A Papua New Guinea MP, Peter Isoaimo, who had been ousted by the National Court in an alleged bribery case, has been reinstated by the Supreme Court on appeal.

A three-member Supreme Court bench found that the National Court had erred in finding that Kairuku MP Isoaimo had committed bribery and ousting him in a Court of Disputed Returns trial in June last year.

The National Court judge, Justice Teresa Berrigan, then ordered a byelection. However, this was overturned last Friday on appeal.

Outside court, Isoaimo’s lawyer George Kult confirmed that Isoaimo can now return to Parliament and continue serving the people of Kairuku district in Central province.

Justice Susan Purdon-Sully handed down the decision on behalf of the two other judges, Panuel Mogish and Jacinta Murray. She said the earlier decision by Justice Teresa Berrigan last year had been quashed.

The three-member bench found that the petition had a “pleading deficiency” in that the bribery was done with the knowledge and authority of Isoaimo and that he had aided his campaign coordinator Maso Makuri in committing the offence.

They found that the petitioner, Paru Aihi, had failed to notify Isoaimo of the facts of the allegation which he could have responded to. They upheld Isoaimo’s appeal in that Justice Berrigan erred on mixed law and fact.

‘Basic yet fundamental’
“Pleadings draw evidence which is the most basic yet fundamental feature of a petition,” Justice Sully read.

“Where an allegation is serious in nature the onus is on the petitioner to prove to the entire satisfaction of the court.”

The judges found that the failure to plead facts of the allegation contravened section 208 (a) of the Organic Law on National and Local Level Government Elections.

Outside court, a teary-eyed Isoaimo said it had been embarrassing to deal with the wrong National Court decision which had then “seemed like the truth”.

However, he said his two decades of reputation built through parliamentary leadership had gained him loyal supporters.

“I am thankful for my supporters, now it’s time to get back to work as we have a lot to do,” he said.

Isoaimo is a member of the National Alliance and will bolster the NA’s ranks in government.

Melyne Baroi is a PNG Post-Courier reporter. Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

A senior National Court judge in Papua New Guinea has dismissed an expatriate prisoner’s request to have his sentence suspended due to poor health.

The state prosecutions objected to the request saying he was a main actor in the crime and deserved the highest penalty of 25 years’ imprisonment.

Justice Mogish then said: “It could be seen as a double standard.”

Melyne Baroi is a PNG Post-Courier reporter. Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Papua New Guinea’s Police Commissioner David Manning has been reinstated after being stood down following riots and looting on January 10.

That rioting — branded as Black Wednesday — was sparked by a police protest after unannounced deductions from their wages, which the government blamed on a glitch.

The protest led to a riot causing the deaths of more than 20 people, widespread looting and hundreds of millions of dollars of damage to businesses.

Amnesty International called on authorities to protect human rights in response to the riots.

The 14-day state of emergency following the violence has now ended.

The National newspaper reported Prime Minister James Marape announced Manning’s reinstatement, and that of Taies Sansan as the Department of Personnel Management Secretary, after administrative preliminary investigations concluded.

However, Treasury Secretary Andrew Oake and Finance Secretary Samuel Penias remained suspended “due to their failure to update the salary system, which led to the events of Jan 10”, Marape said.

Marape also said Deputy Police Commissioner Dr Philip Mina was being suspended.

A commission of inquiry will be appointed to look into the police force.

“The commission of inquiry will be headed by a judge from the Supreme Court and National Court, and will be concluded as soon as possible, to look into the structure, the operation, and their ethics of conduct,” Marape said.

“The country deserves to have a police force that is effective and efficient. We will leave no stone unturned as we recover, reboot and restore.”

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Former MP for Madang Open and anti-corruption campaigner Bryan Kramer has filed a Supreme Court appeal against a National Court ruling dismissing his application for leave to review a Leadership Tribunal’s decision to dismiss him from office.

His appeal to the Supreme Court follows the refusal of a leave to review application in the National Court presided by Justice John Carey on August 18.

Kramer said in a statement that he had filed an application on the 23 May 2023 in the National Court to review the decision of the Leadership Tribunal.

He later withdrew this and refiled on June 30.

The refiled application raised nine primary grounds, including breach of natural justice, procedural unfairness, apprehension of bias in being denied a fair hearing, unreasonableness and being oppressive and harsh and not “reasonably justifiable in a democratic society”.

After waiting almost three months for a judge to hear his leave application, the matter was listed before Justice John Carey on August 18. However, straight after hearing detailed submission from counsels, Justice Carey delivered an oral judgement refusing Kramer’s application.

Justice Carey ruled that Kramer had not satisfied all the requirements, in particular an arguable case

Further nine grounds
Kramer is now appealing the judge’s ruling on a further nine grounds that include an allegation that the judge had failed to properly deliver a reasoned judicial decision.

He will submit that the judge had erred in directing Kramer’s counsel to narrow his submissions to the ground of apprehension of bias to the exclusion of the issues raised in the eight other grounds.

Further, the judge had failed to consider specific matters raised in each of nine grounds.

The judge had delivered two judgments, the first oral and the second published without indicating to parties, and that was altered and expounded on the reasons in the oral judgement.

He was dismissed in May this year by a a Leadership Tribunal comprising Justice Lawrence Kangwia and senior Magistrates Josephine Nidue and Edward Komia.

The Tribunal found him guilty on seven of thirteen allegations of misconduct in office

Five of the seven misconduct charges were in relation to decisions concerning the Madang District Development Authority (DDA) that he had failed to comply with legislative administrative requirements, and the misapplication of district funds to which they could not be lawfully applied.

Facebook publications
The remaining two misconduct charges were in relation to his Facebook publications that were found to have “scandalised the judiciary”.

The background of the two charges of him scandalising the judiciary were that in October 2019 he had published a three-part series of articles on Facebook concerning an arrest warrant against former Prime Minister Peter O’Neill.

The first charge was over part of his publication insinuating a conflict of interest by Chief Justice Sir Gibbs Salika in publishing the words “a relevant matter to note is that the Chief Justice was only recently appointed by O’Neill late last year”.

The second charge was over publishing the words “What was not anticipated was that O’Neill and his lawyers would solicit the assistance from the Chief Justice and desperate enough to submit fabricated documents to mislead the court that the warrant was defective as a means to obtain a stay order”.

The Tribunal had recommended by majority that Kramer pay a fine of K2000 (about NZ$922) for each for the five charges in relation to the Madang District Development Authority as they were decisions made by the DDA Board and not Kramer alone.

However, it recommended unanimously for his dismissal from office in relation to his Facebook publications in scandalising the judiciary.

Pacific Media Watch reports that in a profile by The Guardian in 2019, Bryan Kramer — BK as he is known — was described as a “rising star in PNG politics” and as an anti-corruption campaigner who was instrumental in bringing to light the UBS scandal that helped to bring down former Prime Minister Peter O’Neill’s leadership.

Republished from the PNG Post-Courier with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The National Court has ordered the Papua New Guinea government to disclose the full details of the gold refinery deal it entered into with a Singapore-based company, National Gold Corporation.

The court ordered Prime Minister James Marape (first defendant), Planning Minister Renbo Paita (second defendant), the NEC (third defendant) and Dr Eric Kwa (fourth defendant) to make full disclosure on the project agreement, which would eventually become law and change the entire landscape of PNG’s gold industry.

“The process of gold refinery, while it may be welcome news for the country as to [who is] owning it, especially when a company is proposed to be a proponent, developer or owner of resource, the country needs to know the good and bad of it and the justifications for such arrangements,” Deputy Chief Justice Ambeng Kandakasi ruled in his judgment.

The order follows a court challenge mounted by Justin Parker, owner of Golden Valley Enterprise Limited, PNG’s leading gold buyer and processor, about the validity of the gold refinery agreement between the state and National Gold Corporation.

“I was disappointed when I learnt that an agreement was signed.

“To my knowledge the foreign company will own 70 percent of the refinery whilst the PNG government will only own 30 per cent when we could own for a 100 per cent nationally owned refinery,” Parker said through his lawyer, Saulep Lawyers.

The project agreement which will eventually be made law, will completely change the landscape of PNG’s gold industry.

Accessed unsigned copy
“Coupled with the media publications, I had the benefit of having accessed an unsigned copy of the agreement relating to the Refinery Project and I note with grave concerns how this purported agreement will be very detrimental to the state, as well as all industry stakeholders.

“This agreement will totally shut the doors completely on us local businesses, alluvial miners, gold miners and aggregators around the country.

“It is dangerous to note that there will be no more open market competition and trade, being the fundamentals of democratic society and therefore our Constitution,” Parker said.

Aggrieved with information gathered overtime, Parker filed an application in the National Court on 13 December 2021, seeking :

• A declaration pursuant to Section 51 of the Constitution that the Plaintiff has the right to have access to all pertinent and relevant information regarding the National Gold Refinery and Mint Project relating to the downstream processing of gold in the country, including, policies, statutory business papers, National Gold Corporation Project Shareholder Agreement, all related NEC Decisions (NEC Decision No 73 & 74/2021 dated 17th May 2021, NEC Decision No 267/2021 dated 20th September 2021 and NEC Policy Submission No 208/2021.
• An order that pursuant to Sections 51 and 155 (4) and of the Constitution, the Defendants make available forthwith to all the referenced documents to Parker.

Justice Kandakasi granted these orders and further ordered that: “As the plaintiff submits, there has been no broader, wider consultation and so who stands to benefit, who stands to lose, what are the arrangements and what are the safeguards for alluvial miners or other mining interest holders?

“There is no evidence of any meaningful consultation having being occurred so a disclosure of these documents will enable the plaintiff and such other persons to work out whether they should be challenging the decisions arrived at.”

The court orders:

• The plaintiff is granted leave to proceed ex-parte conditional on the plaintiff filing and serving an affidavit annexing the various email communication between the plaintiff and the defendants in respect of the matter coming to court today.
• Judgment is granted in favour of the plaintiff
• A declaration that pursuant to Section 51 of the Constitution, the plaintiff has the right to have access to all the pertinent and relevant information regarding the National Gold Refinery and Mint Project including the following information:

– (a) Department of National Planning and Monitoring’s Policy Document on the Refinery, Smelting and downstream processing of Gold in the country;
– (b) Statutory Business Papers regarding the National Gold Refinery and Mint Project;
– (c) National Gold Corporation Project Shareholders Agreement;
– (d) NEC Decisions No. 73 & 84/2021 dated 17th May 2021;
(e) NEC Decision No. 267/2021 dated 20th September 2021;
– (f) NEC Policy Submission No. 208/2021.
– Pursuant to Section 155(4) and Section 51 of the Constitution, the Defendants make available forthwith to the Plaintiff copies of all pertinent and relevant information regarding the National Gold Refinery and Mint Project, namely:
(a) Department of National Planning and Monitoring Policy Document on the Refinery, Smelting and downstream processing of Gold in the county;
(b) Statutory Business Papers regarding the National Gold Refinery and Mint Project;
(c) National Gold Corporation Project Shareholders Agreement,
(d) NEC Decisions No. 73 & 84/2021 dated 17th May 2021;
(e) NEC Decision No. 267/2021 dated 20* September 2021;
(f) NEC Policy Submission No. 208/2021.

The defendants shall pay the plaintiff’s costs of and incidental to these proceedings on a party/party basis, to be taxed if not agreed.

Gorethy Kenneth is a PNG Post-Courier journalist. Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Dismissed Member of Madang Bryan Kramer says the dismissal notice by Papua New Guinea’s Governor-General Sir Bob Dadae does not affect his appeal.

“What I can confirm is that on the morning the notice was issued, I had filed my appeal before the National Court,” he said.

“My appeal is requesting the court to firstly review the decision of the Ombudsman Commission in refusing my request to be given the evidence in my right to be heard notice.

“Secondly, to review decisions of the Leadership Tribunal in finding me guilty of misconduct in office and its recommendation to the GG for my dismissal from office.”

Being dismissed from office did not stop him from inquiring into “unfinished matters concerning high-level corruption”, he added.

“Unlike in the past, I’m a lot more informed on the system and those behind it. It also doesn’t stop me from reporting to relevant authorities on those involved in corruption.”

Being a Member of Parliament and Minister of State imposed limitations on what could be done and now with those limitations set aside much could be achieved, he said.

”As far as I’m concerned, being dismissed from office as a Member of Parliament is by no means the end of the matter but just the beginning of things to come.”

Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Dissident Papua New Guinean politician and former cabinet minister Bryan Kramer has vowed to fight on in his campaign against corruption, saying the National Court ruling to dismiss him as an MP was “the calm before the storm”.

“The decision to dismiss me was expected and of course, it is certainly not the end of the issue as I have already been working on an appeal to challenge both the rulings on verdict and penalty in the National Court,” he told reporters in Port Moresby

Kramer, a former police minister then justice minister, was responding to the decision on recommendations for his dismissal and a fine of K10,000 (NZ$4600).

“Today’s decision in no way diminishes my resolve in the fight against corruption nor will it keep me from informing the public on issues of national importance or exposing high-level corruption,” he said.

“In my view it’s the calm before the storm.”

In a statement later in the day Kramer explained the court decision saying: “Today (1/5/23) the Leadership Tribunal handed down its ruling on the penalty in relation to the finding of guilt of the seven (7) counts of misconduct in office against me.

“The Tribunal categorised the seven counts of misconduct into two main categories in determining whether there is serious culpability (wrongdoing on my part) warranting my dismissal from office or recommending a lesser penalty of a fine or suspension of no more than three months without pay.

“Category 1 included counts 1 and 2 that related to my Facebook publications scandalising the judiciary.

Conflict of interest claim
“Count 1 being the publication insinuating a conflict of interest by the Chief Justice.

“Count 2 related to accusing [former prime minister] Peter O’Neill and his lawyer of soliciting the assistance of the Chief Justice and submitting a fabricated document to mislead the court that the warrant of arrest was defective.

“Category 2 included the remaining 5 counts that related to the decisions of the Madang District Development Authority Board in the application of the District Services Improvement Programme (DSIP) Funds in renting office space for the establishment of a project office to deliver district projects at the ward level, paying electoral staff who were involved in implementing the projects and establishing a ward project staff structure without obtaining approval from the Secretary of Personnel Management and engaging an associate company that was paid K3000 [NZ$1400] a fortnight.

“In short, the Tribunal recommended a penalty of dismissal from office in relation to counts 1 and 2 and a fine of K2000 for each of remaining 5 counts, a total fine of K10,000.

“Based on the Tribunal’s finding on guilt on seven counts handed down on 21 February 2023, today’s ruling for dismissal was expected.

“The decision recommending dismissal from office will be delivered to the Speaker who will then recommend to the Governor General (GG) to adopt the Tribunal’s recommendation to dismiss me from office.

“The decision of the GG will be gazetted and takes effect. At that point I will no longer be a Member of Parliament.”

Kramer Report publisher
Bryan Kramer, well known as a social media strategist and publisher of the anti-corruption Kramer Report, has been a cabinet minister in Prime Minister James Marape’s government since 2019, holding the police, justice and then immigration portfolios.

Leader of the Allegiance Party, Kramer was returned to Parliament at last year’s elections with sizable majority in the Madang Open seat.

Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The Papua New Guinea government’s top legal adviser, Dr Eric Kwa, has been arrested and charged on allegations of dangerous driving causing death.

Dr Kwa, the Secretary for the Department of Justice and Attorney-General, was allegedly involved in a fatal road accident that caused a death on October 17, 2022, and was the subject of a police investigation for the past three months.

He was eventually charged under the Criminal Code Act (Section 328) for dangerous driving causing death yesterday.

Police were not allowed to release him on bail yesterday because of the severity of the offence.

In a media briefing yesterday, National Capital District (NCD) Metropolitan Superintendent Silva Sika said the severity of the offence committed under the Act did not allow him to be released on police bail.

He said Kwa’s lawyers were advised to apply for a bail application at the National Court for him to be released.

‘No one above law’
“No one is above the law, and therefore, due process must be followed,” Sika said.

He said all processes had been followed and Dr Kwa had been very co-operative with the police.

“He understands the process very well since he is an intellect [sic] and that he will have to bear with the circumstances,” Sika said.

It was alleged that on October 17 Dr Kwa and his officers were travelling along the Hiritano Highway on their way to attend an official engagement with the Constitutional and Law Reform Commission at Bereina when the accident happened.

He was in the second vehicle with three of his officers, when the accident allegedly happened.

A female passenger who was part of his entourage died at the Port Moresby General Hospital from severe injuries sustained in the accident.

Others treated, discharged
The others were treated and discharged.

The matter was immediately reported to police where a complaint was lodged with several investigations undertaken.

On Tuesday, January 24, 2023, Dr Kwa received a request from Police Commissioner David Manning for a record of interview at the Police Headquarters.

On Friday, January 27, he presented himself before the police hierarchy where an initial interview took place.

• Late last night, Kwa’s lawyers managed to have him bailed out.

Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The Mexican standoff over the closure of Papua New Guinea government offices due to nonpayment of rentals has ended.

The National Court has ordered superannuation fund landlord Nambawan Supa Limited (NSL) to remove all locks to Vulupindi Haus, Treasury Haus, Eda Tano Haus in Waigani and Revenue Haus in downtown Port Moresby.

At the same time, the government has honoured its commitment to pay a further instalment of K30 million (NZ$15.3 million) to NSL, bringing the outstanding total paid up to K82 million (NZ$42 million).

The Waigani National Court presided by acting judge Justice Emma Wurr granted on Friday the ex-parte application filed by Finance Secretary Dr Ken Ngangan for the removal of locks to the buildings.

Dr Ngangan instituted the proceeding as the chairman of the Government Office Allocation Committee through his lawyer Milfred Wangatau of ACE Lawyers, ordering Nambawan Super Ltd to remove the locks on government offices.

NSL had locked doors to its buildings that housed major government departments over outstanding rental arrears.

The five major government agencies affected were the Department of Finance, Department of Treasury, Department of Lands, Department of National Planning and Internal Revenue Commission.

During the hearing, Wangatau submitted to the court that the state had paid NSL more than K50 million in September.

Committed to settle arrears
He submitted that while the state did admit that there may be some outstanding rental arrears, it stood committed to settle its arrears but NSL decided to go ahead and lock the offices.

“NSL’s abrupt decision to lock out very important government public service delivery agencies should be the last resort as it only goes to hold the people of the nation at ransom when vital government services are disrupted,” Wangatau submitted.

He added that damages would be irreparable if the reliefs sought in the application were not granted as it would certainly have an adverse effect on the public at large.

Wangatau further submitted that it was in the interest of justice that the court should grant temporary mandatory orders ordering NSL to unlock all the government offices and allow government business and public service delivery to return to normalcy pending the substantive hearing.

Justice Wurr agreed and granted the interim orders and adjourned the matter until this Friday, for inter parte hearing.

Among the orders issued, Justice Wurr ordered that the defendant (NSL), its employees, servants and agents must immediately unlock all doors to the Vulupindi Haus, Revenue Haus, Treasury Haus and Eda Tano Haus to allow staff and officers of the respective state departments to have access to ensure government business and service delivery can resume as usual.

Justice Wurr ordered NSL to comply with the orders immediately upon services of the orders.

NSL ‘relieved’
Meanwhile in a press statement, NSL said it was relieved to receive a further K30 million payment from the state last Friday in its new commitment to offset rental arrears it owes to the fund’s contributing members.

This brings the total amount paid by the state to K82 million.

And representatives from the Departments of Finance and Treasury have signed a Letter of Agreement committing to pay the outstanding balance of K90 million in a series of monthly payments starting in November.

Nambawan Super chairman Mr Reg Monagi said: “We are pleased to have received the second payment of K30 million and we thank the Departments of Finance and Treasury, who after extensive discussions and negotiations, have committed to an agreement for the settlement of these arrears.”

“Acting in good faith after the State’s positive actions, on Friday night, we lifted the lockout of the Revenue Haus (Internal Revenue Commission), Vulupindi Haus (Department of Finance) and EdaTano Haus (Department of Lands & Physical Planning) and Treasury Haus (Department of Treasury).

“We hope that as we have acted in good faith, the State will continue to honour its commitment to our members by settling the remaining outstanding rental arrears.

Retirement outcomes ‘now protected’
“Nambawan Super appreciates that the State has recognised how important the payment of these arrears are to ensuring that our over 214,000 members’ retirement outcomes are protected.

“The unpaid rentals that accumulated over three years have already impacted the returns for members causing fewer funds available to reinvest and grow.”

“Any further delays to the scheduled payments will have a further detrimental impact on the returns of Nambawan Super members.”

“NSL remains committed to working closely with the State to ensure the payment of all outstanding arrears are made as agreed in the payment schedule, and will not hesitate to lock out the State again if it is unable to do so,” Monagi said.

Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Papua New Guinea’s Sheriff Security at the Waigani Supreme and National Court have stepped up their surveillance of the court premises following this week’s lawlessness in the city.

All court users including staff and visitors will be strictly monitored, says a statement.

All hazardous and dangerous weapons like knives, pepper spray, mace, razor blades, and illegal materials will be monitored and those found in possession will be ordered to leave the court premises.

All visitors and staff will go through the normal screening process at the entrance of the court premises.

Under Section 3 of the Sheriffs’ Act, the sheriff’s primary role is to execute court orders and provide security at the court’s premises, serving documents including complaints and summonses for a fee, effecting executions, making affidavits and returns and escorting persons to court under a warrant of apprehension/by a writ of habeas corpus.

The Sheriff division is empowered by the Sheriffs’ Act.

It is one of three divisions under the judicial system and its head is the Registrar of the National and Supreme Courts.

Sheriff appointed
The Sheriff is appointed by the Head of the State and both he and his officers are responsible for enforcing judicial orders.

The current situation in the national capital of Port Moresby is a concern and the Sheriff Security officers will now be strictly enforcing the laws, rules and regulations of the organisation for the safety of judicial officers staff and infrastructure of the organisation.

Because the courthouse is accessible and in a centralised location, it is vulnerable to the acts of random violence.

There will be strict court security procedures to not only protect the safety of the people and property within and around the premises of the court, but also to protect the integrity of the judicial process.

The Sheriff Security forces will be collaborating with law enforcement offices, emergency agencies and governing bodies to protect court premises and the judicial processes.

Sheriff Security forces are recognised as an integral part of the Sheriff’s Office mission to protect citizens and officers of the court. The judicial security staff is committed to ensuring the safety of everybody who conducts the business of the court.

Court security is an essential part of the administration of justice.

Saddled with duty
The law enforcement personnel are saddled with the duty of providing security measures within the judicial premises.

The roles of court employees are complimentary to and supportive of the role of judicial officers.

The value and importance of Sheriff Security forces is a must for the organisation. Sheriff Security forces are the sentinels in the organisation.

They are the enforcers of policies and laws inside the organisation.

They are the key elements of peacekeeping inside the premises of the organisation.

They prevent threat and other crimes from happening inside the organisation.

The Sheriff Security officers are trained on how to work and interact with the public who enter the court premises.

At the same time, the Sheriff Security officers are also trained to understand the operations of the laws, rules and regulations of the organisation.

Republished with the permission of PNG Post-Courier.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

A former election manager for Papua New Guinea’s National Capital District (NCD) who was charged with election fraud for corruptly receiving a large sum of money from a candidate during the 2017 election has been sentenced to seven years in prison by the National Court at Waigani.

National Court judge Justice Teresa Berrigan described the offence as “official corruption of the worst kind” and wants the sentence to serve as deterrent to potential offenders in this year’s election.

“As the country stands on the eve of elections, a severe penalty must be imposed as a clear warning to potential offenders, and to maintain public confidence in the electoral process,” Justice Berrigan said.

The former NCD election manager, Terence Hetinu, was initially arrested and charged on June 27, 2017, after a public complaint was lodged with police about Hetinu’s conduct that day.

He was reported to have carried with him in an electoral commission vehicle a substantial amount of money to be allegedly used for bribing polling officials to support a specific candidate.

When arrested, police found in his possession K184,300 (about NZ$80,000) and a contract agreement which stated that he would be rewarded with a security contract from the National Capital District Commission if he helped a candidate to win the Port Moresby regional seat.

Elections delayed by two weeks
RNZ Pacific reports that the weeks-long elections start with the writs now on May 12.

Electoral Commissioner Simon Sinai announced that the nominations would start that day, finishing on May 19.

Polling is due to start on July 9 and finish on the July 22 — allowing 14 days for polling. The writs are to be returned on July 29.

Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Papua New Guinea’s National Court has sent a strong message and warning to those accused of sorcery-related violence when it jailed six people for 40 years each for killing a father and his son in Northern province three years ago.

Acting Judge Camillus Sambua jailed Cameron Jovu, Mike Jofo, Clenty Orotu, Branden Asiko, Andrew Sariko and Jesse Akuma, all from Ambene village in Kokoda, last Thursday for the murder of Bartholomew Umbu and his son Siko.

The six killers had accused Umbo and Siku of practising sorcery.

Defence lawyer Emmanuel Yavisa from the Public Solicitor’s Office submitted that his clients be jailed 20 to 25 years because sorcery was a mitigating factor.

However, state lawyer Solomon Kuku argued that sorcery was not a mitigating factor as it was based on assumptions and not facts.

Kuku submitted that a term of 30 years to life imprisonment should be imposed as the killings were gruesome with disregard for human life.

Judge Samua then jailed all the six 40 years each.

‘Life a gift from God’
“Life is a gift from God,” he said.

“It should be kept sacred as it is very precious.

“The act by the six accused [was] barbaric with no regard to life,” he added.

Cameron Jovu will serve 40 years concurrently for two counts of murder.

Mike Jofo, Clenty Orotu, Smith Asiko and Brendan Asiko, were jailed for one count of murder, while Jesse Akuma and Andrew Sariko, for two counts of murder.

A total of 18 people were accused of being involved in the sorcery-related killing.

Eleven were acquitted on Tuesday.

Those acquitted were Emmanuel Koviro, Humphrey Konene, Bobby Jovu, Timothy Jofo, Howard Pou, Zebedee Akuma, Frank Johnson, Loide Koiko Sawa, Smith Ariko, Tadiu Roko and Robert Jovu.

Clarissa Moi is a reporter for The National. Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

A one metre-deep hole in the ground is all there is to show of an almost K2.7 million state contract project in Papua New Guinea’s Northern Province, reports PNG Post-Courier.

The project was for the design, pre-fabrication and construction of a community health post building with support facilities for Kiorata in Sohe district, and valued at K2,682,417 (about NZ$1.06 million).

“The contractor did absolutely nothing except dig a hole in the ground,” said Justice Minister Bryan Kramer.

This project is among others that have been investigated by the State Audit and Recovery Taskforce (SART) initiated by the Department of Justice and Attorney-General working with nine other State agencies.

“The contractors involved in these failed projects have been taken to the National Court for breach of contract,” Kramer said.

“These court proceedings are now before the National Court for orders to be made.

“As with all the court proceedings filed by the taskforce, they will be asking for the projects to be completed at the contractors’ own cost or funds paid for the project to be refunded with interest and costs of proceedings.”

Suspect projects
The SART-conducted site inspections last year in some cases that were suspected of being failed projects despite payments being made, and had been referred to them by government departments.

“The taskforce members travelled to the project sites, some of which are located in the most remote parts of the country, and discovered that almost all the projects were not completed,” Kramer said.

He said many of these projects involved the construction of school buildings and health centres.

“Most of the projects were, apart from some land clearing, not constructed at all.

“Some were 10 to 80 percent finished, and others were completed but with poor design and materials used, so water was coming into the building during the rainy season, or termites were already eating away the timber used,” Kramer said.

“The taskforce compiled detailed reports with photographs, which were then used to file court proceedings against the defaulting contractors for breach of contract.”

This year the taskforce has filed several court proceedings against contractors from site inspections in 2020 for failed projects which cost the state more than K7 million (about NZ$2.8 million).

Billons of kina are lost to undelivered state contracts every year and the SART initiative uses the claims by and against the State Act 1996 to make claims against contractors for breach of contract.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

National Capital District Governor Powes Parkop has vowed that NCDC has the municipal mandate to protect public interest and manage the best interests of the Papua New Guinea capital Port Moresby, reports PNG Post-Courier.

He made these remarks in a statement while he was present with onlookers at the city’s controversial Jack Pidik Park armed with an excavator to tear down a fence erected by the developer company TST adding a new twist in this land row.

“Today we have taken back Jack Pidik Park,” declared Parkop.

“It is public recreational land as far as we are concerned and shall remain that way until the commission decides otherwise.”

He said that TST had not received approval or power to “unilaterally” develop the land.

“Even if it is commercial land, it can’t be developed without our approval,” Parkop said.

“It has not complied with the orders it got from the National Court.

Developer ‘acted illegally’
“It has acted illegally and this cannot be allowed to continue.”

He said: “We assert NCDC power as the municipal government for our capital city to plan and manage our city for the benefit of all our people – individuals, corporations, churches and NGOs.

“Under the NCDC Act and vested with powers delegated to us by the Physical Planning Act and exercised through the NCD Physical Planning Board, we alone decide the type of development in the city,” he said.

Parkop said the NCDC had been fair in discharging its duty to protect public and private interests.

“We have defended public interest in public recreational areas like Ela Beach, Unagi Oval, Gerehu Sports Oval, Apex Park, Nature Park and other smaller parks in the city,” he said.

He cited other land that had been developed in the city, saying: “We have sold most of Sea Park land, for example, to raise money to complete the historic Sir Hubert Murray Stadium.

Responsible, ethical actions
“We have signed a memorandum of agreement with Kumul Training Institute to lease a park at Tokarara to operate its training center while continuing to serve the public,” he said.

“We will continue to maintain this approach as it is the most responsible, ethical and legal thing to do.

“Those private residents in the city or our country, be they individuals or corporate, who wish to access public land must respect this policy, importantly to see our cooperation and support to develop such land or facilities. So it is a win-win outcome.

“Those who seek to do it by default or deceit will not succeed.”

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

A five-man Supreme Court bench has quashed by a majority decision National Court temporary orders that have stayed the death sentence of 14 prisoners on death row in Papua New Guinea.

The court ruled that the lower court lacked jurisdiction at the time to commence the proceedings on its own initiative under Cection 57(1) of the Constitution, and directed that the orders be dismissed.

This ruling clears the way for the first executions in Papua New Guinea for 70 years.

These orders were appealed to the Supreme Court by the state, through Solicitor-General Tauvasa Tanuvasa, after he identified errors of law, made by the primary judge in 2017.

These were errors of commencing the proceedings as an inquiry, establishing that there were prisoners on death row who were awaiting execution with five having had no Supreme Court appeals or reviews pending and nine awaiting completion of their Supreme Court appeals.

The primary judge at time held that there were breaches in their rights under sections 36, 37 and 41 of the Constitution and also declared that the National Executive Council (NEC) had failed to facilitate appointments of members of the advisory committee on the power of mercy (ACPM) to determine their mode of execution.

The bench, that comprised deputy Chief Justice Ambeng Kandakasi and judges George Manuhu, Ere Kariko, Colin Makail and Nicholas Miviri, reached these orders after the majority held two of three grounds of appeal.

One minority view
Justice Manuhu was the only minority view, resulting in a four out of five judgment.

The grounds appealed by the state that were anonymously upheld were that the National Court lacked jurisdiction in such proceedings, that the proceedings were contrary to section 57 of the Constitution; and that assuming the decision of the transferees case by erroneously holding that decision was Orbita Dicta.

Orbita Dicta is a judges expression of opinion uttered in court or in a written judgment, but not essential to the decision and therefore not legally binding as a precedent. Also the trial judge had erred in law when he found breaches of the prisoner’s rights without any evidence and facts that established any of the breaches.

The bench also ordered that the National Court direction to the state, which was the appellant, to facilitate the appointment of members of the advisory committee on the powers of mercy and to provide a report to the NEC on October 12, 2017, in the proceeding styled HROI No. 2 of 2015 be quashed.

Tanuvasa, when contacted, told the PNG Post-Courier: “There is no impediment now.

“Those on death row can now apply to the power of mercy.

“Or all executions could proceed soon after the NEC properly appoints the members to a committee that would identify the most possible mode of execution.”

Trevor Wahune is a PNG Post-Courier reporter.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz