{"id":6501,"date":"2021-06-10T08:27:27","date_gmt":"2021-06-09T19:27:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/talamua.com\/?p=6501"},"modified":"2021-06-10T08:27:27","modified_gmt":"2021-06-09T19:27:27","slug":"witnesses-allege-former-cabinet-minister-gave-money-to-entice-voters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/talamua.com\/?p=6501","title":{"rendered":"Witnesses Allege Former Cabinet Minister Gave Money to Entice Voters \u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"court

Former Cabinet Minister, Gatoloaifa’ana Amataga Gidlow (in red) & supporters leaving Court.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

By Lagi Keresoma<\/p>\n

APIA, SAMOA \u2013 10 JUNE 2021:<\/strong> Three witnesses in the on-going election petition filed by former Cabinet Minister Gatoloaifa\u2019ana Amataga Gidlow,\u00a0have testified that they each received money from the petitioner as an enticement for them to vote for her.<\/p>\n

The petition is against Magele Sekati Fiaui who unseated Gatoloaifa\u2019ana after 15 years as the Fa\u2019asaleleaga No.2. Member of Parliament.<\/p>\n

Invitation to Gatoloaifaana\u2019s house<\/strong>
\nWitness Fuatogi Vave of Salelavalu resides at Falelauniu, Upolu and he and family travelled to Savaii on 8 April 2021 for the general election.<\/p>\n

Arriving with his family at Salelavalu, two of his brothers-in-law asked if they could use his car and he let them.<\/p>\n

Returning after their business, the brothers-in-law told Fuatogi that Gatoloaifa\u2019ana wanted to see all the \u201csons of the village.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI went with my wife to Gatoloaifa\u2019ana\u2019s house and we were invited inside where we talked in the presence of other people,\u201d said Fuatogi.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen Gatoloaifa\u2019ana gave me $200\u00a0tala and another $100 because she realized I travelled from Apia,\u201d said Fuatogi.<\/p>\n

He also told the Court that as Gatoloaifa\u2019ana gave him the money, she also reminded him of the election – \u201ctautuana le palota<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Counsel for Gatoloaifa\u2019ana, Leiatauales\u0101 Jerry Brunt pointed out to Fuatogi that the reason why he went to Gatoloaifa\u2019ana\u2019s house was not because of an invitation but to get money.<\/p>\n

Fuatogi responded that he knew there was money distributed to voters so he went.<\/p>\n

The ST$300 tal\u0101 was a political encouragement, says witness<\/strong>
\nAs a taxi driver, Magele Taumaloto cast his vote early on election day intending to work later.<\/p>\n

He picked up a passenger and travelled to Salelologa where he waited outside a shop while his passenger did his shopping.<\/p>\n

\"court

Witness Magele Taumaloto.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

He then saw Gatoloaifa\u2019ana\u2019s car reversing towards him and she called out. He walked over and she asked what he was doing there.<\/p>\n

Gatoloaifa\u2019ana was accompanied by a woman Magele did not know\u00a0but he and Gatoloaifa\u2019ana talked.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe woman gave me money and Gatoloaifa\u2019ana said \u201calu loa i o<\/em>\u201d (go there now) referring to where the village\u00a0tapuaiga<\/em>\u00a0was,\u201d said Magele.<\/p>\n

He only realized the amount of the money when he got home and counted $300 tala.<\/p>\n

When asked how he would interpret the $300, he said it was politically motivated so he could vote for her.<\/p>\n

Leiatauales\u0101 asked Magele if he often runs into Gatoloaifa\u2019ana or give him money when they met to which Magele said \u201crarely\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is only during family gatherings for an event and when he goes to her resort for a beer and he gets free beer from her,\u201d said Magele.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is why I was so surprised when I got this much money for the first time,\u201c said Magele.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an offence not to vote<\/strong>
\nOne thing all three witnesses had in common in their testimonies was \u201ctautuana le palota<\/em>\u201d and they all interpreted it as a political saying to entice voters.<\/p>\n

The third witness, 38 year old farmer Tumua Olive of Salelavalu who received $40 tala from Gatoloaifaana stood by his interpretation of it as being politically motivated.<\/p>\n

However,\u00a0Leiataualesa\u00a0pointed out to Tumua that what\u00a0Gatoloaifa\u2019ana\u00a0really meant when she said \u201ctautuana le palota<\/em>\u201d was to encourage them to vote because it is an offence not to.<\/p>\n

“To me she wanted me to vote for her,\u201d\u00a0Tumua insisted.<\/p>\n

Counsel not a signature specialist<\/strong>
\nDuring the cross examination of Magele Taumaloto, Leiatauales\u0101 informed the Court that there were reasons they doubt that Magele signed his own affidavit, and so wanted Magele to sign his name again on a piece of paper just to verify his signature.<\/p>\n

Counsel for the respondent Alex Su\u2019a objected;<\/p>\n

\u201cYour Honour, my friend needs to lay the foundation as to why this is an issue, he is now challenging the signature when the witness had already confirmed it as his signature,\u201d said Su\u2019a.<\/p>\n

Leiatauales\u0101 countered saying he could lay the foundation, but he needed to confirm the witness signature.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have reason to believe the witness cannot sign his name and that is basically the reason why I\u2019m trying to get him just to sign his name and compare it to the signature on his affidavit,\u201d argued Leiatauales\u0101.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do not think that is an issue because he is now giving evidence in Court and that is his evidence,\u201d said Justice Tafaoimalo Leilani Tuala-Warren.<\/p>\n

Leiatauales\u0101 continued to argue that the witness credibility could be questioned.<\/p>\n

Chief Justice Satiu Simativa Perese intervened and pointed out the difficulty in Leiatauales\u0101\u2019s argument.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe difficulty you have with this issue is, you are not a signature specialist,\u201d said His Honour.<\/p>\n

Leiatauales\u0101 tried to point out that he didn\u2019t say he\u00a0was but His Honour advised him to put to the witness the consequence of perjury and asked the question again.<\/p>\n

Counsel then withdrew the original application for the witness to sign, but then asked to verify if that was his signature on the affidavit.<\/p>\n

The case continues and the respondent has two more witnesses as others will not be giving evidence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Lagi Keresoma APIA, SAMOA \u2013 10 JUNE 2021: Three witnesses in the on-going election petition filed by former Cabinet Minister Gatoloaifa\u2019ana Amataga Gidlow,\u00a0have testified that they each received money from the petitioner as an enticement for them to vote for her. The petition is against Magele Sekati Fiaui who unseated Gatoloaifa\u2019ana after 15 years […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6502,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[182,177,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-court","category-latest","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nWitnesses Allege Former Cabinet Minister Gave Money to Entice Voters \u00a0 - Talamua Online<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/talamua.com\/?p=6501\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Witnesses Allege Former Cabinet Minister Gave Money to Entice Voters \u00a0 - Talamua Online\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Lagi Keresoma APIA, SAMOA \u2013 10 JUNE 2021: Three witnesses in the on-going election petition filed by former Cabinet Minister Gatoloaifa\u2019ana Amataga Gidlow,\u00a0have testified that they each received money from the petitioner as an enticement for them to vote for her. 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