By KEVIN TAYLOR
Former Tainui legal adviser Shane Solomon has been confirmed as Sir Robert Mahuta's replacement on the tribe's executive just two days before a showdown court case.
His permanent appointment was the only item on the agenda when the 12-member executive, Te Kaumaarua, met yesterday.
Mr Solomon was last
month temporarily appointed by the Maori Queen, Dame Te Atairangikaahu, as the Kahui Ariki (Royal House) representative on Te Kaumaarua.
The appointment came after Sir Robert was admitted to hospital.
Sir Robert, the tribe's chief negotiator and a central figure in the high-level power wrangles within the tribe, died on February 1.
He has left a legacy of litigation.
The struggle he began to reclaim power from Te Kaumaarua chairman Kingi Porima's faction led just before Christmas to a High Court order that the tribe conduct only day-to-day business until a full court hearing was held.
That hearing, to be held tomorrow, will decide the fate of the jobs of key members of Mr Porima's faction, and Tainui's chief financial officer, Michael Crawford.
Last July, the ailing Tainui elder was removed from the tribe's corporates by Te Kaumaarua after revelations about investment blunders that slashed $40 million from the tribe's balance sheet.
On December 16, Sir Robert and his five supporters on the Waikato Raupatu Trustee Company board struck back by sacking Tainui Group Holdings (TGH) and Te Kaumaarua directors Tom Roa, Hemi Rau and Lisa Ferguson.
Replacing them were Sir Robert, as TGH chairman, Hare Puke and Sonny Rauwhero.
Sir Robert's half of the board also decided to fire Mr Crawford, Auckland-based legal advisers Rudd Watts and Stone and financial advisers Ferrier Hodgson.
And it put a stop to all business transactions within TGH unless the new board approved them.
Sir Robert's faction then filed papers in the High Court seeking a declaration that what they did was legal.
