party in the 2021 election.[16] As a result his seat was declared vacant under anti-party-hopping provisions.[17] [18] On 14 December 2020 the decision was declared unlawful and invalid by the Supreme Court of Samoa.[19] [20]
Fong ran in the seat of Faleata No. 2 at the April 2021 Samoan general election and was re-elected. On 24 May 2021 he was appointed Minister of Commerce, Industry and Labour in the elected cabinet of Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa.[21] The appointment was disputed by the caretaker government. On 23 July 2021 the Court of Appeal ruled that the swearing-in ceremony was constitutional and binding, and that FAST had been the government since 24 May.[22]
On 19 December 2022 Leatinuʻu was medevaced to New Zealand for treatment for a serious heart condition.[23]
In a cabinet reshuffle on 6 September 2023 he was replaced as Commerce, Industry of Labour by Leota Laki Lamositele from 1 October 2023, but retained the Public Enterprises portfolio.[24]