Siosa'ia Ma'ulupekotofa Tuita (born 31 March 1951) 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 royal and

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

. He is the current Chief Tuita, Lord Tuita.

Career

He received his education at Wanganui College,

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

and the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. He was appointed Official Translator of the Tongan Prime Minister's office in 1972 and then served for several years in the Tongan Foreign Service, including as High Commissioner to the United Kingdom in 1989–1992 and as Consul General in San Francisco from 1992 to 1996. From 1998 to 2002 Tuita was governor of Vava'u. In 2002 he was appointed to the cabinet of Tonga with the title minister of Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries and Nutrition. In May 2006 he was appointed as Minister of Lands Survey, Natural Resources and Environment in a Cabinet reshuffle. He was appointed acting governor of Vava'u in 2009. In 2010, he was appointed as Tongan Consul General to the United States again, with an office based out of San Francisco, California. He currently lives with his wife, Princess Salote Mafile'o Pilolevu Tuita, and their family, dividing their time between residences in Tau'akipulu and

Hillsborough, California Hillsborough is an List of municipalities in California, incorporated town in San Mateo County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is located south of San Francisco on the San Francisco Peninsula, bordered by Burlinga ...

Marriage

Tuita married the Princess Royal, Salote Pilolevu Tuita, the only daughter of King Sia'osi Taufa'ahau Tupou IV in the Chapel Royal, Nuku'alofa, on 20 July 1976. They are the parents of four daughters: * Sālote Lupepau'u Salamasina Purea Vahine Ari'i 'Oe Hau Tuita Taione, * Titilupe Fanetupouvava'u Tuita Kaho (Tu'ivakano), * Frederica Lupe'uluiva Fatafehi 'o Lapaha Tuita Filipe, * Lupeolo Halaevalu Moheofo Virginia Rose Tuita and a son, whom they adopted from her brother Prince Fatafehi ʻAlaivahamamaʻo Tukuʻaho (27 September 1979 – 17 February 2004) : * Hon. Fatafehi Sione Ikamafana Tānekinga ʻo Tonga Tuku'aho (2003–)

Honours

Orders

The Most Illustrious Order of Queen Salote Tupou III Member

Knight Grand Cross of the Most Illustrious

Order of Queen Salote Tupou III Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * H ...

(31 July 2008)

Decorations

King Taufa’ahau Tupou IV Coronation Silver Jubilee Medal (4 July 1992) * King George Tupou V Coronation Medal (1 August 2008) * King George Tupou VI Coronation Medal (4 July 2015)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tuita, Siosaia Maulupekotofa 1951 births Living people Government ministers of Tonga High commissioners of Tonga to the United Kingdom Alumni of the University of Oxford People from Hillsborough, California Tongan diplomats Governors of Vavaʻu Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Queen Sālote Tupou III