Lisiate Aloveita Akolo is a

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

n politician, Member of the

Legislative Assembly of Tonga The Legislative Assembly of Tonga () is the unicameral legislature of Tonga. History A Legislative Assembly providing for representation of nobles and commoners was established in 1862 by King George Tupou I. This body met every four years ...

and former Minister of Finance in the Tongan Cabinet. Lisiate is a graduate of

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington (), also known by its shorter names "VUW" or "Vic", is a public university, public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and w ...

and

American University The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...

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

Feleti Sevele Feleti Vakaʻuta Sevele, Lord Sevele of Vailahi (born 7 July 1944) is a Tongan politician who served as the prime minister of Tonga from 30 March 2006 to 22 December 2010. Biography Early life Lord Sevele was born in Maʻufanga, Nukuʻalofa. H ...

. He stood in the 2010 election in the seat of Vavaʻu 14 and was successful. New Prime Minister Lord Tuʻivakanō 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 Minister of Finance. 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 union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

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.

Honours

;National honours * The_Most_Illustrious_Order_of_Queen_Salote_Tupou_III_Member

Order of Queen Sālote Tupou III, 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