New Zealand’s first female Professor of Law of Pacific origin, and a former Supreme Court Justice from Samoa, Professor Tafaoimalo Tologata Leilani Tuala-Warren, has been appointed to lead the Te Piringa Faculty of Law at the University of Waikato.
Solomon Islands has appointed its first female oral surgeon, Dr Grace Mali Mamupio.
Stefano Mocci is the newly appointed World Bank Group Country Manager for Fiji. He was until recently, the World Bank Country Manager for the South Pacific and Papua New Guinea.
Florence Williams Samuel has been appointed Vanuatu’s newest Solicitor-General. She succeeds the late Frederick John Gilu.
Solomoni Nata has been appointed the new Chief Executive Officer of Fiji’s iTaukei Land Trust Board on a two-year term.
Kim Jin Hyung is the new Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Tuvalu, Marshall Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia.
Alitia Bainivalu is Fiji’s new Minister for Fisheries and Forests, replacing Kalaveti Ravu.
Five new Ministers in Papua New Guinea have been sworn into Cabinet. They are Belden Namah, Minister of Culture and Tourism and Border Security; Miki Kaeok, Minister of Finance; Kinoka Feo, Minister of Higher Education; Dr Kobby Bomareo, Minister of National Housing; and Thomas Opa, Minister of Energy.
New Zealand-born Paul Heath has been sworn in as a Justice of Appeal in Fiji. In 2011, he served as Judge of the Court of Appeal of Vanuatu.
Tonga’s first Anti-Corruption Commissioner, a New Zealander, Chris LaHatte, has been sworn into office.
Tongan lawyer Mele Fakatouato Mangisi has been appointed the first Executive Director of the Commission.
Fijian Holdings Ltd has appointed Sitiveni Nabuka as the company’s new Group Manager IT. He previously served in Fiji’s public sector as Director for e-Government.
Digicel Papua New Guinea has appointed Tarik Boudiaf as its new Chief Executive Officer.
The Board of the East-West Center has elected former Hawai‘i Governor, John Waihe‘e as its new Chairperson and former US Ambassador to Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and
Vanuatu; Teddy B. Taylor, as a Vice Chair.
Three commissioners of the Nauru Electoral Commission have been appointed. They are Cronisa Baguga, Sylvanna Deireragea and Christine Reiyets. David Detudamo has been appointed Commission Registrar.
The Maritime Safety Authority of Fiji has appointed Savenaca Kadavi and Lui Naisara to its Board of Directors.
Joseph Mangbil has been appointed as the permanent Provincial Administrator of Western Highlands Province in Papua New Guinea.
Motoalii Mulipola Roger Hazelman has been reappointed as Chief Executive Officer of the Samoa Kidney Foundation for a term of three years.
Michelle Harangody has been appointed as an Assistant Specialist focused on the environmental humanities at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa’s Center for Pacific Island Studies.
WWF Pacific’s new Papua New Guinea Office Conservation Programme Manager is Grace Nugi.
Tonga Airports Limited has appointed Edgar Cocker as its new Chief Executive Officer.
James C. Polk has been promoted to the President of Bank of Hawai’i Corporation and its primary operating subsidiary, Bank of Hawai‘i, while Vice Chair, Matthew K.M. Emerson has been appointed Chief Retail Banking Officer.
Bernard Nepou has been appointed Papua New Guinea’s new Correctional Services Commissioner.
Laurentia Bernadette Laracy is the new Company Secretary for the BSP Financial Group Limited. She replaces Pamela Potane.
James Dolarii is the newly appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Solomon Islands Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
ATH Group has elected Attar Singh as Chairperson and Tanya Waqanika as Deputy Chairperson of the ATH Board.
District Court of Guam Chief Judge, Frances Tydingco-Gatewood has promoted Magistrate Judge Michael J. Bordallo to Chair of the Magistrate Judges Executive Board.
Marshall Islands’ President, Hilda C. Heine has accepted Letters of Credence from five new Ambassadors to the Marshall Islands: Laura M. Stone, Resident Ambassador of the United States of America; Maria Fontanel, Ambassador of France; Gilberto Fonseca Guimarāes De Moura, Ambassador of Brazil; Pham Quang Hieu, Ambassador of Vietnam; and Dr Andreas Pfaffernoschke, Ambassador of Germany to the Marshall Islands.
Sele Leota of American Samoa has been appointed as Senior Creative Producer of Entropico, the Los Angeles-based studio that last year produced Netflix’s “ONEFOUR: Against All Odds.”
Naziah Ali Krishna has been elected as Fiji Football Association’s new Vice President.
Marriott Resort Fiji Momi Bay has appointed Sophia Tafo’ou as Food & Beverage Team Leader.
Yang Xiaoguang is China’s new Ambassador to Papua New Guinea.
Heath Bruns has been appointed as the new Country Head of ANZ Solomon Islands.
CARE International in Vanuatu has appointed Wilmaraia Sinumila as its Country Director.
Noan Pakop has been appointed the new Director General for the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency Secretariat. He succeeds Dr Manu Tupou-Roosen, who has led the FFA Secretariat since 2018.
The Reserve Bank of Fiji has announced the appointment of prominent lawyer Wati Seeto as the inaugural Financial Services Ombudsperson.
Special recognition
Cook Islander, Mary Ama has been awarded a prestigious Museum Medal (Companion of Auckland War Memorial Museum) recognising her contributions to Pacific arts and preserving cultural heritage.
Solomon Islands’ sports reporter, Lisa Osifelo has been awarded the Media Excellence Broadcaster of the Year Award by the Media Association of the Solomon Islands for her outstanding reporting and broadcasting skills. She was one of only two women from the Pacific chosen to cover the Paris Olympic Games by ONOC.
Tokelauan Uvean Fijian storyteller, Emele Ugavule has been recognised as the 2024 Emerging Pasifika Writer in Residence at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington’s International Institute of Modern Letters. She is the first Melanesian writer to receive the accolade.
In Memory
Veteran Fijian academic, Dr Tupeni Baba, a former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Education, died at age 82.
Staff across Oxfam in the Pacific came together to mourn the loss of their colleagues, Papua New Guinean, Fabian Gozapao in April, and Solomon Islander, Shabella Rathamana, in July.
Former Pohnpei Senator in the Federated States of Micronesia, Mikail Mike Loyola has been laid to rest.
