Sala Fata Pinati | |
Office3: | Minister of Tourism |
Primeminister3: | Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi |
Term Start3: | 30 June 2016 |
Term End3: | 24 May 2021 |
Predecessor3: | Lautafi Fio Selafi Purcell |
Successor3: | Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa |
Office4: | Minister of Police |
Term Start4: | 21 March 2011 |
Term End4: | 25 November 2016 |
Predecessor4: | Toleafoa Apulu Faafisi |
Successor4: | Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi |
Office5: | Minister of Prisons |
Term Start5: | 21 March 2011 |
Term End5: | 30 June 2016 |
Predecessor5: | Toleafoa Apulu Faafisi |
Successor5: | Tialavea Tionisio Hunt |
Constituency Mp10: | Sagaga No. 3 |
Parliament10: | Samoa |
Term Start10: | 9 April 2021 |
Predecessor10: | None (seat created) |
Constituency Mp11: | Gagaemauga No. 1 |
Parliament11: | Samoa |
Term Start11: | 31 March 2006 |
Term End11: | 9 April 2021 |
Predecessor11: | Tuala Ainiu Iusitino |
Successor11: | Tuala Iosefo Ponifasio |
Party: | Human Rights Protection Party |
Sala Fata Pinati is a Samoan politician and former Cabinet Minister. He is a member of the Human Rights Protection Party.
Pinati was previously a member of the board of the Development Bank of Samoa.[1] He was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Samoa at the 2006 Samoan general election, and appointed Associate Minister of Agriculture.[1] In 2007, he became Associate Minister of Education, and then from 2008 - 2010 he served as Associate Minister of Finance.[1] Following the 2011 election he was prosecuted for bribery, but the charge was later dropped.[2] In March 2011 he was appointed to Cabinet as Minister of Police and Prisons.[3] During this term he separated management of prisons from the police, establishing an independent Samoa Prisons and Corrections Services.[4]
He was re-elected at the 2016 election,[5] and retained his position as Minister of Police and Prisons.[6] [7] Following the election, he was again prosecuted for bribery,[8] but the charge was again withdrawn.[9] A Cabinet reshuffle in June 2016 saw him lose his Prisons portfolio to Tialavea Tionisio Hunt, instead becoming Minister of Tourism and the Public Trust Office.[10] A further reshuffle in November 2016 saw him lose his Police portfolio to Prime Minister Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi and pick up responsibility for the Audit Office and Bureau of Statistics.[11]
He ran in the newly created Sagaga No. 3 electorate at the 2021 election and was elected.