Tole’afoa Mara steps up

Businesswoman, Tole’afoa Mara Hunter, is stepping into the world of politics, announcing her candidacy for the Vaimauga Urban East seat in March’s General Election.

The 55-year-old said she was contesting the election to get more women involved in politics.

“I think most Samoans want to serve their country at a certain point,” said Tole’afoa.

“But I think women are generally less proactive. I believe women are very capable but most don’t tend to come forward until we think there is a real need for us to step forward. We tend to let things go if we see it go well and if we see that our nation needs help and family need some kind of defence then women move to the floor…that is how I feel at the moment.”

The mother of four stressed the need for women to step up to get their voices heard.

“There are things happening to our country that may not happen as much if women were more involved in decisionmaking,” she said.

“I do think that women tend to speak out more for what is right without worrying to belong to a certain group or tribe.

“We are more that type of character and we need more women that can do that. The recent incidents of murders and domestic violence and young girls being banished from villages for being pregnant, it’s all signs of us not stepping up.”

Domestic violence is a main issue that needs to be tackled.

According to Toleafoa, when a mother or wife is abused it affects the whole family.

“We just can’t afford to cripple our family and society that way,” she said.

“Our women can contribute in so many ways in raising children and providing family that they need our protection.”

The question of whether she will support the current ruling party or run against it was not an “issue” for the candidate.

Toleafoa pointed out it’s more important for her to learn the issues of her constituency and community, rather than talking about which party she will side with.

She is running as an Independent member, while she considers which party she will support. In terms of developments, Toleafoa aims to address the issues of clean and safe water for all families in the urban area.

Education is another part of her campaign. She said the education system needed to be enlarged so it could be more relevant to the main strategic area of agriculture and tourism in Samoa.

“Generally it’s very academic and whist we don’t want to dilute it in any way, the reality is we can only take so many students from University level and the rest which is roughly over 80 percent may not be able to gain employment,” explained Toleafoa.

“I’d really love to see more home economics, carpentry and some of those nations-building trades earlier, rather than wait until they get to year 12. That way, when children do decide they do not want to stay in that area, they have a starting point in tourism or agriculture. So it’s a question of giving useful experience to our young people.”

Toleafoa wanted to see steps taken to help develop the private sector.

An active member of the tourism sector and owner of Alaimoana hotel, she said the sector was hurting at the moment.

“It would really help businesses in Samoa, not specifically hoteliers, if private sector [businesses] work closely with banks to create a financial gateway that allows a website to take booking in real time and take money from guests whilst making bookings and put it straight in accounts,” said the businesswoman.

She spoke about a meeting she attended in Auckland, where the data collected indicated guests making bookings to travel overseas were mainly women, doing it on their phones expecting confirmation within minutes.

“That really cuts out all of us in Samoa and it could explain why our occupancy rates are low and why people are not making that commitment to come to Samoa as they should,” she explained.

“Even though the private sector is working hard, some of these structures need to change and [we] need to advocate for the private sector in order for business to happen. If the private sector does well we can employ more people and there would be more money in terms of tax, N.P.F, A.C.C. and the economy gets better.

“That is one example of where I think we could work together better to create a more robust and successful private sector and economy in Samoa.”

She added the private sector was going through a hard time at the moment and could do better by understanding their overseas-based clients.

“We can only do so much internally and a lot of businesses are hurting at the moment. We need to work with government to ensure that investment that so many families invested in is appreciated and encouraged to grow and develop.”

Toleafoa is from the villages of Vaiala, Vaigaga, Afega, Letogo and Vailele.

She grew up in Samoa and received her degree in Maths and Science Education at the University of Papua New Guinea.

She received her Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Queensland.

She worked mainly in the private sector, being the owner of Alaimoana Hotel, and does volunteer work in sports and mediation, which is conflict resolution.