A leaked proposal to sell Tongan citizenship for investment—projected to raise up to US$400 million over five years—has become a central issue in next week’s prime ministerial election, reviving concerns over past passport scandals and exposing divisions over the nation’s economic future.
Speaker Lord Fakafanua. Photo/Screenshot
Tonga’s 26-member Parliament will elect a new Prime Minister next week. The unexpected return of noble MPs to the leadership contest has surprised critics after their absence from ministerial and leadership roles in the past two governments, amid rumours that the King had advised them to refrain from involvement and leave those positions to the people’s representatives.
The plan, designed and promoted by the prominent investment migration firm Henley & Partners, would allow foreigners to obtain Tongan citizenship through a substantial financial contribution. Nauru’s citizenship-by-investment (CBI) program starts at around US$130,000 for direct citizenship, with costs rising significantly for more established passports.
Proponents, led by Lord Speaker Fakafanua — who is reportedly a contender in the upcoming prime ministerial election — argue the plan offers a vital solution to chronic budget deficits and donor dependency. Critics warn the proposal could repeat past mistakes, pointing to passport sales in the 1980s that involved international criminals and generated US$26 million — funds that were later lost in a failed investment scheme in the United States.
Global Firm, Local Lobbying
According to leaked documents obtained by Kaniva News, lobbyists for the scheme appear to have held meetings with senior royally appointed officials from September 2023 through May 2025.
These included Tonga’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Va’inga Tone, former Prime Minister Hu’akavameiliku, Speaker Lord Fakafanua, and the Attorney General.
A senior official told Kaniva News on condition of anonymity that Lord Fakafanua and lobbyists approached the Eke Cabinet with the proposal and also lobbied individual ministers in an attempt to secure approval, but the plan was ultimately rejected.
“My involvement was to introduce a potential solution to governments over reliance on aid dependency, budget deficit and lack of foreign investment opportunities for Tonga,” Lord Fakafanua told Kaniva News.
“The government is over reliant on overseas donor support to balance its budget each year. Unless the government diversifies its revenue sources the future of our finances is uncertain.”
He said Henley & Partners was introduced to him by a senior councillor. After reviewing the firm’s work, he presented it to successive governments. He acknowledged that the term “passport sale” is politically sensitive, particularly given past Tongan passport scandals, but insisted the new proposal — co-designed with the government — is fundamentally different.
“This scheme has the potential to bring financial independence,” he said, citing potential investments in fisheries, tourism, and infrastructure.
“There is an opportunity to alleviate the local tax payers and lift the population from poverty and hardships.”
The proposal includes safeguards such as rigorous multi-layer vetting, depositing all funds into government accounts, and revoking citizenship for false applications, Lord Fakafanua said.
A Troubled Global Track Record
Henley & Partners’ involvement has raised eyebrows, given its central role in CBI programs now under global scrutiny.
The firm helped establish Malta’s “golden passport” scheme, ruled illegal by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) this year.
The ECJ ruled on April 29, 2025, that Malta’s “citizenship by investment” (CBI) scheme was illegal and incompatible with EU law, as it commodified citizenship without requiring a genuine link to the country. Henley & Partners was the sole marketing agent for the program and generated significant revenue from it, though it criticised the ECJ’s ruling.
It also processed applications for individuals like fugitive Jho Low of the 1MDB scandal and was involved in St. Kitts and Nevis’s program, where a related public fund collapsed after questionable investments.
In the Pacific, similar schemes in Vanuatu and Nauru have faced intense criticism for weak vetting, allowing criminals and politically exposed persons to acquire passports.
Ghosts of the Past
The ongoing debate over Chinese influence in Tonga’s Nukuʻalofa central business district is rooted in the former passport sale program, which allowed more than 400 Chinese citizens to purchase Tongan passports and settle in the country during the early 1990s.
Those documents were also reportedly used for drug smuggling and international travel by figures, including members of the ousted Marcos family of the Philippines.
Anonymous critics cited this history to Kaniva News, warning that without ironclad transparency and governance, any new program risks repeating these failures and threatening regional security.
The proposal, while actively lobbied for, has not been approved by successive cabinets.
Its fate now rests with the incoming government, making the election a de facto referendum on a policy that promises financial independence at the risk of national reputation and integrity.
