Six top jobs in Government have been advertised with two currently vacant after the incumbent position holders resigned before the end of their three-year contracts.

The six C.E.O. positions advertised are at the Ministry of Women, Community and Social Development, Samoa Airport Authority (SAA, Samoa Ports Authority, Samoa Life Assurance Corporation (S.L.A.C.), Electric Power Corporation (E.P.C.), and the Samoa Law Reform Commission (S.L.R.C.). 

The top job at the M.W.C.S.D. became vacant after the former C.E.O. Dr. Mema Motusaga resigned from her position in September this year. 

Dr. Motusaga tendered her resignation on the back of an investigation by the Public Service Commission (P.S.C.) into "government processes" and allegations of not adhering to a 2017 Cabinet directive that banned the use of the ministry's local budget to fund capacity-building workshops for government agencies. She was appointed to the C.E.O. position at the ministry in March 2022. 

As for the Samoa Airport Authority, the incumbent C.E.O. Silimana'i Ueta Solomona tendered his resignation to take up a regional job with the Pacific Aviation Safety Office (P.A.S.O.) based in Port Vila, Vanuatu. 

Silimana'i – who was re-appointed for a second term in office in March 2022 – resigned from his post which goes into effect this month.

The three other positions advertised, as the three-year tenure of the senior bureaucrats comes close to ending, including the S.L.A.C. as well as the E.P.C. and S.P.A. The due date for applications for the vacancies at the S.P.A. as well as the S.A.A. and S.L.A.C. is 3 November 2023 whereas for the S.L.R.C. and the M.W.C.S.D. 24 November 2023.

The top position at the S.L.R.C. has been vacant for over a year following the resignation of the former commissioner. While the position was advertised by the P.S.C. in a special advertisement last week, the responsible Minister in a recent interview with this newspaper over three weeks ago said that the recruitment process for the top position is on hold due to a review undertaken by the Commission.

Speaking to this newspaper, Matamua Vasati Pulufana, the Minister for Justice and Courts Administration with oversight for the S.L.R.C. said the P.S.C. is conducting an organisational review of the commission hence the delay in recruiting a new executive director. 

"But we are waiting for the review to be completed and the P.S.C. to make progress on the recruitment process," she said last month.