Amenta Matthew (born 24 June 1952) is a Marshallese politician. She was a member of the

Legislature of the Marshall Islands The Legislature of the Marshall Islands ( mh, Nitijeļā ) has 33 members, elected for a four-year term in single-seat and five multi-seat constituencies. The last election was November 18, 2019. Elections in the Marshall Islands are officially n ...

from 2007 to 2011 and from 2015 to 2019, representing the electorate of Utrik. She was Minister of Health under Presidents

Litokwa Tomeing Iroij Litokwa Tomeing (14 October 1939 – 12 October 2020) was the President of the Marshall Islands from January 2008 until October 2009. Biography Early and personal life Litokwa Tomeing was born on Wotje Atoll, in the Japanese-administered ...

and

Jurelang Zedkaia Iroijlaplap Jurelang Zedkaia (13 July 1950 – 7 October 2015) was a Marshallese politician and Iroijlaplap. He served as the President of the Marshall Islands from 2009 to 2012. He was elected as the country's 5th head of state on October 26, 2 ...

from 2008 to 2011 and Minister of Internal Affairs under

Hilda Heine Hilda Cathy Heine (born April 6, 1951) is a Marshallese educator and politician, who served as the eighth President of the Marshall Islands. Prior to assuming office, she served as the Minister of Education. She was the first individual from the ...

from 2016 to 2019. She was the second woman in the Marshall Islands to serve as a government minister.

Biography

Matthew was born in

Majuro Majuro (; Marshallese: ' ) is the capital and largest city of the Marshall Islands. It is also a large coral atoll of 64 islands in the Pacific Ocean. It forms a legislative district of the Ratak (Sunrise) Chain of the Marshall Islands. The ato ...

and was educated at Uliga Elementary School in Majuro and Mizba High School in Chuuk in the

Federated States of Micronesia The Federated States of Micronesia (; abbreviated FSM) is an island country in Oceania. It consists of four states from west to east, Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosraethat are spread across the western Pacific. Together, the states comprise a ...

before graduating from

Defiance College Defiance College is a private college located in Defiance, Ohio and affiliated with the United Church of Christ. The campus includes eighteen buildings and access to the Thoreau Wildlife Sanctuary. History The college began as Defiance Female ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

in 1976. She was Secretary of the Marshall Islands Political Commission from 1977 to 1979, Assistant Clerk of Cabinet from 1979 to 1981 and Clerk of Cabinet from 1981 to 2002. She then worked for the Land Registration Administration Authority from 2002 until her election to parliament in 2007. She was first elected to parliament at the 2007 election, defeating

Hiroshi Yamamura is a retired Japanese naval officer who served as the 34th Chief of Staff of the Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force (JMSDF) from March 2019 to March 2022. Career Hiroshi Yamamura graduated from the National Defense Academy of Japan in 1984 an ...

. In January 2008, she was promoted to Cabinet as Minister for Health by new President

, becoming the Marshall Islands' first woman minister in twelve years. She had been considered a swing vote in the formation of the new government. As Health Minister, in response to an outbreak of drug-resistant tuberculosis, she drafted legislation that would give the Director of Health the power to quarantine

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

patients who did not comply with prevention requirements. In May 2010, she testified before the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

about the impact of past United States nuclear testing on Utrik Atoll. In September 2011, she called for a global response to non-communicable diseases such as

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ...

and heart disease, stating that the amount having to be spent locally was unsustainable, although praising the impact of medical aid from

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

. She lost her seat to Yamamura at the 2011 election; she had led on domestic votes, but was defeated after the counting of postal votes. She challenged the result in the

High Court of the Marshall Islands The High Court is the second highest court of law in the Marshall Islands Judiciary. The court is established by Article VI, section 3 of the republic's constitution It has Appellate court, appellate jurisdiction over cases originating in the lower ...

, claiming that postal ballots had not been properly certified, but was unsuccessful. After her 2011 defeat, Matthew was appointed to the Board of Regents of the

College of the Marshall Islands The College of the Marshall Islands (CMI) is a public community college in Uliga on the Majuro Atoll of the Marshall Islands. It primarily serves students from within the Micronesian region and is designated as the national post-secondary insti ...

. She then won back her seat at the 2015 election, defeating Yamamura a second time. In February 2016, she was appointed to the Cabinet of new President

as Minister for Internal Affairs. In June 2017, she raised concern about the rate of illegal adoptions from the Marshall Islands to the United States through

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

, resulting in the U.S. Embassy flagging it as an issue of concern and the ''

Honolulu Star-Advertiser The ''Honolulu Star-Advertiser'' is the largest daily newspaper in Hawaii, formed in 2010 with the merger of ''The Honolulu Advertiser'' and the ''Honolulu Star-Bulletin'' after the acquisition of the former by Black Press, which already owned the ...

'' publishing a front-page story about the issue. She was defeated at the 2019 Marshallese general election.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matthew, Amenta 1952 births Living people Members of the Legislature of the Marshall Islands Defiance College alumni Government ministers of the Marshall Islands Women government ministers of the Marshall Islands 21st-century Marshallese women politicians 21st-century Marshallese politicians Marshallese expatriates in the United States People from Majuro Female interior ministers