Assassination: ‘try and keep on playing’

Swimming with Sharks Chapter 2.2

On the night of 16 July, 1999 a ball at St Joseph College Hall in Apia marked HRPP’s 20th birthday. Luagalau Levaula Kamu, minister of works, was master of ceremony. 

He had done a law degree in New Zealand and when home he interned at Savali, trying out journalism and politics in a single sweep. A popular figure, he was married to a lawyer who had greater cachet in Sāmoa because she was a pastor’s daughter.

As he introduced the prime minister to the ball, his cell phone rang. He stepped to the back of the stage and down some steps. 

It was his niece Sina wanting to know where the ball was. Sina could hear Tuila’epa’s speech in the background. 

‘Don’t you not come,’ Luagalau told her after giving her instructions.