Lisiate Aloveita Akolo is a

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

n politician, Member of the Legislative Assembly of Tonga and former

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

in the

Tongan Cabinet The Cabinet of Tonga is the cabinet (executive branch) of the government of the Kingdom of Tonga. It is composed primarily of the ministers of government. The latter, including the Prime Minister, are appointed by the monarch. The Governor of ...

. Lisiate is a graduate of

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Z ...

and American University. He worked for the Tonga Commodities Board and Tongan Development Bank, before becoming CEO of the South Pacific Tourism Organization in 2000. In October 2006 he was appointed to the

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

as Minister for Labour, Commerce and Industries, under Prime Minister

Feleti Sevele Feleti Vakaʻuta Sevele, Lord Sevele of Vailahi (born 7 July 1944) was the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Tonga from 30 March 2006 to 22 December 2010. Biography Early life Lord Sevele was born in Ma’ufanga, Nuku’alofa. He began his h ...

. He stood in the 2010 election in the seat of

Vavaʻu 14 Vavaʻu 14 is an electoral constituency for the Legislative Assembly in the Kingdom of Tonga. It was established for the November 2010 general election, when the multi-seat regional constituencies for People's Representatives were replaced by ...

and was successful. New Prime Minister

Lord Tuʻivakanō Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...

retained him in Cabinet as Minister for Labour, Commerce and Industries. On September 1, 2011, he was reshuffled to the Ministry for Police, Prisons and Fire Services. On May 1, 2012, at his own request, he was reshuffled to the position of

. He developed a reputation as a financial conservative who didn't want to see Tonga overwhelmed by debt repayments."Tonga's finance minister sacked after defying order to quit"
Radio Australia, 9 January 2014 He was also the lead Spokesperson for Pacific ACP States' negotiations with the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been ...

on a comprehensive Economic partnership agreement. On 9 January 2014, Akolo was fired from his position as Minister for Finance after publicly criticizing aspects of the budget. He was replaced by

ʻAisake Eke ʻAisake Valu Eke is a Tongan politician and former Cabinet Minister. Eke studied at the University of Southern Queensland in Australia, where he was awarded a PhD for his thesis "An exploratory study on the quality of service in the public sec ...

Honours

;National honours * The_Most_Illustrious_Order_of_Queen_Salote_Tupou_III_Member

Order of Queen Sālote Tupou III The ''Most Illustrious'' Order of Queen Sālote Tupou III is a knighthood order of the Kingdom of Tonga. History The Order was established on 28 June 2008 by His Late Majesty King George Tupou V to commemorate the grand figure of his grandmot ...

, Grand Cross (31 July 2008).

References

Members of the Legislative Assembly of Tonga Living people Victoria University of Wellington alumni American University alumni Ministers of finance of Tonga Government ministers of Tonga People from Vavaʻu Tongan chief executives Year of birth missing (living people) Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Queen Sālote Tupou III {{Tonga-politician-stub