Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Senators last week unanimously approved the appointment of Motusaga Peleti to the position of Secretary to the Senate, replacing former secretary Leo’o Va’a Ma’o who has been absent for more than a year due to health issues requiring treatment in the mainland.

The matter was raised by Senator Soliai Tuipine Fuimaono in the first week when Fono resumed this year. Leo’o has been a mainstay at the Fono for numerous years.

Senator Magalei Logovi’i moved that the Assistant to the Senate Secretary, Motusaga Peleti who has been Acting Secretary since Secretary Leo’o left, be appointed to the position.

He reasoned that Peleti is well versed in the position’s duties and responsibilities and her vast experience due to her many years of service to the Fono makes her the logical choice.

The motion was put to a vote and was passed unanimously.

In an exclusive interview with the new Senate secretary, she expressed her gratitude to the president and Senate members for their trust and confidence in her.

 “I feel truly blessed and humbled by this honor and I thank God for His blessings and guidance in this part of my life journey,” she acknowledged. “I would also like to thank my former boss Leo’o Va’a Ma’o  for his help and encouragement over the years. I pray for God’s healing over him and hope that he will be able to return home soon.”

Peleti shared that she never thought she would be appointed to this important position, which is why it is very special to her because it is the pinnacle of her 36-year career at the Fono.

She recounted that after graduating from Leone High School in 1983, she continued her education at the American Samoa Community College but did not complete it because she wanted to work to help her parents support their large family.

She was the sixth of ten children born to Saufo’i and Motusaga Alopepe of Ili’ili and was named after her mother.   

She began to work while still in school during summer holidays at the canneries, then after leaving ASCC, she worked first at the Fleet Barstow Library, then at the Office of Motor Vehicles.

Peleti then applied to the Office of the Legislature and was hired as a Proof Reader at the Senate with a salary of $5,000 per annum.

She started working on September 29, 1988 and has been there up to now.

From Proof Reader, she progressed to Clerk/Typist until she was appointed as one of the assistants to the Secretary of the Senate.

She recalled that she worked under three former secretaries — Salilo Levi, Fialupe Lutu and Leo’o V. Ma’o.

She also revealed that she received on-the-job training and had to familiarize herself with the work and how the Fono operates.

 “It was Leo’o who encouraged and pushed me to perform the secretary’s duties during Senate sessions advising me not to feel scared but to speak loudly and clearly,” she recalled. “It was during Honorable Senator Gaoteote Palaie Tofau’s term as Senate president that I first sat in for Leo’o during the Senate session and I was very nervous but thankfully I got through it.”

Considering the important functions of the secretary when the Senate is in session, one would understandably be nervous on his or her first day of being in the midst of the Territory’s traditional leaders, as they create and pass laws that will benefit the public.

However, when she is at home in Tafuna where she resides with husband Va’a Peleti, she is a mother of three and grandmother of three.

 “I wish my parents were still alive so we can celebrate together my new appointment,” she said. “But I know they’re cheering me from Heaven.”