As the criminal trial of ‘Etuate Lavulavu and his wife Akosita started on Monday 12 April, the question on the minds of many people was not so much whether they will be found guilty or not. Many are asking why it has taken five years for the case to come to trial?
The Lavulavus were arrested on March 2016 but the trial has been delayed several times, until Chief Justice Whitten ruled earlier this year that the case must be heard by April 12.
Criminal cases like that of the Lavulavus are supposed to be part of the priority cases to be tried. It did not happen with this case, and only the Courts can explain why?
The Lavulavus who pleaded not guilty were able to keep delaying the case until the order from the Lord Chief Justice. In the meantime over the past five years, Akosita ran and won the Vava’u seat ‘Etuate used to have. She has also been appointed a Minister in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Pohiva Tu’i’onetoa.
During this time, ‘Etuate has also emerged to become the chief advisor and political strategist for the Prime Minister. He also became the Deputy Chairman of the People’s Party (Paati ‘a e Kakai – PAK), with the Prime Minister as Chairman. This was a party that is alleged to be a brainchild of ‘Etuate, with the Prime Minister basically endorsing and backing everything he has proposed.
In a politically brilliant move in Parliament, ‘Etuate was able to maneuver Rev. Dr. Pohiva Tu’i’onetoa “to cross the floor”, and sided with others to wrest the Government from the PTOA party that was led by the late ‘Akilisi Pohiva as Prime Minister.
The man the Prime Minister listens to
The effective plans and strategies proposed and executed by ‘Etuate for Prime Minister Tu’i’onetoa, earned him the unofficial title of “the engineer”. He apparently was and is “the engineer” of everything happening with PAK, as well as with Prime Minister Tu’i’onetoa.
The outcome of the Lavulavu trial, however will hurt the Prime Minister’s political status one way or another. He has been in the past few months “between a rock and a hard place” due to the growing discontent expressed by people against Lavulavu’s involvement with his Government.
How can the leader of Government, a man touted to be a religious minister, listen and be led by a man who is a convicted criminal and still faces criminal charges in two separate cases?
The ordained religious minister who also holds a doctorate in ministry has been viciously criticized by many of his fellow Christians for his hypocrisy in advocating for Christian principles while embracing and following a convicted crook on his administration.
“To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice (Proverbs 21:3),” a scripture critics say the Prime Minister overlooked in his daily Bible reading.
‘Etuate and his Prime Minister friend have been called all kinds of names on social media, and even on some mainstream media. But naming him a fool seems to fit best, as Proverbs 13:20 says: “He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffer harm.” Other sayings in Proverbs 14 underline the danger of being advised or accompanied by fools: “Stay away from a foolish man” (v7); “but the folly of fools is deception”(v8); “fools mock at making amends for sin” (v9).
The charges against the Lavulavus
Lavulavu’s trial arises from an investigation and a subsequent report by the Auditor General of the Government’s grants given to non-Government schools to top up the salaries of teachers.
The amount granted to each school is based on the number of students enrolled. $700 pa’anga per student head is the amount currently granted to private and church schools.
In terms of the Lavulavu’s ‘Unuaki ‘o Tonga Royal Institute (UTRI), the Office of the Auditor General claimed hundreds of students who could not be identified were fraudulently enrolled just so the education institute could be granted the funds accordingly.
The institute was supposedly required to repay $553,800 to TVET where the funds came from. ‘Etuate was the President of the school; Akosita was the Director.
The Lavulavu’s are being charged with knowingly using forged documents to obtain the grant funds by false pretenses. They allegedly entered names of students to the enrollment list of UTRI who were not students.
For example, the 2016 audit report found that UTRI was only entitled to a grant of $3,600 but they got $146,400 through ‘false pretenses’. In 2014 UTRI was only entitled to $5,400 but was paid $249,580; and in 2015 the institute was only entitled to $2,400 and not $162,600.
‘Etuate made an attempt recently to be tried separately from Akosita as he tried to detach himself from his involvement with the school, “as Akosita was the one responsible and running the school.” His request for separate trials was declined.
Because of the charges against her, the late Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pohiva ordered Akosita to step down from Cabinet in April 2018. But she was reappointed by Prime Minister Tu’i’onetoa when he took over the reins of Government.
Calls for Akosita to step down from her Ministerial post while she awaits her trial have been ignored not only by her, but also by the Prime Minister.
The Lavulavu trial at the Supreme Court is expected to run for several weeks, with the prosecution calling over 100 witnesses.
A separate trial at the Magistrate Court
The Lavulavus in a separate trial appeared last week at the Magistrate Court facing charges after their landlord in Vava’u filed a lawsuit against them alleging they forged a letter on his behalf, intimating the landlord agreed to allow ‘Etuate to quarry rocks on his land.
This trial awaits the decision of the Magistrate Court.
Controversies surrounding Lavulavu
‘Etuate Lavulavu is certainly one of the most controversial characters in the kingdom, with his court cases, previous convictions, and public lying about his educational accolades and achievements put him out there in a class of his own.
In 2003, he was arrested by the FBI while trying to board a flight from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles. He was charged with falsifying immigration papers for Tongans to become American citizens, part of an immigration scam carried out with his brother. He pleaded guilty and was fined but only had to pay costs.
On his return to Tonga, he went public to deny media reports that he was jailed. That was when he infamously said: “I was not put in jail. I was only put in a ‘selo’ – a cell!” And many people in Tonga believed him at the time that he was never jailed but only detained in a ‘selo’.
In 2016 ‘Etuate was convicted by the Supreme Court of Tonga for bribery and over spending during his 2014 election campaign. He was stripped of his seat in Parliament as a result. During the trial the judge said Lavulavu was not a credible witness and that his evidence was “implausible, evasive and untruthful”.
But Akosita was elected to replace ‘Etuate during the by- election for the seat he vacated.
In a case in 2000 when Lavulavu was sued for unlawful cultivation of the late Prince Tu’ipelehake’s land, Lord Chief Justice Ward summed up his thinking about Lavulavu: “He was willing to say almost anything that seemed to suit the moment with a repeated disregard for the truth.”
But controversies does not end with ‘Etuate alone. Akosita has her own share of them recently, when the Supreme Court quashed her decision as Minister of Tourism to deny whale watching and swimming licenses to a plaintiff in a case in which Lord Chief Justice Whitten ordered her to pay the plaintiffs’ cost. She was told by the judge that her decisions “were infected by errors of law.”
Akosita has also recently been under public criticism for re-instituting the Tourism Board Authority with a budget of $1.5 million when international travel will not resume anytime soon. Tourism in the kingdom has been crippled by Covid 19, and critics insist it would have been better to give the money to tourism businesses in struggle rather than to a board that is not needed.
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