Coverage by the Samoa Observer this week has confirmed that leaders in America Samoa have opted to take action to address an incident that raised red flags about the territory’s maritime security.

After months of coverage by this newspaper on the Kite Runner controversy – which began in late April this year when a Pago Pago-based pleasure boat entered Samoan territorial waters without proper documentation – video footage coming out of the U.S. territory this week confirmed that the matter is now before the Senate (which is Samoa’s equivalent of a parliamentary committee).

An article (Official questioned in Pago over Kite Runner) in yesterday’s edition of the Samoa Observer reported on an American Samoa government official Letitia "Tish" Peau-Folau appearing before the Senate early this week to answer questions on her role in the Kite Runner saga. She is currently the Acting Director of the American Samoa Historic Preservation Office and admitted during the Senate hearing that she is related to Papali'i Lauli'i Alofa, the President and owner of Paramount Builders Inc. in American Samoa. 

Questioned by Senator Tuaolo Manaia Fruean during the Senate hearing, the American Samoa legislator also raised concerns that the Kite-Runner saga was “blown out of proportion” and questioned why she was caught in the middle of the controversy.

Senator Tuaolo said the Attorney General of the American Samoa government would also be questioned by the Senate regarding the issue while adding that he was of the view that Peau-Folau works for a private company and not for the government. 

The questioning of the official in the American Samoa Senate on Wednesday this week (Tuesday American Samoa Time) follows the conclusion of an investigation by the territory’s Department of Homeland Security (D.H.S.) with its findings and recommendations compiled in a report submitted to the Attorney General last week.

According to the D.H.S. report, the offices of the Minister of Communication, and Information Technology, Toelupe Poumulinuku Onesemo and the Minister of Works, Transport and Technology, Olo Fiti Va'ai assisted Peau-Folau in obtaining a certificate of clearance (COC) for the return trip of the Kite Runner to American Samoa after it had already entered Samoan territorial waters and to the Matautu and Savai'i ports.

It is clear from the action taken by American Samoa’s Senate this week that they are keen to get to the bottom of the matter, while Samoa’s Fa’atuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) administration tragically has not shown the same level of determination despite the admission by the Prime Minister, Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa that local laws were broken. The clearance paperwork should have been obtained prior to the pleasure boat leaving Pago Pago for Apia. 

Does Samoa’s maritime and border security matter any more to the current Government? Or did it choose to push back any further investigations or Government-sanctioned statements on the Kite Runner because of the involvement of its two senior Cabinet Ministers whose offices and officers were mentioned in the D.H.S. report?

It is embarrassing that Samoan citizens demanding accountability over the Kite Runner saga have to rely on the neighbouring U.S. territory for more details on how and where the maritime border breaches occurred and who was involved – when Samoa has its own institutions set up by law with the appropriate checks and balance mechanisms to take all government officials including Cabinet Ministers to task.

Will the ministerial statement that Prime Minister Fiamē delivered in the Legislative Assembly in June this year, which focused on the various controversies involving her Cabinet Ministers including the Kite Runner, get to be debated by Samoa’s elected representatives so that those who were involved and currently in the employment of the Government be held accountable?

We ask this question because the Kite Runner incident occurred in late April this year and this Friday will mark exactly four months since the illegal entry by the Pago Pago pleasure boat into Samoan territorial waters. 

Looking through the 45-page D.H.S. report, we must say the inquiry, and interview transcripts together with the findings and recommendations by the various State actors in Pago Pago are extensive. In retrospect, the Samoa Government could have also set up a Commission of Inquiry in Apia, as an inquiry would have been in a similar position to throw more light on the saga and make recommendations to fix the gaps in the country’s border security to ensure that there is no repeat.

With the American Samoa Attorney General also appearing before the Senate to answer questions on the Kite Runner, expect more coverage of this embarrassing saga. In hindsight, the current administration in Apia could be wishing that the whole saga just went away, without anyone including the two Cabinet Ministers being held accountable. If that happened it would be a major failure on the part of Samoa’s current Government.