Tagaloa Dr Robert Thomsen is Acting Director-General for the Ministry of Health while Leausa Dr Take Naseri is on leave of absence.
This was confirmed by several Health Officials who spoke on condition of anonymity. “Tagaloa is Acting Director-General for two weeks and then Dr Glen Fatupaito will be Acting for the next two weeks. “They will be rotating as a result of the Director-General taking leave.
“Tagaloa’s Acting position was activated on Tuesday,” says the MOH official.
Also, Leausa’s contract will end soon and it is unclear whether Cabinet will extend his contract,” says the official. Leausa recently returned to work after his medical leave.
In March, the hard drive from the Director-General’s computer was seized by the Public Service Commission, as part of their investigation into the delay in procuring the computerized tomography or CT scanner for the hospital.
The hard drive contained deleted emails that led to allegations of collusion and the “discovery of a middle man” in relation to the tendering process of the CT scanner in November 2020.
The move was made when Leausa was overseas on medical leave.
Repeated efforts to get comments via email and calls to the Director-General, Leausa were not answered as of press time. The Minister of Health, Valasi Tafito Selesele was also contacted for comments, but there was no response.
