Career
Poumele served as the third elected Lieutenant Governor of American Samoa from 1989 to 1992. Poumele was a paramount chief of the village of Fitiuta, located on Tau in the Manu'a Islands. The chiefly title of Galea'i became vacant upon Poumele's death in 1992.
In 1988, Peter Tali Coleman and his running mate, Galea'i Peni Poumele, were elected Governor and Lt. Governor of American Samoa. Coleman and Poumele were inaugurated on January 2, 1989.
Poumele became the third elected Lieutenant Governor of American Samoa, while the 1989 inauguration marked Coleman's fourth nonconsecutive term as Governor. Lieutenant Governor Galea'i Peni Poumele died in office in July 1992 at the age of 65. He was succeeded by Tauese Sunia, who was inaugurated Lt.
Governor on January 4, 1993, with incoming Governor A. P. Lutali.