Tau alleged to have dipped into data base

Sonny Tau

Ngapuhi has again been thrust into the headlines over allegations of wrongdoing by runanga leader Sonny (Raniera) Tau.

It has been revealed that Mr Tau's withdrawal two weeks ago from candidacy as Ngai Tawake hapu's spokesperson (kaikorero) on Ngapuhi settlement negotiation group Tuhoronuku followed accusations he had tampered with the election process. Mr Tau, Te Runanga-a-iwi o Ngapuhi chairman, had dipped into the runanga's data base to get personal details of voters. His actions were uncovered after a line of emails was mistakenly sent to interim Tuhoronuku chairman Sam Napia who then passed the information on to Independent Returning Officer Warwick Lampp of Electionz.

But Mr Tau claimed the matter was a storm in a teacup and Ngapuhi would see it that way, "given the hype around the election for the Tuhoronuku Independent Mandated Authority chairman position this Friday."

Mr Tau said he had merely checked registration details at the request of a Ngapuhi whanau wanting to make sure of their runanga eligibility.

He provided the Northern Advocate with a letter from the whanau verifying the request and apologising for the hot water it landed Mr Tau in.

He said he withdrew from the election because publicly refuting the allegations would have put the focus on that issue, "rather than the substantive issue of settling all Ngapuhi historical Te Tiriti o Waitangi grievances against the Crown".

Mr Napia stated in his complaint to Electionz that he had no choice, in the interests of public confidence in the election. He laid the complaint as kaikorero for the Te Whiu hapu, not as acting Tuhoronuku chairman. Yesterday Mr Napia declined to comment to the Advocate.

Mr Lampp confirmed he had investigated the complaints.