ʻOtenifi Afuʻalo Matoto, styled Lord Matoto of Tuʻanekivale, is a

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

n civil servant, politician and former

Cabinet Minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ' prime minister', ' p ...

. He was

Minister of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

in the government of

Feleti Sevele Feleti Vakaʻuta Sevele, Lord Sevele of Vailahi (born 7 July 1944) is a Tongan politician who served as the prime minister of Tonga from 30 March 2006 to 22 December 2010. Biography Early life Lord Sevele was born in Maʻufanga, Nukuʻalofa. H ...

from 2008 to 2011.

Early life

Having obtained a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree from the

University of Auckland The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loc ...

, he became an assistant teacher at the Tonga High School in 1968. He later obtained a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

degree from the

University of Durham Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charter in 1837. It was the first recognised university to ...

in 1971, and was appointed Assistant Secretary at the Tongan Ministry of Finance that same year. He was Secretary of Finance from 1977 to 1983, then became the

Bank of Tonga A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. As banks ...

's Manager for Development and Planning. From 1999 to 2006, he was Managing Director of the Tonga Development Bank. Matoto was also Treasurer of the

Tonga Rugby Football Union The Tonga Rugby Union is the governing body of the sport of rugby union in Tonga. They are members of Oceania Rugby. There is a rugby union playing population of fewer than 800 out of a total population of 100,000. They were formed in 1923, and ...

from 1975 to 1982, and Chairman of the TRFU Referees Association "from the early 80s to the early 90s". He is the current President of the Nuku'alofa

Rotary Club Rotary International is one of the largest Service club, service organizations in the world. The self-declared mission of Rotary, as stated on its website, is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, go ...

, of which he has been a member since 1974. He is, in addition, an ordained Minister of the

Free Church of Tonga The Free Church of Tonga ( Tongan: ''Siasi ʻo Tonga Tauʻatāina'') is a Christian denomination of Methodist extraction in the Kingdom of Tonga. The Church was established in 1885 by King George Tupou I and his government at Lifuka, Ha'apai, a ...

Political career

Matoto was appointed to Cabinet as Minister for Public Enterprises in October 2006. He was appointed Tonga's first Minister of Information in July 2007. As Information Minister he claimed that the Prime Minister was being targeted by a 'hate campaign" run by the ''Kele'a'' newspaper, and drafted new guidelines for political reporting by the Tonga Broadcasting Commission. In March 2008 he was appointed Finance Minister. As Finance Minister he oversaw a series of privatisations, including selling the government's 40% share of Westpac Bank of Tonga to

Westpac Westpac Banking Corporation, also known as Westpac, is an Australian multinational banking and financial services company headquartered at Westpac Place in Sydney. Established in 1817 as the Bank of New South Wales, it acquired the Commerc ...

. He also oversaw an unpopular Ministerial pay increase in 2009 and a series of budget cuts in 2010. He lost his position when Tonga moved to an elected government after the

2010 Tongan general election Early general elections under a new electoral law were held in Tonga on 25 November 2010. They determined the composition of the 2010 Tongan Legislative Assembly. The early elections were announced by the new King George Tupou V in July 2008 sh ...

. In December 2010, he was one of the first people to be named a

Life Peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

in Tonga's heretofore solely hereditary nobility, by King

George Tupou V George Tupou V (Siaosi Tāufaʻāhau Manumataongo Tukuʻaho Tupou; 4 May 194818 March 2012) was King of Tonga from 2006 until his death in 2012. He was the eldest son of King Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV. After ascending the throne, George Tupou ann ...

. As a Noble of the Realm, he is known as Lord Matoto of Tuʻanekivale.

Honours

;National honours * TON Order of Queen Salote Tupou III ribbon

Order of Queen Sālote Tupou III The ''Most Illustrious'' Order of Queen Sālote Tupou III is a knighthood order of the Kingdom of Tonga. History The Order was established on 28 June 2008 by His Late Majesty King George Tupou V to commemorate the grand figure of his grandmot ...

, Grand Cross (31 July 2008).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matoto, Afualo Living people Year of birth missing (living people) University of Auckland alumni Tongan schoolteachers Tongan civil servants Tongan Methodists Members of the Legislative Assembly of Tonga Ministers of finance of Tonga Government ministers of Tonga Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Queen Sālote Tupou III Tongan nobles Methodist ministers Tongan Christian clergy Alumni of Durham University Graduate Society