Lātūkefu was born in Kolovai and educated at Tupou College and at Siaʻatoutai Theological College, before attending the University of Queensland, where he studied history and trained as a teacher.
[1] He then returned to Tonga to teach at Tupou College, but in 1962 returned to Australia to study at the Australian National University, graduating with a PhD in 1967.
[4] After failing to find suitable employment in Tonga, he moved to Port Moresby in April 1967 to take up a role as lecturer in social disciplines at the newly-founded University of Papua New Guinea.
[5] He worked at the University of Papua New Guinea for 18 years before retiring to Canberra.
[6] In 1988 he was appointed as principal of Pacific Theological College in Suva, Fiji,[7] where he worked until 1991.