Tonga's up-hill struggle with corruption

'E lava fefe ke u fakangofua ha taha kene fakatotolo'i 'eku 'corruptions' ?. Te u fai hoku tukuingata ke 'oua na'a fokotu'u 'a e 'ofisi ko'eni, he'e tuli au he'eku ngaue......SAIA

A Government that keeps deferring its legal responsibility to set up an Anti-Corruption Commissioner is one that is afraid of its own corruption being brought into the light. This is the only explanation I can think of, of this report that the Tongan Government has set up an Ombudsman rather than an Anti-Corruption Commissioner. And then why was the Ombudsman upset with the news coverage of this 'uphill battle' to set up an Anti-Corruption Commission? The Ombudsman is meant to be the 'public advocate' representing the interest of the public and not the Government. That he was disappointed with the news story and dealt with it the way it was reported here, shows that he himself is not a 'public advocate'. As the public, we need to continue pushing for an Anti-Corruption Commissioner who is independent from the Parliament. For that to happen in the current situation, it seems to me, it will have to be an appointment by the King - a Royal Anti-Corruption Commissioner working with a Royal Anti-Corruption Commission to investigate allegations of mismanagement and mishandling Government assets. But perhaps we need to amend the current Act for this to take place. Rev Dr Ma'afu Palu.