ʻAkosita Lavulavu
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Akosita Havili Lavulavu (born 1985) 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 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 ...
. In 2021 she was jailed for fraud. Lavulavu is the wife of former MP Etuate Lavulavu. She was educated at Tonga High School, with tertiary study at
Brigham Young University–Hawaii Brigham Young University–Hawaii (BYU–Hawaii) is a private college in Laie, Hawaii, United States. It is owned and operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). BYU–Hawaii was founded in 1955 and it became a sate ...
, earning a Bachelor in Information System, and the
University of the South Pacific The University of the South Pacific (USP) is a public research university with locations spread throughout a dozen countries in Oceania. Established in 1968, the university is organised as an intergovernmental organisation and is owned by the gov ...
, earning an
MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...
. Before entering politics, she was the director of the Unuaki o Tonga Royal Institute. Following her husband's conviction for bribery in 2016 she stood in the resulting by-election and was elected to the
Legislative Assembly of Tonga The Legislative Assembly of Tonga () is the unicameral legislature of Tonga. History A Legislative Assembly providing for representation of nobles and commoners was established in 1862 by King George Tupou I. This body met every four years ...
, becoming the 5th female MP in Tonga's history. She was re-elected at the 2017 general election, after which she was appointed Minister of Internal Affairs and Sports. On 3 March 2018, Lavulavu and her husband were both arrested on fraud charges stemming from their management of the Unuaki o Tonga Royal Institute in 2016. She was subsequently sacked from her Ministerial position. Following the death of Akilisi Pōhiva Lavulavu supported Pohiva Tuionetoa for Prime Minister, leaving the DPFI to join Tuionetoa's new People's Party. While still awaiting trial, in October 2019 she was appointed Minister for Infrastructure and Tourism in the cabinet of Pohiva Tuionetoa. On 4 June 2021 she and her husband were convicted of 3 counts of obtaining money by false pretenses. On 17 June, she took leave from her ministerial position until the case was resolved. On 2 July 2021, she and her husband were sentenced to six years in prison by the Supreme Court of Tonga. On 11 October 2022 the convictions were quashed by the Court of Appeal, and the case sent back to the Supreme Court for retrial.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lavulavu, Akosita Members of the Legislative Assembly of Tonga Women government ministers of Tonga Living people People from Vavaʻu Brigham Young University–Hawaii alumni Tongan Latter Day Saints University of the South Pacific alumni 1985 births 20th-century Tongan women Female interior ministers Prisoners and detainees of Tonga Tongan prisoners and detainees Tongan politicians convicted of crimes 21st-century Tongan women politicians 21st-century Tongan politicians