Loau Solamalemalo Keneti Sio (born

Apia Apia () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Samoa. It is located on the central north coast of Upolu, Samoa's second-largest island. Apia falls within the political district (''itūmālō'') of Tuamasaga. The Apia Urban A ...

, 3 April 1964) is a

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

n politician, former

Cabinet Minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ' prime minister', ' p ...

, and rugby union player. He is a member of the

Human Rights Protection Party The Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP, ) is a Samoan political party. It was founded in 1979 and dominated Samoan party politics for decades thereafter, leading every government until their defeat in 2021. Former Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele ...

(HRPP).

Early life

Loau was educated at Faleula Primary School before studying at

Samoa College Samoa College is a secondary education, secondary school in Samoa officially opened in 1953. It is Mixed-sex education, co-educational and teaches from years 9 to 13. It is in Apia on the island of Upolu and is considered the main college in the co ...

. He worked in a bank and as a farmer and fisherman. Outside of the field, he worked as a flight attendant.

Rugby career

His first cap for

was against

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 ...

, at Apia, on 26 May 1988 and his last international cap was against

, at Moamoa, on 4 June 1994. Loau represented Samoa for a total of 12 years, including at the

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

and

1995 Rugby World Cup The 1995 Rugby World Cup (), was the third Rugby World Cup. It was hosted and won by South Africa, and was the first Rugby World Cup in which every match was held in one country. The World Cup was the first major sporting event to take place in ...

tournaments, though he did not take part at both tournaments.

Political career

Loau was first elected to the

Legislative Assembly of Samoa The Legislative Assembly (), also known as the Parliament of Samoa (), is the national legislature of Samoa, seated at Apia, where the country's central administration is situated. Samoan Parliament is composed of two parts: the O le Ao o le M ...

as an independent at the

2006 Samoan general election General elections were held in Samoa on 31 March 2006 to determine the composition of the List of members of the Legislative Assembly of Samoa (2001–2006), 14th Parliament. The main contesting parties were that of incumbent Prime Minister Tuil ...

. He joined the HRPP and was appointed Associate Minister of Education. In November 2009 he was charged with threatening to kill over a shooting incident in the village of Faleula; the charge was dismissed in 2010. He subsequently lost his seat in the 2011 election. Loau was re-elected in

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

and appointed Minister of Education, Sports and Culture. As Minister of Education he unsuccessfully attempted to reintroduce

corporal punishment A corporal punishment or a physical punishment is a punishment which is intended to cause physical pain to a person. When it is inflicted on Minor (law), minors, especially in home and school settings, its methods may include spanking or Padd ...

in schools, and opposed sex education. In July 2019, the New Zealand

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

weightlifter Weightlifting or weight lifting generally refers to physical exercises and sports in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells, barbells or machines. People engage in weightlifting for a variety of different reasons. These can ...

Laurel Hubbard Laurel Hubbard (born 9 February 1978) is a New Zealand weightlifter. Selected to compete at the 2020 Summer Olympics, she was the first openly transgender woman to compete in the Olympic Games. Prior to making her Olympic debut, Hubbard achieve ...

was awarded two gold medals at the

2019 Pacific Games The 16th Pacific Games (), also known as Apia 2019, were held from 7 to 20 July 2019. The Games were held in Apia, Samoa, returning there for the first time since 2007. It was the third time overall that the Pacific Games were held in Samoa. The ...

which were held in Samoa. Loau, speaking as the Samoa 2019 chairman, said that the decision to allow Hubbard to compete was "unfair" and added that "We all know that it is not fair to the women lifters but that is a reality we face in the world of sports". Loau was re-elected in the

2021 Samoan general election General elections were held in Samoa on 9 April 2021 to determine the composition of the 17th Parliament. The Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP), which had been in government for most of the time since 1982, was led into the election by Tui ...

. On 12 July 2021 he agreed to resign as part of the settlement of an election petition. On 20 July the agreement was rescinded, and the petition proceeded to trial. Loau successfully retained his seat. Following the

2021 Samoan by-elections Six simultaneous by-elections were held in Samoa on 26 November 2021. They were called in the aftermath of the 2021 Samoan general election, which resulted in seven seats being vacant due to resignations and convictions for bribery and treatin ...

Loau publicly called for Tuila'epa and other HRPP senior leaders to step aside.

Personal life

Loau is married to Malama Sio and they have four children. He is a member of the

Congregational Christian Church The Congregational Christian Churches was a Protestant Christian denomination that operated in the U.S. from 1931 through 1957. On the latter date, most of its churches joined the Evangelical and Reformed Church in a merger to become the United Ch ...

and the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

in Faleula. In June 2024 Loau and his wife were charged with assault, making threats, and being armed by Samoan police following a family dispute.

Notes

References

External links

Keneti Sio international stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sio, Keneti 1964 births Sportspeople from Apia Samoan rugby union players Rugby union centres Samoa international rugby union players Samoan Congregationalists Members of the Legislative Assembly of Samoa Living people Culture ministers of Samoa Education ministers of Samoa Sports ministers of Samoa Human Rights Protection Party politicians