Maak Juaija

The Reverend Maak Juaija KSA MNA
Maak in 2024
Senior Secretary Secretary in the President's Office
Incumbent
Assumed office August 25, 2022
President	Juu Kajusit
Preceded by	Maiki Saanisa
Secretary of the Department of International Affairs and Trade
Incumbent
Assumed office August 25, 2022
President	Juu Kajusit
Preceded by	Maiki Saanisa
Secretary of the Department of Public Health, Children, and Family Services
In office February 16, 2019 – August 25, 2022
President	Taanut Paitan Juu Kajusit
Preceded by	Maiki Saanisa
Succeeded by	Liuri Aastii
Member of the National Congress
Incumbent
Assumed office July 13, 2005
Preceded by	Jirum Taarimi
Constituency	Kuiti 1
Personal details
Born	Maak Juaija (1968-07-09) July 9, 1968 Kaapsi, Mava
Political party	Mavean National Party
Spouse	Juumit Paagiitu (m. 2005)
Children	3
Alma mater	University of the Republic (BA)
Occupation	Politician priest

Maakitita "Maak" Juaija KSA MNA (born July 9, 1968) is a Mavean politician who currently services as Senior Minister in the Mavean cabinet Secretary in the President's Office, acting as deputy to President Juu Kajusit. She was first elected to the National Congress in 2005, representing Kuiti's first constituency. Prior to this, she was the minister of the parish of Laaian in Kuiti province and moderator of the Kuiti Presbytery.

Maak has held a number of senior positions in Congress and in the cabinet. She served as a member of the Congressional Committee on Communities and Faith from 2005 to 2010 and later as chair of the committee from 2010 to 2015. In 2019, President Taanut Paitan appointed him secretary of the Department of Public Health, Children, and Family Services; in 2022, she was promoted to lead the Department of International Affairs and Trade under President Juu Kajusit. At the same time, Juu appointed him Senior Secretary and Secretary in the President's Office (de facto vice president).

In January 2025, Maak assumed presidential powers when President Juu was hospitalised for an undisclosed illness.

Early life and education

Maak was born in 1968 in Kaapsi (now Kuiti Province, Mava). She was educated at the Kiirvak Inalunali School and later sent to Atitlan to complete the final years of her education at a number of boarding schools. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theology at the University of the Republic and a Diploma in Theological Studies from the Colegio Protestante de San Carlos Mártir.

Ordained ministry

Maak was ordained in the Reformed Church of Mava in 1993. From 1993 she has served as minister of Laaian in Kuiti, her home province, being only the second woman to be ordained in the Reformed Church. In 1999, she became moderator of the Kuiti Presbytery.

Widely considered a moderate within the church, Maak has been noted for her practical approach to inter-faith relations. Although she has expressed opinions widely regarded as anti-Catholic, she has met with successive Archbishops of Taalan.

Maak resigned as moderator upon her election to congress. She also subsequently resigned as minister, taking on a new position as elder.

Political career

Maak was first elected to the National Congress at the 2005 Mavean general election. Following her election, she sat on the Congressional Committee on Communities and Faith, being one of only two ordained clergymen sitting in Congress at that time. Following the 2010 general election, she was elected to serve as chairman of the committee, becoming a prominent political figure.

In 2015, Maak stood down from the committee to focus on her re-election campaign. She served as an assistant to Senior Secretary Aasita Tiamaati and then as deputy speaker of the National Congress for a brief period.

In 2019, President Taanut Paitan appointed Maak to the cabinet as Secretary of the Department of Public Health, Children, and Family Services. As secretary, Maak was responsible for the passage of the Law on the Regulation of Religious Educational Institutions, which the Kanisuat community criticised for further entrenching institutional discrimination in favour of indigenous Protestants.

Upon the election of Juu Kajusit as president in 2020, Maak remained in post. In 2022, following the death of Maiki Saanisa, she was promoted to the Department of International Affairs and Trade, with the additional roles of Senior Secretary and Secretary in the President's Office, the second woman to serve in any of these roles. As International Affairs Secretary, she has been noted for her hawkish approach to relations with Daojing.

Maak assumed presidential powers on January 6, 2025 when President Juu was taken to hospital for an undisclosed illness. As Congress has not formally appointed him as acting president, official statements have started to refer to her as 'acting head of the Council [of Secretaries of Departments].'

Personal life

Maak is married to Juumit Paagiitu, with whom she was three children. Her eldest daughter, Maisi, was elected to the National Congress in a 2024 by-election. Her son Maapit is also a vicar.

In her congressional biography, Maak lists her hobbies as watercolour painting, reading, and horology.

In 2001, she was appointed a member of the Order of the Honour Cross (KSA) for her services to the community in Kuiti.

See also

• President of Mava