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Tingika Elikana
Tingika Elikana (born 5 November 1961)[1] is a Cook Islands civil servant, politician and Cabinet Minister. He is a member of the Cook Islands Party. Elikana was born on Pukapuka and educated at Pukapuka School and Tereora College.[1] He studied law at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand and then a Masters of Business Administration at the University of the South Pacific as well as public sector management at Massey University.[1] He worked as a police officer,[1] and then as a crown prosecutor,[2] Deputy Solicitor General,[3] and Solicitor General.[4] From 2011 to 2018 he was Secretary for Justice.[5] He was elected to the Cook Islands Parliament at the 2018 Cook Islands general election. After his election, the government charted a special flight at a cost of $32,000 to collect him from the outer islands.[6] The flight was later the subject of a private prosecution launched against Prime Minister Henry Puna by former MP Norman George.[7] As an MP, Elikana chaired the select committee which decided that homosexuality should remain a criminal offence in the Cook Islands.[8] In February 2020 he was accused of orchestrating the sacking of six public servants who belonged to the opposition Democratic Party.[9] Following the election of Mark Brown as Prime Minister he was appointed Associate Minister of Justice, Finance and Economic Management, Foreign Affairs and Immigration.[10] On 22 March 2021 he was elected Deputy Speaker, replacing Tai Tura.[11] He was re-elected at the 2022 Cook Islands general election.[12] In February 2024 following the conviction of Cabinet Minister Robert Tapaitau for corruption he was appointed to Cabinet as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Immigration, and Marine Resources.[13][14] His first action in the position was to travel to Suva to co-chair the Pacific Alliance Leaders Meeting Ministerial Interim Meeting.[15] References
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