Call the police. That is the best solution to determine what has become of the $50,000 from the Aana Alofi No.1’s $1 million district grant. Public funds have once again come under the lens with the district grants.

Amazingly, $50,000 from the district grant was used as an investment at the Unit Trust of Samoa. Even more amazing is that it was withdrawn without the knowledge of the people of the district.

The investment is amongst some of the issues raised by the Aana Alofi No.1 constituency in a letter addressed to their MP, Fesolai Apulu Tusiupu,  Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mataafa, Minister for Women, Community and Social Development Lagaaia Tiatuau Tufuga and several other officials.

At the meeting, villagers said the MP Fesolai admitted the $50,000 in UTOS was withdrawn, claiming it was used for other “projects” due to the delay in disbursement of the third million. The MP allegedly told villagers he had written to MWCSD to inform them of the withdrawal of the fund, but the district was not notified.

But according to the letter of concern from the district, the MP had told a church minister’s seminar in February, when queried about the UTOS investment, that it was secure and would be disbursed by the end of 2025.

This is yet another example of how district grants are being allegedly misused. This goes back to the call for more transparency and accountability for the use of district grants. Accountability for the funds is virtually missing. This is reflected in the failure of the government and the district councils to release audited financial reports to the public.

There is more abuse of the funds, according to the letter written by the district council. It is very worrying to note that the committee had agreed to equally disburse the $420,000 from the second million to four villages for their development.

However, it was claimed that the funding was instead directed to church ministers and their church, while promises to use the grant for school fees had not been fulfilled. If this is true, then it is wrong on almost every level. The churches and church ministers in this country are more privileged than most people. Church ministers do not have to pay income taxes while earning far more than the average person. Every church project is done through fundraising, where families are levied a compulsory amount, and every church minister and his family are given preferential treatment.

There were also questions surrounding a tree planting initiative where the district received $20,000. The electorates claimed that they were told the $20,000 came from the $1 million district development project. The matai of Aana Alofi No.1 demanded that the MP provide a financial statement for the second $1 million, a statement from UTOS on the investment and financials on the $20,000 tree planting initiative.

There is more than enough reason to complain to the police about the misuse of funds. From what we have seen about the misuse of public funds. Let this not be like other cases of misuse of funds where reports are made by ministries and the outcome is something else, just like what happened to the missing funds in Savaii. Furthermore, in 2024, other senior matai raised concerns about a conflict of interest in using the MP’s residence to house the district council office, where the lease was paid to him.

Corruption is corruption, there is no other name to describe it. Those who are corrupt have to be called out, and a good government must hold them accountable.