Peseta_Vaifou_Tevaga
Peseta Vaifou Tevaga
Samoan politician
Peseta Vaifou Tevaga (also known as Peseta Vaifou Tevagaena) is a Samoan politician and Member of the Legislative Assembly of Samoa. He is a member of the Human Rights Protection Party.
Tevaga is a former policeman[1] and runs a construction business.[2] He was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Samoa at the 2011 Samoan general election and appointed Associate Minister of Finance. In late 2011 he allegedly hit a disabled man while driving a government vehicle. He was subsequently charged with negligent driving causing injury,[3] but this was subsequently upgraded to dangerous driving causing death after the victim died.[4] The charge was dropped in August 2013 after key witnesses were unable to attend the hearing.[5][6] In the interim he was sacked as Associate Finance Minister over concerns around conflicts of interest when tendering for government projects.[7] In August 2014 he was arrested and charged with drunk-driving after an accident involving a government vehicle.[1] In May 2015 he was convicted of dangerous driving over the incident and fined $100.[8]
Tevaga was re-elected in the 2016 election[9] and appointed Associate Minister for Prime Minister & Cabinet.[10] In October 2015, shortly before the election, he began a long-running legal dispute with fellow MP Laauli Leuatea Polataivao over a business they were partners in.[11] An investigation of his complaints by police resulted in Tevaga being charged with forgery and falsifying documents[12] over a share-transfer form.[13] The charges were dismissed in October 2016.[14] In 2017 he commenced legal proceedings against Polataivao, accusing him of dishonesty in managing the company.[15][16] The civil claim was dismissed in November 2017.[17] Polataivao subsequently resigned from Cabinet after being charged with more than a hundred counts of forgery and theft;[18] he was acquitted of all charges in June 2020.[19]
In 2018 a company part-owned by Tevaga was awarded a $1.3 million contract to build an airport on Upolu.[20][21] He denied any conflict of interest.[22]
Tevaga was re-elected in the 2021 election.[23]