Prime Minister Pōhiva Tu’i’onetoa said the chair of the Shared Communication Boards is getting the axe for underperformance.
An official statement sent to media outlet said: “The grounds for the termination are incompetence; failure to assist the Public Enterprises to act accordingly with its principal objective; acting in bad faith, and failure to follow the due process in appointing of CEO for Tonga Broadcasting Commission.”
The Shared Communication Boards included the Tonga Broadcasting Commission (TBC), Tonga Communication Cooperation (TCC), and the Tonga Post & Fast Print Ltd (TPFPL).
His Majesty’s cabinet decided on 22 November, 2019 to terminate Piukala’s contract.
It came after a direction by the late ‘Akilisi Pōhiva government to appoint Piukala to lead its electronic government reform process has been recently revoked.
In that termination, it said “the proposed appointment of Mr Piveni Piukala was handpicked and without proper due processes.”
It said there was “no agreed Terms of Reference in place,” a cabinet statement said.
“Mr Piukala did not meet the set criteria of the World Bank, the funding agency for the project i.e. the educational and professional work achievements stipulated by the World Bank policy that the Lead Consultant should have.”
