The funeral service for a leading Tongan farmer and exporter Pousima Alexander Tamaha Afeaki (61), who died last week in Wellington, New Zealand, will be held on Friday, 17 November, at the Catholic Church in Tofoa, Tongatapu, his family confirmed.

Pousima was born on 13 October 1962, to parents Sitani Lalio Afeaki and Annette Afeaki. He grew up in New Zealand, where he married Lorraine and they started a family, before returning to Tonga in 1993.

He lived with his family in Tofoa. They developed the Tinopai Farm, a horticulture and exporting business, located in Vaini, and started exporting assorted produce in 1995. Pousima was a leader in developing avenues for agricultural exports from Tonga and in processing agricultural products for new marketplaces. He worked with and alongside a number of agricultural based NGO’s including the Tonga Market Access Working Group, and chaired a working group for the PHAMA Project. He was a respected member of the Tongan business community. 

Pousima assumed the hereditary title, Afeaki, a matāpule (talking chief) serving the King. He was awarded The Royal Order of the Crown of Tonga in the King's birthday honours in 2021, in recognition of his services to Tonga.

He was known among others as a hard working, and generous man, who was very patriotric and dedicated to "langa fonua" building his country from the ground up.

“He loved Tonga… everything he did was for Tonga," a close family member told Matangi Tonga. Afeaki died on Monday 6 November in Wellington.

Afeaki was pre-deceased by his wife Lorraine. He is survived by his mother Annette, and three children, Soakimi, Sarah, and Caroline, and five grandchildren.

- MKS