Afioga Lesatele Rapi (died December 1979) was a
Western Samoan chief and politician. He was a member of the
Legislative Assembly and served in the cabinet three times between 1967 and his death.
Biography
Rapi was elected to the Legislative Assembly in the
1957 elections. He was a member of the
1960 Constitutional Assembly and a signatory of the independence constitution. He was re-elected in
1961
Events January
* January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union.
* January 3
** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...
and ran unopposed in the
1964 elections. After being re-elected unopposed again in the
1967 elections he was appointed Minister for Works and Transport by Prime Minister
Fiame Mata'afa. Despite being re-elected unopposed in the
1970 elections, he was left out of the cabinet of new Prime Minister
Tupua Tamasese
Tupua Tamasese, formally known as Tupua, is a State (polity), state dynasty and one of the four paramount Fa'amatai, chiefly titles of Samoa, known as the ''Tamaʻāiga, tama a ʻāiga''. It is the titular head of one of Samoa's two ...
.
Mata'afa returned as Prime Minister following the
1973 elections
The following elections occurred in the year 1973.
Africa
* 1973 Cameroonian parliamentary election
* 1973 Equatorial Guinean legislative election
* 1973 Ethiopian general election
* 1973 Gabonese general election
* 1973 Republic of the Congo con ...
and Rapi was appointed Minister of Lands. Returned unopposed again in
1976
Events January
* January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 18 – Full diplomatic ...
, he was not included in the new government of
Tupuola Efi. However, he returned as Minister of Lands and Survey following the
February 1979 elections; prior to his appointment to the cabinet he had voted for Efi and against his brother
Va'ai Kolone in the vote for Prime Minister, which Efi won by a single vote.
He died in the national hospital in December 1979 after collapsing outside the Legislative Assembly, survived by his wife Tiresa and twelve children.
Lesatele Rapi
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', February 1980, p73
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rapi, Lesatele
Samoan chiefs
Members of the Legislative Assembly of Samoa
Government ministers of Samoa
1979 deaths