President breaks silence

The President of the Samoa Farmers Incorporated (S.F.I), Afamasaga Fa’amatala Tole’afoa, has ended his silence in relation to questions of accountability in the running of the association.

“There were a few people,” Afamasaga told the Sunday Samoan, “they had their own agendas".

As of yesterday, those “few people” have left S.F.I. They are setting up a rival Association.

Last year, they complained to the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Labour about S.F.I not having an Annual General Meeting for the past six years.

They also questioned what they claimed as the absence of audited accounts.

On Friday, the Ministry finally succeeded in calling a special Annual General Meeting.

Held at the Tu’utu’uileloloto Hall, it was attended by hundreds of farmers from Savai’i and Upolu.

Afamasaga, who is a former Member of Parliament and diplomat, was re-elected President during the meeting.

Humbled and grateful to S.F.I for their faith in him, Afamasaga acknowledged that the negative publicity prior to the meeting as a result of questions from disgruntled members was not good for the Association.

“A lot of these things were said publically but we’ve never replied,” he said.

“The reason for that is this; we did say to the people who did have criticisms (to wait for the) A.G.M. That’s when we will speak and you will see the details”.

Afamasaga said he kept quiet to “protect (the integrity of the Association)” and “avoid the negative publicity”.

“We’ve said from the beginning to discuss these matters in the A.G.M,” he explained.

The President pointed out that their Committee had planned an A.G.M at the beginning of March, in accordance with S.F.I’s Constitution.

“But they didn't (want to),” he said. “They went and sought other means. They went and talked to the media and said a lot of other things that we never replied to.

“We didn't want to feed this fire. It’s in here (during the A.G.M) when the members see the reports, that’s when the issues are cleared, and that’s what happened today”.

During Friday’s meeting, Afamasaga presented audited accounts for four financial years, dating back to 2009.

But these accounts were not discussed.

“The decision to leave the remainder of the accounts for later, to the Association itself, was made by the Ministry,” he said. “They were satisfied that the law and all the requirements had been met”.

Afamasaga said he wanted to go through all the accounts during the special meeting.

“We wanted to go through all the four years.

We had the accounts today provided but we had no say in that (decision to refer the accounts to the Association). The cutting short of the meeting, we had nothing to do with that. We just followed instructions as we have been all along”.

The special meeting was chaired by the Assistant Chief Executive officer of M.C.I.L, Houlton Fa’asau and other officers.

During the meeting, the President presented his report for 2009 -2014.

He highlighted, among other things, the:

• Progressive implementation of strategies and activities with dual focus on working with commercially strong farmers (agri-farms) to spearhead commercial agriculture development.

• Strengthening capacity of smallholder village farmers to supply local export market for: Food Security, Income and employment generation and Export promotion

• Promote formation of farmers group as vehicle for capacity building for small village base farmers

Looking ahead, the President is optimistic.

“F.A.O has a big project they want us to implement because they believe we can implement it,” he said.

“The World Bank will also be very happy because they’ve been waiting for this.”

According to the President, the funds from these projects are for the activities for the benefit of our members.

“That’s the most important thing,” he said. As for the day-to-day running of S.F.I, Afamasaga said the Association would continue to rely on its own subscriptions. “It’s not a lot. These are small farmers”. Lastly, Afamasaga acknowledged the decision to re-elect himself and their Committee.

The fact that the re-election was made by farmers spoke volumes about the work they have doing, Afamasaga said.

“Thank you. They know the work that has been and is being done. You see the people who were here today, they are the farming community of Samoa. They are subsistence farmers, ordinary men and women in the villages. That’s our focus, to help them”.

“We don't lean heavily to one side. There are strong farmers but it appears they are the ones who have been criticising the work that we’ve been doing”.

S.F.I’s Committee members:

President – Afamasaga Fa’amatala Tole’afoa Vice President – Ifopo Matia Filisi Treasurer – Leaupepe Lasa Aiono Secretary –Unasa Iulia Petelo Executive Members – Leuluaiali’i Leota Ituau Ale, Tofilau Frozen, Lemau Eni Chan Mow.