This is the highest-spending government within just 7 to nearly 8 months. Millions of the people’s tax money have been lost due to wrong decisions and failure to follow the law and the Constitution of Tonga.
The Government of Hon. Lord Fakafanua faces major financial challenges as the current budget has a deficit of $38 million. This inflation rate of 9.3% is the highest in the history of the Tongan Government. This 9.3% inflation rate is the highest among all governments in the entire Pacific region under this current administration. Energy costs have reached 41% at this time, transport costs have risen to 23%, and electricity prices have increased by 41.3%.
Families will struggle further to secure food and feed their children because prices for commodities and everything else have spiked, while wages in both government and private sectors remain low. This is a painful situation for the citizens given the poor conditions experienced over these 7 to 8 months under this administration, leaving the public questioning these developments.
Meanwhile, Cabinet Ministers continue to travel and spend taxpayer money on unnecessary trips primarily to maximize their travel allowances. Concurrently, the representative for Tongatapu 5 stated in Parliament that a 2024 government trip funded 26 individuals, but only 20 actually traveled abroad to watch sports, costing over a million when accounting for airfare, food, hotel lodging, and other travel expenditures.
However, Lord Fakafanua attempted to state yesterday in Parliament that the audit report belongs to the years 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024, seemingly trying to avoid a debate. Nonetheless, Tongatapu 7 proposed referring it to the committees for further action, which was supported by Tongatapu 5 and Tongatapu 4.
The Prime Minister stated that the audit report is only presented to the Speaker of the House and the Chairman of the Whole House Committee, raising public concerns regarding this operational procedure.
The questions remain:
- Who was the Speaker of Parliament in 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024?
- What is happening to our leaders today?
- Why do you refuse to debate and speak out firmly in Parliament to stop dishonesty, triviality, and the wasteful spending of the poor people’s hard work and energy?
- Who will be held accountable?
