Siosāteki Tonga Veikune/en
Sāteki, as he was normally known, had been an old friend of Shirley Waldemar Baker, who had been hated by the chiefs and traders. The fact that Sāteki was no chief himself, only added to the misgivings of the chiefs. But for a Tongan, of his time, he showed a remarkable dexterity in administration and quickly undid the mess from his predecessor. Unfortunately he had the raise taxes again and again and again to keep up with the spending thrift of the king. By 1897 it was no longer possible to raise taxes any higher, and he had to get loans from traders, essentially selling Tonga to foreign business men. The Hutter brothers of Auckland in particular.
The king, firstly having a luxurious lifestyle away from town and administration troubles, and secondly having his own problems with stubbortnly marrying Lavinia Veiongo Fotu, was of no help. He only created for Sāteki the new noble title of Veikune in 1903. Slowly but surely Sāteki forced, probably unwillingly, the kingdom from debts into almost bankruptcy, and there were more than serious talks about British annexation. Finally in December 1904 the British high commissioner of the Western Pacific, sir Everard im Thurn came to Tonga to make clean ship and to deport king and prime minister if needed.
And the end poor Sāteki and his son Fotu (minister of finance) were deported to Fiji, but king Siaosi Tupou II was allowed to remain but had to select new ministers.
- I.C. Campbell; Island kingdom; Canterbury press, 2001
