Tribal leaders hit out at visa scheme accused

More charges are likely to follow for Gerrard Otimi. Photo / Greg Bowker

Leaders from Gerrard Otimi's tribe have attacked the so-called Maori activist's hapu adoption policy.

The 63-year-old has been charged with three counts of deception, related to the sale of visa stamps to Pacific Island overstayers who were adopted into his hapu. Police say more charges are likely to follow.

Ngati Maniapoto's Tom Roa, who knows Otimi, said: "I find it difficult to follow this. The tikanga of adoption is longstanding but I don't know of a tikanga that's about hapu adoption. It's not a simple thing of getting a piece of paper to say you're a part of my hapu.

"The onus is on the person doing the adopting, not expecting money. You adopt them and make sure you look after them."

Otimi has named his hapu as Okahukurapukekauwhatawhataarangi. Mr Roa said he'd never heard of it.

Asked if it sounded made up Mr Roa said: "Well, yes - it's not a hapu that I can easily recognise and I am very familiar with most hapu."

Otimi also been tagged with the label Maori activist, but Mr Roa isn't so sure that applies either.

"Certainly I would never describe Jerry as an activist, he's an entrepreneur - he thinks beyond the square. The key thing really I think is the matter of mana."

One of the tribe's senior kaumatua, Dr Tui Adams, said he'd been annoyed to hear that a Ngati Maniapoto hapu was apparently adopting people, a practice he'd never come across.

"It's not just out of context it [whangai adoption] is misrepresented."

Watching Otimi's supporters at his court appearance last week describe themselves as "sovereign" people also grated.

Dr Adams, who works as a lecturer at Te Wananga o Aotearoa, said he remembered a group of "sovereign" protesters who booked up three weeks of accommodation at a conference centre which was part of the wananga group in Hamilton.

"They were from those fantastical organisations, those hapu groups, and of course our manager didn't know how shonky they were. He alerted the board to them and straight away we had to kick them out."

Those sorts of sovereign protesters tended to align themselves with tino rangatiratanga activistsDr Adams said, but they weren't the same.