He served as a statesman during the reign of Queen Liliʻuokalani and later became the first Speaker of the House of Representatives in the Hawaii Territorial Legislature.

[8] This session was characterized by a series of resolutions of want of confidence ousting a number of Queen Liliʻuokalani's appointed cabinet ministers and debates over the passage of the controversial lottery and opium bills.

This organization represented the case of the monarchy and the Hawaiian people to the United States Commissioner James Henderson Blount who was sent by President Grover Cleveland to investigate the overthrow.

In 1901, Akina was elected to the inaugural Territorial Legislature established after the Hawaiian Organic Act as a Representative from the Sixth District.

[2][12][13] He presided as the first Speaker of the House of Representatives in the Hawaii Territorial Legislature while Frederick William Kahapula Beckley Jr. was Vice-Speaker.

[16] On March 16, 1919, he was appointed to the Territorial Board of Health as a herb specialist to keep records on the use and practice of traditional Hawaiian herbal medicine and served in this post until his death.