Tuala Iosefo Ponifasio

Afioga Tuala Tevaga Iosefo Ponifasio is a Samoan politician and lawyer who served as the deputy prime minister of Samoa from 2021 to 2025. Elected to parliament as an independent, Ponifasio became kingmaker following the 2021 election and later joined the Faʻatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) party.

Ponifasio was removed from FAST in 2025, along with Prime Minister Fiamē Naomi Mata‘afa and three other cabinet ministers. Ponifasio and the expelled ministers, denounced the expulsion as unlawful and initially claimed they were FAST members. Tuala is an ex-serviceman of the Royal New Zealand Army and is currently the President of the Royal Samoa Returned Serviceman Association. He is married with two children and is a member of the Catholic Church.

Education Ponifasio is a law graduate of Victoria University of Wellington, studied tertiary teaching at Auckland University of Technology, and gained a Masters in Business Administration from the Auckland Institute of Studies and Arts Administration at the University of Auckland. Ponifasio works as a lawyer

Political Life Ponifasio has contested every Samoan election since 2006. Following the 2011 election he sued Samoa's TV3 for libel over a news story broadcast before the election. Following the 2016 election he was banished from his village for filing an electoral petition against the successful candidate, Sala Fata Pinati. He was subsequently convicted in 2017 of bribery and treating in a private prosecution launched by voters in the electorate, but the conviction was quashed on appeal in 2019. In September 2020 he launched a legal challenge to changes to the Electoral Act which would have advantaged incumbents and disadvantaged challengers, but dropped it when the government agreed to amend the Act.

2021 general election

Ponifasio won the Gagaemauga No. 1 seat as an independent in the 2021 election, giving him the balance of power between the Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP) and FAST. On 21 April, after the HRPP's Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi had refused a demand to step down, he announced he would join the FAST Party.

Deputy prime minister (2021–2025) On 24 May 2021, Ponifasio was appointed as deputy prime minister and minister of customs and revenue in the elected cabinet of Samoa's first female prime minister, Hon. Fiamē Naomi Mata‘afa. The appointment was disputed by the caretaker government. On 23 July 2021 the Court of Appeal ruled that the swearing-in ceremony was constitutional and binding, and that FAST had been the government since 24 May.

In February 2022, Ponifasio fired his office assistant for the alleged theft of money. He subsequently announced that he would press charges.

On 15 January 2025 Ponifasio, Prime Minister Mataʻafa and three other cabinet ministers were expelled from FAST, following a power struggle between Mataʻafa and party chairman Laʻauli Leuatea Schmidt. Ponifasio and the other expelled members rejected their expulsion, denounced it as unconstitutional, and claimed they were still members of FAST. Prime Minister Mata‘afa called a snap election following the government's budget defeat in parliament on 27 May 2025. Following the dissolution of parliament, Ponifasio, Mata‘afa and the rest of cabinet confirmed their resignations from FAST and established the Samoa Uniting Party. During the 2025 election, Ponifasio lost his seat to FAST party Secretary Vaʻaaoao Salumalo Alofipo. His tenure as deputy prime minister ended on 16 September and he was succeeded by Toelupe Poumulinuku Onesemo.