Engaging Public Servants Support a Mountain the FAST Government Faced

Apia, Samoa – 17 March 2025 – The uncooperative attitude of many public servants when the new FAST Government took office four months after the 2021 general elections, was the most difficult barrier they had to and are still facing.

Most of the public servants knew only one government in the HRPP that had been in power since 1985 and only had a change in 38 years when the FAST government took office in July 2021 and after a four months political impasse.

Samoa’s first female Minister of Finance, Mulipola Anarosa Ale Molio’o reflected that it was a very difficult time for the new Government and resulted in projects being dragged unnecessarily.

A first time MP, Mulipola had to make the bold decision to terminate the then Chief Executive of the Ministry of Finance, due to a conflict of interest with the officers’ father being the former Prime Minister for 22 years and current Leader of the parliamentary Opposition.

Getting into power, she was given an already prepared budget that did not align with the projects and policies the FAST Party had in its manifesto.

The public servants attitude however, did not go unnoticed by the ministers and the FAST Party’s $1m Development Project that decentralized the selection and administration of projects to the District Development Committees, faced major delays due to existing policy guidelines and the projects people centred focus.

“This was the biggest challenge as the public servants did not accept the new Government, and these were the huge mountains and deep valleys we had to tumble and overcome,” said Mulipola.

But the FAST Government leadership did not help make things easier.

Mulipola, who comes from a private business background, thought that noting the public servants attitude, the Prime Minister should have called a meeting for all CEOs and senior public servants and the new Cabinet and set the scene on what the new government expected from the public servants.

“She needed to have set the scene,” said Mulipola.

But nothing was done and things dragged on with suspicion and lack of trust where it was needed the most.

Mulipola served as the Minister of Finance and later the Minister of Women Social Development and Community and she went through the same difficulty.

There has been several occasions and gatherings where the issue of public servants attitude popped up and there was one time that the  Public Service Association (PSA) vested their disappointment towards the Government and threats of a protest.

Take stock of ministry assets
As former Cabinet Ministers, Mulipola and FAST leader Laaulialemalietoa Leuatea Polataivao Schmidt were asked how Cabinet response was to issues such as the worsening electric power outages.

Both former Ministers and other FAST members were fronting the party’s weekly press conference when the power suddenly went off which seems to be the norm now.

Mulipola said that there should have been a stock take of EPC when the FAST Government took office, so as to ascertain where the power utility stood on its crucial assets and equipment such as generators, the maintenance and their working life.

She said if the Electric Power Corporation generators had been in operation for 20 years with no repair and maintenance, who’s fault was it and who was to blame?

“As a leader, the Prime Minister should have engaged every minister to do a stock-take of their respective ministries assets then update the Cabinet, especially public utilities such as EPC and the Water  Authority who monopolize the electric power and water supplies,” she said.

When the major power outage occurred on a Sunday four weeks ago, the power was off for ten hours in most places throughout Upolu.

The Minister of EPC, Olo Fiti Vaai told the media then that the fault was the underground high-voltage cable between Siusega and Fuluasou, which is EPC’s core transmission line from the main power station at Fiaga to substations for power distribution.

He said that the problem was with the installation of the underground cables 10 years ago without proper plastic pipes to cover the cables.

Mulipola believes that a routine stock -take should have identified these issues.

The same can be said when Mulipola walked into her office as the first woman Minister of Finance to a pile of debts left by the previous Government.

She had to look at what needed to be prioritized and what needed to be done and this was an important factor for the Government to identify and work towards finding ways to resolve it.

“It was the initiative and drive of the Ministers that made progress in their Ministries but there was no coordination and leadership from the Prime Minister,” Mulipola stated.