Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A post on social media is highlighting the Pula and Pulu Administration’s continuing problems it has with appointing or nominating people to be heads of government departments and offices. The problems seem to stem from the nominees themselves, as well as from the manner in which nomination appointments are being conducted.

While no one in the Fono has gone on record when rejecting the administration’s nominees — that is, giving specific reasons — but instead defeat the appointments in secret ballots, the background noise is loud with age, lack of credibility, and conflicts of interest being discussed.

First nominations defeated in secret ballot were for the Department of Marine Wildlife Resources, Department of Parks & Recreation, Procurement Office, Budget Office, and the Office of Financial Institutions Office.

However, with the post on social media, another layer of difficulty has come to light. The latest gerfuffle involves Governor Pulaali’i Nikolau Pula’s alleged appointment of Mrs. Kathy Saelua to be Budget Director.

According to the post by Mrs. Saelua’s child, Mikaela Saelua, her mother was called by Gov. Pulaali’i on April 14, 2025 to meet, and at the meeting which included Lt. Governor Pulumatala Ae Ae, Jr. she was offered the position of Budget director. She said yes at the meeting and then spent the next two weeks prepping for the move.

Mikaela says that “April 28 comes around, the start date they discussed, and she goes into the office, greets the staff, and lets them know she’s back. But no memo ever came out that day, so she doesn’t sign anything. Just waits.

“Later that day, she calls to check in. The Governor says, ‘Oh, I thought you were starting in May.’ Then he tells her to just start Monday, May 5. She says that’s fine.

“Then on Saturday, May 3, he calls again—and this time, he says HE’S CHANGED HIS MIND. His advisors told him not to appoint her since she used to be an L&L Director.”

Mikaela points out that “he has a whole conversation with her about a new start date, and 2 days before, he decides to pull the offer.”

As Mikaela notes, “E le’o gi kamaiki lae fai ai kou kogu, o kagaka ua afu tautua mo le malo o Amerika Samoa!”

Mikaela calls it unprofessional, inconsiderate, “and honestly, a reflection of what we already see, your poor leadership.”

The P&P Administration is currently looking at the head of Parks & Recreation and the Commissioner of the Office of Financial Institutions nominations to be re-introduced when the Fono comes back into session this coming July. There is also a possibility that the heads of the offices/ agencies under the Governor’s Office will also be coming up for confirmation during the same Fono session.

DMWR and Procurement have had their second round of nominees confirmed, while as noted by the social media post, the Administration seems to be once again on the hunt for a Budget Office director.

Samoa News should point out that according to Mikaela, her mother applied when the P&P Administration “first released applications … when they said they want to consider all qualified individuals.”

It’s also noted that Samoa News has not been able to obtain a comment from the current administration about Mrs. Saelua’s appointment incident.

In addition, there are claims that the same sort of incident happened with at least two other appointments for department/ office heads, where a person was offered the position and it was then withdrawn at the last minute. Neither individual posted or has come forth to publicize their demise.

As Mikaela commented at the beginning of her media post, “E gaka fo’i le ogosai. I’m not letting this slide without saying something.”