Results for Tonga

A day after Tongatapu's one-week lockdown was lifted on Monday night, November 2, over 3,900 senior students began sitting their National Examinations throughout Tonga.

Dr. Viliami Toalei Manu has been reappointed as the Chief Executive Officer for the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forests, starting November 1 for two-years.

Vailoa Kavaliku (56), a town officer of Kolofo'ou, was sentenced today to one-year imprisonment sentence for causing serious causing bodily harm, when he hit a man on the head using a piece of timber in Kolofo'ou. The sentence was fully suspended.

Nuku'alofa’s Supreme Court has thrown out a civil claim by a former Prime Minister, Lord Tu'ivakano, who was seeking $5.75 million pa'anga in damages from the Kingdom of Tonga and others, for alleged “malicious prosecution” of him on criminal charges relating to the so-called ‘Tongan Passports Scandal’. The Lord Chief Justice M. H. Whitten, in a 78-page judgment on 28 October, set out details of how the passports investigation began and listed evidence collected by the Serious Organised Transnational Crime Unit. “I find that there was no evidence of any improper purpose for the prosecution. The only purpose discernible from the evidence was the proper invocation of the criminal law,” he stated.

Viliami Malolo Talivakaola (43) was fined for the importation without a licence of restricted goods, namely 14,928 .22 rounds of ammunition, and possession without a licence of 131 rounds of .22 ammunition, in Vava'u. Other charges relating to unlawful importation of six firearms, shipped from the United States, were dropped by the Crown.

A COVID-19 test result that is a “weak positive” is not a “false positive”, Ministry of Health CEO Dr Siale ‘Akau’ola confirmed to Matangi Tonga today. He was responding to public comments regarding the meaning of the test results from Tonga's first COVID case.

Halatu’u Palei was fined $450 pa’anga or in default face one month imprisonment for unlawful importation of a .22 rifle and 1080 rounds of ammunition seized in Vava'u.

If you are thinking of posting a parcel to Granny in Tonga this Christmas – please think again - because your loved one now has to pay the cost of a sizeable turkey to collect a small personal package from the Post Office – even if it is a gift. Customers at the Post Office, along with some officers who have to enforce the rules, are not happy with the new procedures. This is not surprising, when very small personal gifts worth $10 can cost over $100 to clear and when times are extra tough. Customs says its because of their war on drugs. By Mary Lyn Fonua.

At this stage there is no delay to Tonga’s General Election scheduled for November 18, Electoral Commissioner, Pita Vuki, told Matangi Tonga today, despite the week-long lockdown on Tongatapu restricting candidates from campaigning.