Toomata Alapati Poese (~1950 - 20 April 2014) was 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 Island, Manono an ...

n politician and

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’, � ...

. He was a member of the

Human Rights Protection Party The Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP, sm, Vaega Faaupufai e Puipuia Aia Tatau a Tagata) is a Samoan political party. It was founded in 1982 and dominated Samoan party politics for decades thereafter, leading every government until their defea ...

. Toomata was educated at the

University of Hawaiʻi The University of Hawaiʻi System, formally the University of Hawaiʻi and popularly known as UH, is a public college and university system that confers associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees through three universities, seven com ...

and worked as a lecturer at the School of Agriculture at the

University of the South Pacific The University of the South Pacific (USP) is a public university, public research university with locations spread throughout a dozen countries in Oceania. Established in 1968, the university is organised as an intergovernmental organisation and ...

. He 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 a by-election in 1999. He was re-elected in the 2001 election and in 2005 was appointed Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries. He was re-elected at the 2006 election and appointed Minister of Education. In November 2009 he broke a leg in a car accident. He subsequently pleaded guilty to two charges of careless driving, and was fined US$150. He lost his seat in the 2011 election.

References

2014 deaths Members of the Legislative Assembly of Samoa Human Rights Protection Party politicians Government ministers of Samoa Education ministers of Samoa University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa alumni Year of birth uncertain {{Samoa-politician-stub