OPINION: By Gary Juffa
Everywhere one goes in Papua New Guinea, one is met with the hopeful, innocent faces of the future … our children.
They see not the impending doom of a nation under siege by criminals and inconsiderate political animals that happily aid transnational vultures plunder our resources.
Their feeding frenzy is about to be interrupted by the only real opportunity a people have to hit the reset button: the national elections.
Yet, even this is about to be wrenched away from the reach of the people who seek change.
The 2017 General Election is somehow different from previous elections.
There is a sense of unease in this elections that is inexplicable.
Perhaps I am wrong — I hope I am wrong. But I feel the ominous build up of tension. Many will not take their election being hijacked lightly. There will be bloodshed, mayhem and chaos, I sense …
Disturbing signs
There are disturbing signs that the elections will not be fair, transparent, or fair. That evil forces are moving to maintain their evil grip on a helpless and hapless people — who do not even realize the threat they pose to what is essentially a great nation.
This is what happens when you allow criminals to take control of a nation. Soon they surround themselves with fellow criminals. Birds of a feather — more specifically vultures.
A number of heartless Papua New Guineans seem to move about perpetrating evil with no consideration to the future of this great nation. For a few silver coins, they sell their nation and the future of our children.
They hold key positions in government and have become puppets of their evil political masters who placed them there. Their masters are themselves owned by the profit and greed brigade of transnational vultures and ruthless criminals that rape and plunder our economy.
Criminals who are never meted justice early in their evil career often become bold and brazen and manage to test the boundaries of law and justice and even fantasise that they can control justice. And then they set about making their fantasy reality to the detriment of others, a people, a nation.
Soon they are escalating their crimes and climbing to higher heights in their criminality to steal ever more, concocting grand schemes and scams and even using the educated and the seemingly passive and even those who claim to be righteous to commit their crimes.
They have many convinced that this is normal and soon criminality is not just normalised but also accepted and even, after some period of time, expected.
Ruthless trail
Meanwhile, they are followed by a horde of similar creatures, encouraged by the pace set by those going ahead leaving a ruthless trail of destroyed lives.
As their crimes grow in complexity and affect an increasingly larger demography of the population, they become drunk with their power and are unstoppable and move with vigor and rigor until the entire nation is under siege.
Suddenly a nation has arrived at its worst nightmare — rule by dictatorship.
And we never even knew it. In fact, many of us are to be blamed because in some way or another we let it happen. It seems to have crept up on us.
Look around you. We are here.
History is filled with examples of criminals who when given an inch have taken a mile — and often an entire country. Its resources and its people’s dignity, freedom and aspirations.
But there is always balance in life and death. There is always a consequence and a reaction, always a price to pay.
Always hope
There is always hope, for evil never lasts.
Hope can manifest itself in those who are not just willing to recognise evil and call it out, but those who will also take it on understanding that evil will not easily leave and slink away merely because someone who believes they are righteous recognises it and says so. Evil can only be physically evicted by those who are willing to expect and accept blows and fight with every strength and resource one can manage.
Many rush to the people and demand their mandate to be leaders, but they are cowards and cannot stomach the challenge of fighting evil.
Most have not the interests of the people at heart nor the wherewithal, resilience, strength or ability. They are false leaders, hoping to feast on the economy, to join their predatory apathetic fellow criminals who have proclaimed themselves to be “leaders” but are merely betrayers of a great nation and its people, facilitating the sale of a great nation.
Instead those mandated must not just be those who are in the habit of only talking about corruption and evil, but also willing to engage in attacking it. That takes a special type of patriotic fervour — a type of resilience and passion, a sense of jealously guarding at all times the interests of a people, a nation and the future.
Warrior leaders!
Seek them out Papua New Guinea! Send them in to fight for this great nation we call home!
And why not? It is a great nation worth fighting for, if not for our today, certainly for our children’s tomorrow.
Gary Juffa is Oro (Northern) Governor and leader of the People’s Movement for Change Party (PMCP) contesting the PNG General Election later this month. This column is from his Facebook.
