Matamua Seumanu Vasati Pulufana is a

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); ...

n politician and Cabinet Minister. She is a member of the FAST Party. Matamua is the wife of former MP Tiata Sili Pulufana and is a former educator. She was first elected to the

Legislative Assembly of Samoa The Legislative Assembly ( sm, Fono Aoao Faitulafono a Samoa), also known as the Parliament of Samoa ( sm, Palemene o Samoa), is the national legislature of Samoa, seated at Apia, where the country's central administration is situated. Samoan P ...

in the

2021 Samoan general election General elections were held in Samoa on 9 April 2021 to determine the composition of the 17th Parliament. In March 2021, Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa, a former member of the ruling Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP) and a former Deputy Prime Mini ...

, defeating finance minister Sili Epa Tuioti. On 24 May 2021 she was appointed Minister of Justice and Courts Administration in the elected cabinet of

Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa Afioga Fiamē Naomi Mataafa (born 29 April 1957) () is a Samoan politician and High Chiefess ('' matai'') who has served as the seventh Prime Minister of Samoa and leader of the Faatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) party since 2021. The ...

. The appointment was disputed by the caretaker government. On 23 July 2021 the Court of Appeal ruled that the swearing-in ceremony was constitutional and binding, and that FAST had been the government since 24 May. In December 2021 Matamua suspended the appointment process for the Deputy President for the Land and Titles Court of Samoa on the grounds that a "drafting error" in the Land and Titles Bill meant that there were no legal provisions for appointments to the court. Attorney-General Su'a Hellene Wallwork subsequently issued a formal opinion that the lack of appointment provisions meant that no appointments could be made until further legislation had been passed, and that the ''Komisi o Fa'amasinoga o Fanua ma Suafa'', intended to be an appointments and supervisory body for the court, was legally powerless. On this basis, Matamua ordered the Ministry of Justice and Courts Administration not to progress the appointments in any way. Despite this, on 17 December 2021 Fepulea'i purported to swear in Faimalomatumua and two other judges without warrants of appointment from the ''O le Ao o le Malo'', claiming the appointments were "made by God".

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References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Pulufana, Matamua Vasati Living people Members of the Legislative Assembly of Samoa Women government ministers of Samoa Faʻatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi politicians Year of birth missing (living people)