Woman M.P. heads Public Accounts Committee

By Lanuola Tusani Tupufia 16 June 2016, 12:00AM

Member of Parliament for Alataua West, Ali’imalemanu Alofa Tuuau, has been appointed as the new Chairperson of the Parliament Public Accounts Committee. 

Ali’imalemanu will be the first female M.P. in history to hold the Chairmanship of the Parliamentary Committee for Finance and Expenditure from 2016 to 2021. 

The role was recently occupied by former Finance Minister, Papali’i Niko Lee Hang, who is now the Minister of Works, Transport and Infrastructure.

Ali’imalemanu is a first time M.P. She is among four women in Parliament, having defeated the former M.P., Lafaitele Patrick Lei’ataualesa. 

At the time, she said she hopes her victory will encourage more women to step up. 

“I don’t believe in this saying “promoting equal rights” because there are equal rights of women everywhere but it’s just that they are not using it,” she said.

“The main thing that I will be focusing on with this issue is to try and build women’s self confidence. We are the problem because we put ourselves down. 

“It is us. We don’t use it and we have no self confidence, but it is an issue that we can deal with because it’s easy.” 

By Lanuola Tusani Tupufia 16 June 2016, 12:00AM
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