Tufuga Fatu Explained

Tufuga Fatu
Office1:Minister for Health
Term1:1961–1964
Predecessor1:Luamanuvae Eti
Successor1:Ulualofaiga Talamaivao
Office2:Member of the Legislative Assembly
Term2:1957–1964
Successor2:Masoe Tulele
Constituency2:Vaisigano No. 1
Term3:1954–1957
Predecessor3:Masoe Tulele
Constituency3:Vaisigano
Birth Place:5 February 1914
Death Place:Apia, Western Samoa

Tauaanae Tufuga Fatuatia (5 February 1914 – 5 December 1981) was a Western Samoan chief and politician. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly from 1954 until 1964, and as Minister for Health from 1961 to 1964.

Biography

Born in 1914,[1] Fatu attended Avele College and became a schoolteacher.[2] He was conferred with the Tufuga title in the 1930s,[1] and was involved in the Methodist church, chairing its lands development board, also serving as a director of the Development Bank of Western Samoa.[2]

A member of the Fono of Faipule,[1] he was elected to the Legislative Assembly from the Vaisigano constituency in 1954. He was re-elected in 1957 elections and was a member of the 1960 Constitutional Convention and a signatory of the independence constitution. He was re-elected again in 1961, after which he was appointed Minister for Health. However, he lost his seat in the 1964 elections.[3] He unsuccessfully contested the constitutuency again in 1970 and 1976.[3]

In 1981 he was elected to the executive committee of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. However, he died in December the same year at the age of 67.[2]

Notes and References

  1. Lauofo Meti (2002) Samoa: The Making of the Constitution, National University of Samoa, p329
  2. https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-339934500/view?partId=nla.obj-339952010#page/n65/mode/1up Tauaanae Tufuga Fatu
  3. http://devpolicy.org/samoaelections/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Samoan-Election-Results-PDF.pdf Samoan election results by constituency 1964–2016