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Associate Ministers to be sworn-in Friday

Tags:      Posted date:  March 23, 2011  |  3 Comments

By Tupuola Terry Tavita

Twenty-one Associate Ministers will be sworn-in to office Friday morning at Tiafau.

According to Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, the list of associate ministers was discussed and finalized at a special Cabinet meeting yesterday afternoon.

“The 21 associate ministers will be allocated to 13 government departments,” said the Prime Minister.

“Under the (Parliamentary) Act which establishes the post of Associate Minister, they will work together with the (Cabinet) minister designate.

“The Associate Minister gets his assignments from the Cabinet minister designated to that ministry, which means, he (Associate Minister) cannot make direct instructions to the ministry.

“This is to maintain proper working relationships between the Minister and Associate Minister and the organisation involved.”


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3 Comments for Associate Ministers to be sworn-in Friday

LV

Mr. Tavita:

Are you sure the above – notably the second to the last paragraph – is correct? It seems a muddle of the assumed normal line of authority which is: Minister > Associate Minister > Ministry. Therefore, if anyone “cannot make direct instructions to the ministry” it’s the Minister, not the Associate Minister. Please enlighten me.

Personally, I still believe that the appointment of Associate Minister is blatant patronage and political ploy. The disparate numbers of 21 AMs and 13 government departments seem fishy and conniving. Ua ko’akele le ‘au sifi ae leai gi igikia. Fai aku ai fo’i.

And one more Mr. Tavita, I’m curious as to the use of the .com domain name (TLD) for the Savali News. Is there not a .ws ccTLD still associated with Samoa? Didn’t I see an ad and promotion of “buy Samoa” by the government at one time? Or is that another organization? Though I would think that the government would be at the forefront of such an objective.

Faafetai.

    Renate Rivers

    Talofa LV,

    Forgive me for answering in Tupuola’s stead, as I monitor the majority of the comments and traffic on the website.
    To answer your query regarding the domain name, it was chosen for its international appeal, as that is the point of this website – to reach beyond the shores of our dearly beloved tropical isles.
    It does not denote a lack of nationalistic pride, as it is merely a vessel for dispersing the news from the Government newspaper.
    The Government Website is currently .ws, as are most if not all Ministries, Authorities, Corporations etc. I have not had a chance to check them all as they are quite numerous. Should you wish to check this over, please feel free to browse
    http://www.govt.ws. Although I implore you not to be too critical, as the sites are currently going through a revamp due to the current change over in portfolios etc.
    The rest of your query, I will leave to the Editor to answer at his discretion.

    Thank you for your comments,

    Kind Regards,
    Renate Rivers

LV

Malo fo’i Renate:

Thank you for the reply and the clarification on the TLD matter. Sorry for the late response.

Manuia le aso
LV