Ngaingatara Tupa (24 April 1936 – 1 March 2021)[1] was a Cook Islands politician and member of the Cook Islands Parliament. She was a member of the Cook Islands Democratic Party and the mother of MP Vaitoti Tupa.[1]
Tupa was born in Rarotonga and educated at St. Joseph Catholic Primary School.[2] She worked as a teacher and in retail, and served as the president of the Cook Islands Child Welfare Association and patron of the Girl Guides Cook Islands Association.[1] She was elected to Parliament in the seat of Takuvaine-Tutakimoa in the 2006 snap election, defeating Cook Islands Party candidate Mark Brown. She served one term as a backbench MP, but was not re-elected in the 2010 election.
In July 2009 a report from the audit office found that Tupa had exerted undue influence over the reappointment of her son Vaitoti Tupa as director of the National Environment Services.[3]
References
edit- ^ a b c Melina Etches (13 March 2021). "'One of a kind' Mama Ngai Tupa". Cook Islands News. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
- ^ "Mrs. Ngai Ngatara TUPA". Parliament of the Cook Islands. Archived from the original on 1 October 2010.
- ^ "COOKS AUDIT FINDS NEPOTISM IN AGENCY HIRE". Pacific Islands Report. 17 July 2009. Retrieved 4 July 2020.