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National | Māori Women's Welfare League

Calls for MWWL president to stand down

A legal stoush has broken out amongst the ranks of the Māori Women's Welfare League.

Te Kāea understands legal documents have been filed by one of the members of the league, Pauline Rewiti, who says Prue Kapua is an illegitimate President.

Court documents we have obtained show Rewiti is a voluntary worker in Otara and is a member of the Te Rongopai branch of the league in Auckland. The documents claim Ms Kapua is not eligible to seek re-election as the national president and her election in 2017 was invalid.

Kapua said the legitimacy issue is misguided and she stands by her election as President in 2017.

She was part of a committee that made changes to the league's constitution in 2013, which included the removal of the term limit. She successfully ran in 2014 for President, and then was re-elected in 2017.

Rewiti claims some members were unaware that the term limit had been removed and wants Kapua to stand down. This is likely to be in the High Court in July.