During the closing statements at last night’s Gubernatorial Forum hosted by the American Samoa Bar Association, Governor Lemanu Peleti Mauga referred to the issue of the $36 million.
Speaking in Samoan he said in their view, if they break the law or incur debt but in the process there is benefit for the people, that is their pledge to offer themselves to be of service to the territory. He said he knows many are thinking about the $36million, and there were overtures during the forum about this. But he declared, “If I am locked up because of using money without following the law, if the people benefitted from this spending, to me, that is our tautua, service for the people.”
ASG generated a surplus of $36 million for Fiscal Year 2023 and the administration spent the funds without Fono approval. Subsequently the Governor submitted a bill to authorize the spending, after the fact, which the Fono approved. An Independent Prosecutor is now investigating the spending of the $36 million.
