November 05, 2014
Waho rejects disreputable tag
A Kohanga Reo trustee says it’s critical allegations relating to financial dealings within the National Trust and its Te Pataka Ohanga subsidiary be properly investigated and dealt with.
The High Court yesterday refused to grant Toni Waho an injunction to stop the other trustees sacking him for conduct that brought the trust into disrepute.
They’re angry he told Education Minister Hekia Parata and then Maori Affairs Minister Pita Sharples that the briefing she was given by trust chair Tina Olsen-Ratana on use of credit cards at Te Pataka Ohanga did not cover the whole story.
Mr Waho says he had a duty to speak out.
"My focus is on my role as a trustee and the duty I owe as a trustee and what I believe is the right thing to have been done, and I certainly don't believe and don't agree that by saying to our funding ministers that 'hey, there are some things here we have to sort out,' I don't see how that could have brought the trust into disrepute," he says.
Mr Waho says he is still fully committed to bringing through the next generation of Maori language speakers through kohanga reo and kura kaupapa.
FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH TONI WAHO CLICK ON THE LINK
https://secure.zeald.com/uma/play_podcast?podlink=MjM3NjM=
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