Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa has denied any knowledge of a commission of inquiry into the ongoing national power crisis, contradicting earlier statements by the Minister of Works, Transport and Infrastructure, Olo Fiti Vaai.

In a press conference addressing the country's power outages, Fiame was asked if there were plans to proceed with a commission of inquiry, as proposed by Olo. The Prime Minister responded that more urgent matters relating to the crisis needed immediate attention.

She added that the Minister is currently overseas, and she was unaware of how he had communicated his views on the inquiry.

“I’m unaware of how he (Minister) made his views on an inquiry known,” said Fiame.

Her comments directly conflicted with Olo's remark last week, who told the Samoa Observer via telephone from Fiji that he had already emailed the cabinet and the Prime Minister, recommending a commission of inquiry.

Olo claimed he was not made aware of the severity of the power issues before his departure and accused the Electric Power Corporation (EPC) of withholding accurate information.

“I have received different information on the current situation and an inquiry will find out exactly what is happening,” said the Minister.

Fiame, however, said that referring to the investigation as a “commission of inquiry” might be excessive and financially burdensome.

“It’s a lot easier just to get an explanation on what happened,” she said.

The Prime Minister confirmed that the cabinet had convened since her return to the country and she was briefed on the worsening electricity crisis.

She said what began as issues with high-voltage lines has now escalated to generator failures, resulting in a shortfall of 10 megawatts (MW) from normal electricity consumption levels.

As a result, power rationing has been implemented nationwide, with different areas being sacrificed to maintain supply in others while the country awaits the arrival of rented generators.