Willie Tokataake
{{Short description|I-Kiribati politician}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Willie Tokataake
| image =
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| birth_date = 25 May 1956
| birth_place = Abemama
| residence =
| death_date =
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| office = Speaker of the House of Assembly
| term_start = 13 September 2024
| term_end =
| predecessor = Tangariki Reete
| successor =
| office1 = Member of the House of Assembly
| term_start1 =1994
| term_end1 = 2024
| predecessor1 = Baitongo Taburimai
| successor1 = Tokaibure Rabaua
| constituency1 = Abemama
| office2 = Ministry of Information, Communications, Transport and Tourism Development
| term_start2 = 2016
| term_end2 = 11 July 2020
| predecessor2 = Rimeta Beniamina
| successor2 = Tekeeua Tarati
| constituency2 =
| office3 = Ministry of Infrastructure and Sustainable Energy
| term_start3 = 2 July 2020
| term_end3 =
| predecessor3 = Ruateki Tekaiara
| successor3 =
| constituency3 =
| party = United Coalition Party
Tobwaan Kiribati Party
| religion =
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}}
{{Politics of Kiribati}}
Willie Tokataake is an I-Kiribati politician and current Speaker of the House of Assembly.
Early life
He was born on 25 May 1956{{cite web |title=House of Assembly of Kiribati |url=https://data.ipu.org/parliament/KI/KI-LC01/ |publisher=Inter-Parliamentary Union}} in Abemama, Willie Tokataake is related to the island's royal family, which is now purely ceremonial. He attended the Marine Training Centre on Tarawa before joining the crew of a German freighter, an experience he profoundly disliked. After two years, Tokataake returned to Abemama and married.{{Cite book |last=Clarke |first=Thurston |author-link=Thurston Clarke |url=https://archive.org/details/equatorjourney00clar |title=Equator: A Journey |date=1990 |publisher=Avon Books |isbn=0380708558 |pages=373{{endash}}374}}{{Cite book |last=Pamela |first=Stephenson |author-link=Pamela Stephenson |url=https://archive.org/details/treasureislandss0000step |title=Treasure Islands: Sailing the South Seas in the Wake of Fanny and Robert Louis Stevenson |date=2005 |publisher=Headline |isbn=0755312856 |pages=285{{endash}}86}}
Tokataake was Minister of Education, Science and Technology in President Teburoro Tito’s cabinet from 1994 to 1998. He was the Minister for Information, Communications, Transport and Tourism development until from 2016 to 2020.https://nukualofatimes.tbu.to/2020/07/02/kiribati-new-cabinet-ministers-sworn-in/ {{Dead link|date=March 2022}}https://www.rnz.co.nz/article/fee3625b-65d5-43bd-a02d-a93ea0fb964d {{Dead link|date=February 2022}}
On 2 July 2020, Tokataake was sworn in as Minister for Infrastructure and Sustainable Energy as part of President Taneti Maamau's cabinet.{{Cite web |date=3 July 2020 |title=Kiribati cabinet sworn in |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/420419/kiribati-cabinet-sworn-in |access-date=11 August 2024 |website=Radio New Zealand |language=en-nz}} He was not re-elected in the 2024 Kiribati parliamentary elections. However, he was nominated and elected as the sole candidate for the Speaker of the House of Assembly.{{cite web |title=Taneti Maamau in pole position to be president again as Kiribati's lawmakers choose speaker |url=https://ground.news/article/taneti-maamau-in-pole-position-to-be-president-again-as-kiribatis-lawmakers-choose-speaker |website=Ground News |language=en |date=28 October 2024}}
References
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Category:Speakers of the House of Assembly of Kiribati
Category:Members of the House of Assembly (Kiribati)
Category:People from the Gilbert Islands
Category:21st-century I-Kiribati politicians
Category:Government ministers of Kiribati
Category:United Coalition Party politicians
Category:Tobwaan Kiribati Party politicians
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