[3] It was during his second term as prime minister that the Public Service Association went on a general strike in 1981, paralysing the country for several months and paving the way for the opposition Human Rights Protection Party's entry to government in 1982.

He continued to serve Anoamaʻa East as MP until 2004[2] when he was appointed to Samoa's Council of Deputies alongside Tuimalealiʻifano Vaʻaletoʻa Sualauvi II.

[3] Upon Tupua Tamasese Lealofi IV's death in 1983, the question as to a successor was raised with Tupuola Efi staking his claim.

On the morning of his installation ceremony, the nation's public broadcaster, Radio 2AP, read an announcement from the family's matua, Moeono Alaiʻasā Kolio, notifying the country that both Falefa and Lufilufi had not sanctioned Tufuga Efi's ascension to the title, nullifying the candidate's grasp for the title once again.

Falefa and Lufilufi eventually agreed to Tupuola Tufuga Efi's ascension to the titles after the ailing Moeono granted his approval.

This uneasy agreement to joint conferral would later be challenged in Samoa's Land and Titles Court.

[4] The following year, the court ruled that the right of conferral of the Tupua Tamasese title belonged exclusively to ʻĀiga Sā Fenunuivao of Falefa and Salani.

However, owing to decades of tension with the then-Prime Minister Tuilaʻepa Saʻilele Malielegaoi, Tui Ātua was instead replaced in a backroom vote by another tamaʻāiga, Tuimalealiʻifano Vaʻaletoʻa Sualauvi II.

[15] Tupua held a number of academic positions during and after his political career as an MP and prime minister.

[2] Tupua helped to begin excavations at Samoa's important Pulemelei Mound archaeological site.

Samoans, under Tupua Tamasese, carried out a ceremony to honour Thor Heyerdahl for his contributions to Polynesia and the Pulemelei Mound excavations in 2003.