Prime Minister, Tuilaepa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi, has admitted being “careless” with his health in relation to a “scratch” that hospitalised him last month.
And now he has learnt from his experience, he has reminded members of the public about the importance of vaccinations that could save their lives.
Tuilaepa is back in the country after he was sent to New Zealand for medical treatment last month.
“I was very careless,” he told Radio 2AP yesterday, during his first public interview since he was evacuated from Parliament on Wednesday night, 19 March 2014.
The Prime Minister added that vaccinations being promoted and supplied by the National Hospital are “very important, to protect you from being injured by a nail or any other scratch.” As for his condition, he quipped: “Don't say I was sick (instead say that) I was scratched.”
Asked about fears expressed by people close to him that he should still be in bed, taking more time to recover, Tuilaepa said this was not necessary.
“No, it’s finished,” he said about the condition that hospitalised him. “There is no reason why I should rest. You saw me walking here.”
He joked that perhaps he needed a horse to compare his pace to so that people can stop worrying.
“If there was a horse (at the hospital), I would have asked for it to be brought out so I could race it so that the rest will know that everything is spick and span,” he said.
According to the Prime Minister, when he left the country, the rumour mill had it that “I was in a serious condition.”
“I wasn't in a serious condition,” he said, adding that the doctors just wanted to ensure he rested so that the treatment he received would be effective. “Now I have returned and my strength has been restored.”
Told that in his absence, some members of the Opposition party were worried about his ability to continue to lead the government, Tuilaepa said he anticipated something like that.
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“That’s what I was worried about,” he said. “(When I was in hospital) the leader (of the Opposition) came and some members of the opposition came.
“Now if they expressed such an opinion (in my absence), it means they weren’t genuine when they came to visit me, they only came to see when I would die.”
The Prime Minister also denied being diabetic.
“No there was nothing like that,” he said. “If this scratch happened and I had diabetes, I would have flipped already.” The Prime Minister said he is grateful to be back and he thanked everyone for their prayers and support.
“I want to thank our Church leaders, the people of our country, Members of Parliament, Cabinet Ministers and everyone who visited out of their concern,” he said.
“I also want to thank the Opposition, I think they were very genuine when they visited.
“So I want to say thank you all, not just our people in Samoa but also in New Zealand where I was well looked after by our people and church leaders who visited. Only God can reward your kindness.”
HONORARY DOCTORATE
Yesterday, Prime Minister Tuilaepa was honoured by the National University of Samoa (N.U.S.) with an Honorary Doctorate of Philosophy in Economics.
The honour was conferred during the University ’ s graduation.
The N.U.S. award is the second such award for the Prime Minister. In 2012, Victoria University in Wellington New Zealand conferred an Honorary Doctorate of Laws on the Prime Minister.
Asked for his thoughts, he said he was humbled by the honour.
“Universities are very hard to convince,” he said. “But somehow the Victoria University and our University are convinced about the leader of the HRPP… and it’s like that…”
OFFICERS OF PARLIAMENT COMMITTEE REPORT
Getting back to politics, Tuilaepa backed the Speaker’s decision to delay the debate on the Officers of Parliament Committee report.
The report in question confirms instances of “corrupt practises” within some government bodies that were highlighted by the Controller and Chief Auditor’s report.
Before he was hospitalised, Tuilaepa had promised that the report would be debated during last month’s Parliament session.
It wasn't.
“When someone travels overseas, his reports should not be debated unless he returns,” the Prime Minister said yesterday. “Who will answer about these reports when I’m not here? These reports (concerns ministries) under my watch.”
Tuilaepa said he suspects that Palusalue Fa’apo II and his party were keen to debate the report in his absence so “they would have had the freedom to speak about things that are unfounded. So the Speaker made the right decision.”
MANU SAMOA SEVENS
Lastly, the Prime Minister, who is also the Chairman of the Samoa Rugby Union, was asked about the poor performance of the Manu Samoa Sevens lately.
“This close to the Olympics, you’ve seen that a lot of the teams are bringing in their muscly players,” he said.
“But when you look at our players, they need some time to develop their muscles. They are quite tiny. We need sizable players, like the ones of old…” The Prime Minister called for patience.
“Remember the team that won (our first World title), before that they kept on losing games after games. But they got better when the muscles on their arms and legs grew and then they won. Eventually we came out on top.
“So with these new players, we need to be patient. We don't become good right away. We need to keep our focus on the future and allow these players to gain experience.”
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