Northern Governor Gary Juffa has joined Papua New Guinea’s police chief and the Prime Minister in calling for Papua New Guineans to lay down arms and cease acts of local terrorism.

“I stand with the Commissioner of Police, David Manning, and Prime Minister James Marape to apply the full force of the law to quell all forms of local terrorism in PNG and, particularly, in Northern Province.

“I am particularly concerned as a few weeks ago my Oro Bay RPSC [rural police station commander] Sergeant Terry Giwaya was ruthlessly gunned down only a few kilometres away from his station,” Governor Juffa said.

• READ MORE: Other PNG crime reports

“I commend Commissioner Manning and his ACP Southern Clement Dalla for their swift action in responding to our plight, seeing through the proficient capture of the alleged thugs and the recovery of an alleged police firearm.

“The success of this operation is attributed also to the provincial police command, our local Northern police personnel,” Juffa said

“All gloves off” was not an order given lightly by any police commissioner or prime minister but with “our ignorance of the rule of law” and the disrespect to its enforcement machinery — the RPNGC — such an order was “timely and very necessary”.

Law and order priority
Juffa added that law and order in Northern Province would always be a priority on a par with health, infrastructure and education and had seen the Northern provincial government spending close to 1 million kina (about NZ$463,000) to date.

“Every citizen has a right to move freely without fear and to engage in commerce with the full covering of the laws of our country,” Juffa said.

“I stand with my prime minister and our police commissioner to clamp down on local terrorism and elements that fuel the atrocities.”

Governor Juffa indicated plans were afoot to take the body of Sergeant Giwaya back home, including an official programme scheduled to take place after the September 16 independence celebrations next weekend.

Republished with permission.

Since the start of Papua New Guinea’s Operation Stabilising Oro last month, 22 rape, murder and armed robbery suspects have been to date charged — and more are to follow.

There is also an estimated backlog of 105 outstanding cases that will be attended to over the next three to four weeks with more arrests to follow.

“We have confiscated home brew equipment, home and factory-made firearms, wire catapults and large quantities of drugs,” Oro provincial police commander Chief Inspector Ewai Segi said.

• READ MORE: Other PNG crime reports

“The fight against crime has commenced after several armed robberies, shootings and the tag of ‘cowboy country’ only fueled the rise in crime reports.

“Families, women and girls were victims of the so-called ‘don’t care’ gang who robbed anyone anywhere and struck fear in the hearts of many residents.

“Police have exhausted everything within their power to curb crime but failed miserably because of shortages in manpower and other resources, thus the entry of the support of the Water Police, NCD Forensics and police prosecution to rid crime and also move along criminal cases.

“Traffic enforcement using the latest charge sheet from the National Road Transport Authority are also in full swing where offenders face charges up to K2000 (NZ$890) and defaults of up to K10,000 (NZ$4,450) and or imprisonment and my orders are very concise.”

Joint operations briefing
Chief Inspector Segi made this observation during the joint operations briefing in Popondetta on Saturday, January 14, where he addressed members of the NCD contingent lead by Contingent Commander Justus Baupo and his special operations team.

Governor Gary Juffa who was with the team when they started operations two weeks ago also expressed his gratitude to the local police force for stepping up during very trying times to uphold the rule of law.

“I am proud of our local troops as despite very small numbers they continue to work tirelessly to uphold the law and maintain order in Oro,” Juffa said.

“With this additional support from NCD [National Capital District], I am confident our local troops will be able to triple their current efforts and rid our rural communities and urban settlements of ruthless criminal elements and regain the confidence of the wider community.”

According to Governor Juffa, there are plans already afoot to have support from NCD specific to Forensic and Prosecution to see through a lot of outstanding cases which the PPC had highlighted earlier.

“Operation Stabilising Oro is a full-scale operation where we deployed a traffic team, an Investigative Task Force (ITF) unit backed by an armed team from Water Police,” Chief Inspector Segi Segi said.

“I am very pleased to announce we have made a record number of arrests and charges laid successfully on perpetrators who had been on the run for some time and continuous raids on hotspot areas confiscating home brew implements, home and factory-made firearms, the infamous wire catapult and large quantities of drugs.

Rallied community support
“I have rallied the support of the wider community, especially clans and tribal chiefs, to stand with me and the Governor Gary Juffa to ensure Oro is stabilised and returned to normalcy before the first quarter of 2023 concludes.

“On the investigative task force front, we have made available full support to the joining ITF team through collaboration to reduce the vast number of pending and outstanding cases back some five years or more.

“Our collaboration in terms of information and intel sharing and interview records and access to our case database are priority areas and I am confident we will see successful prosecution in the coming days and weeks.”

Provincial Administrator Trevor Magei confirmed also that a lot of the ongoing criminal challenges were caused by the same known criminal elements.

“They continue to cause havoc because we lacked proper resourcing within our ITF and prosecution, but from my monitoring there is hope for Oro as we have a very good composition of police support from police headquarters,” he said.

Magei is also head of the provincial law and order working committee and has assured Chief Inspector Segi and staff from outside Oro of more collaboration as they continue in the coming weeks.

“The business community, the local chamber of commerce, our Chinese business association together with major employer Sime Darbie are all backing this special operation with whatever support and logistics they can contribute,” he said.

Miriam Zarriga is a senior PNG Post-Courier reporter. Republished with permission.

The Governor of Oro province in Papua New Guinea, Gary Juffa, says Prime Minister James Marape encourages “honest debate” and discussion within his government.

The PNG coalition government is made up of 17 parties in an 118-seat Parliament. There are now only nine opposition MPs, after recent switches to government benches.

With so few opposition MPs, concerns have been raised that the opposition cannot effectively hold the government to account.

• READ MORE: Other PNG election reports

But Juffa disagrees, telling RNZ Pacific that disagreement and debate are encouraged between government MPs.

“There are MPs who monitor what is happening within government and do hold the government to account, there is a lot of debate and discussion in the government caucus,” he said.

“If the government makes a decision that the other members feel it’s not in the best interest of the country or the people they will voice their concerns.

“And that is actually a very — in my opinion — positive [feature] about the Marape government, the Marape government encourages dissent within his government.

Voicing their concerns
“Our prime minister has allowed people and members of Parliament within the government to be critical, to voice their concerns.

“The past O’Neill government was very harsh towards any criticism, whereas the government of Marape allows criticism, and he has encouraged free media. He has allowed the media or he has encouraged the media to report. We do want the media to report factually.

“If they do report on critical concerns about the government then it is based on facts rather than rumour or rhetoric.

“Well, you know, I was in the opposition for seven years and nothing stopped me from speaking up. There were times when there were only five or four of us, but we still spoke up.

“You know, I think there are some good opposition MPs who were very vocal, and I don’t think it’s everyone joining the government-type situation. I think there are vocal active opposition MPs in Papua New Guinea,” he said.

Juffa, who founded the People’s Movement for Change party, of which he is the sole Member of Parliament, also commented on the government’s response to the violence which erupted during the 2022 election.

“The government has formed a parliamentary committee, chaired by Governor Allan Byrd, and it’s reached out to the Institute of National Affairs and other organisations. I believe they will also be working with the Commonwealth observers and other institutions, organisations that were critical of the elections,” he said.

Most violent election
The poll was described as the most violent in the country’s 47 years of independence, with dozens of people losing their lives.

“So there have been immediate steps taken, I understand that the committee will be funded. It has the support of the executive government and the Prime Minister.

“And efforts are well underway to address and conduct a review of not just these elections, but previous elections and look at ensuring that the 2027 elections are a far more transparent, well-run well managed election than the ones we have seen in the past.”

RNZ Pacific’s correspondent in Papua New Guinea, Scott Waide, said that during polling that the violent extremes reflected wider public frustration in a poorly planned and managed election.

Juffa said unfortunately the reality was that there was a lot yet to be done in many parts of Papua New Guinea, “violence is very much prevailing”.

“Still, during these types of situations, we want to address them, and I believe the prime minister, the police minister and other members of Parliament charged with the responsibility are doing the best they can,” he said.

During the 2022 general election, Papua New Guinea police and electoral authorities were on the verge of declaring failed elections in some parts of the country at one stage where violence had all but halted the electoral process.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ. 

Papua New Guinea’s “glassmen” — men who claim to identify and accuse women of sorcery — must be hunted down and charged with their crimes, says Northern Governor Gary Juffa.

He said PNG should not just continue expressing concern and outrage while doing nothing to address sorcery accusation-related violence (SARV).

He made these comments in response to a video showing five women being stripped naked, tied to poles and tortured being released on social media last week. The cruelty portrayed in the video has shocked the nation.

• READ MORE: Inhumane: PNG police call for more information on the torture video
• Horror torture of women in PNG

Both daily newspapers — the PNG Post-Courier and The National — published horrifying front page pictures of the torture today with the Post-Courier carrying a banner headline “Inhumane”.

An editorial note on the Post-Courier front page said: “This horrendous crime must not be seen as an isolated incident and such tortures and killings must be reported prominently.”

According to The National, Police Commissioner David Manning described the torture as “vile, inhumane, uncivilised, void of any human decency”.

The torture is believed to have occurred in Kagua, Southern Highlands Province.

Juffa said the perpetrators were visible in the video and it was not hard to identify them.

“They must all be rounded up and they must all be charged,” he said.

‘They are the guiltiest’
“And not only them, but those who claim to be ‘glassmen’, must also be brought in and charged.

“They are the guiltiest and must be apprehended and charged.”

Juffa also said the video was debated and discussed among MPs at great length.

“Member for Porgera has already assured us that he has sent this video to the provincial police commander of Enga.

“The Minister of Police has also advised us that he has already informed the Commissioner of Police and they are investigating.

“But now, something must be done, we must take action.”

Deputy Commissioner Police Operations Anton Billie called on the public to come forward with any information they had about the torture.

He also called on churches, youth groups, community leaders and women’s groups to come forward and assist the police with any information they might have on the perpetrators or the status of the five women — and whether they were still alive.

According to Cultural Survival, traditional PNG spiritualists are known in the Tok Pisin language as ol glas man — “glassmen”, or seers — who practise soul travel characteristic of shamanism.

Rebecca Kuku is a a PNG Post-Courier reporter. Republished with permission.

Oro Governor Gary Juffa has called on Papua New Guinea’s Health and HIV/AIDS Minister Jelta Wong to present a paper recommending a “proper and transparent” procurement system for the Department of Health (DOH) to procure medicine and pharmaceutical drugs.

Juffa, who was a member of the Public Accounts Committee of 2019 that held an inquiry into the DOH procurement, supply and distribution process, said the recommendations were endorsed and approved by stakeholders and donor partners that supported PNG in the health sector.

“The recommendations for the procurement system were put together by the Special Parliamentary Committee for Public Sector Reform.

“After the inquiry the DOH did not take action in implementing the recommendations made by the committee,” Governor Juffa said.

He said that recommendations proposed a more transparent system to procure, distribute and supply medicines and pharmaceutical drugs.

“I urge Minister Wong to present this paper to the National Executive Council for consideration.

“It is in the best interest of the country and the people,” Governor Juffa said.

Attempts to get a response from Wong yesterday were unsuccessful.

Meanwhile, Borneo Pacific Pharmaceutical has been awarded a one-year contract worth K65 million to supply medical kits throughout the country.

Rebecca Kuku is a PNG Post-Courier reporter. Republished with permission.

The Asia-Pacific tag is a “misnomer” and should not be used to lump in Pacific Island countries, says Papua New Guinean opposition MP and governor of Oro province Gary Juffa.

The Pacific Islands should be considered as a region on its own because its ethnic make-up is distinct from Asia, he said.

Juffa also said the islands region’s surface area was huge and important enough to be a global region in itself.

“When we are lumped together with Asia Pacific, we are dwarfed. They are more vocal, they have their more complicated issues that they present, and we become just like a tag-along. I prefer that the Pacific, which is one-fifths of the world’s surface area, be recognised as a region on its own.”

Juffa said he wanted PNG, which is the biggest country in the Pacific islands, to take a lead in demanding that the Pacific be recognised as its own region.

“We are totally different from the ethnic make-up of Asia, and different from the ethnic make-up of any region,” he said.

“Look at history and culture. We ought to be our own region. Why are we together with Asia-Pacific?”

The governor said this was why the issue of West Papua, the self-determination struggle of the indigenous people of Indonesian-ruled Papua region, was “obscured”.

“It’s seen as an Asia-Paciifc issue. But it’s not. It is a Pacific issue.

“Here is another region intruding in our region, claiming our territory as their own.”

This article is republished under the Pacific Media Centre’s content partnership with Radio New Zealand.

• More West Papua stories

Over the course of the past month, Oro Governor Gary Juffa has been at the forefront of a crackdown on illegal loggers in Collingwood Bay of Oro Province.

The operation has gathered a lot of public support from people who have been subjected to various injustices, including company workers and landowners.

Up to 16 foreign workers have been arrested. Police have also impounded machines and other equipment.

READ MORE: Governor Gary Juffa speaks out against ‘criminal logging cartels’

“They were in fact quite relieved that we got to them,” Juffa said. “Apparently, they had not been paid.”

According to the Oro Governor, the Forest Minister cancelled permits to the operation.

However, the operation is still continuing with logs being shipped out of the province.

Theft of resources’
Juffa has also hit out at the PNG Forest Authority for its complacency:

“Our investigations reveal that PNGFA is negligent in its efforts and has been facilitating the theft of our forest resources for decades.

“It is complicit in the transnational crimes being committed and those who process the paperwork are in fact accomplices.

“PNGFA is, in fact, failing miserably, in its mandate and is in fact assisting transnational criminal cartels steal our forest resources. What is the point of an organisation we pay for with our taxes to serve transnational criminal cartels and sell us out?”

Collingwood Bay was one of the first areas marked as a Special Agriculture Business Lease (SABL). Landowners protested and took the matter to court and won.

• More Papua New Guinea stories

In the ongoing saga of stopping illegal logging in Papua New Guinea’s Oro province, our facts reveal that the PNG Forest Authority is failing our people.

A network exists whereby a few corrupt public servants in both Oro and the PNG Forest Authority have helped facilitate fraud and theft of resources worth millions. This network exists in every province where there is illegal logging occurring.

In Oro we have identified those involved and they shall be dealt with.

Meanwhile, our investigations reveal that PNGFA is negligent in its efforts and has been facilitating the theft of our forest resources for decades, it is complicit in the transnational crimes being committed and those who process the paperwork are in fact accomplices.

Despite all the government rhetoric about stopping illegal logging such as the SABLs and being concerned about the environment, the truth is, that this government entity, designed and created for the purpose of protecting PNG interests – PNG resources –  is in fact failing miserably in its mandate and is assisting transnational criminal cartels steal our forest reources.

What is the point of an organisation we pay for with our taxes to serve transnational criminal cartels and sell us out?

Pretext and fraud
Every month, shipments worth millions leave our shores – forest resources obtained under pretext and fraud, leaving behind destroyed landscapes, polluted waterways, and miserable landowners who have either been fooled or contemptuously mistreated and intimidated by corrupt elements of the public service and police.

But we can stop it.

Yes, you and I.

If we know about it and do nothing, we too are complicit.

I am doing something about it. I need you to stand with me and demand that the PNGFA and its Chairman, David Dotaon,a and its minister, Douglas Tomuriesa, and its entire department act to stop these crimes against Papua New Guinea and our people and protect our forest resources.

How?

Immediately review all licences granted to logging and you will find:

• They are illegally granted via fraudulent processes and corrupt public servants;
• The so-called landowner companies don’t represent our landowners at all;
• All machinery is unregistered – it can all be impounded;
• All foreign workers are without permits – they can be immediately detained until deported with the cost being met by the company, and their companies fined and banned from doing business in Papua New Guinea ever again;
• Significant environmental damage to waterways and reefs and logging on gradients that are in contravention of the permit restrictions. Your sister agency, the conservation Environment Protection Authority, will at this stage be brought in to inspect the results, and fine and ban the company from any future agriculture or forest development projects.
• That tax evasion and transfer pricing mechanisms have allowed the company to evade paying for decades. At this stage, the IRC and Customs can be brought into carrying out these audits and raise assessments and commence recovery and prosecution action. They can use the double tax treaties to recoup any taxes due.
• Significant evidence of corruption involving many public servants and landowners. They can be referred to the police fraud squad for arrests and prosecution.
• Much of our resources have been stolen and, as this is a crime, the principals of these companies can be charged and prosecuted when you lay the complaint. You can also seize properties as proceeds of crime.

Engage army and police
You can engage the army and the police to shut down all such operations and seize and auction all machinery.

If they sue us, so what? They are running illegal operations of a transnational criminal nature and they will lose in court.

Finally, some of the proceeds can be used to compensate genuine landowners.

And if you can’t do this, ask me. I will do it. For free.

Just give me the resources and let me select a team of great, patriotic policemen, soldiers; Labour, Migration, IRC and Customs officers, state lawyers – and watch.

The mandate of this forests department besides protecting Papua New Guinea interests at all times is to develop clever innovative strategies to use our forest resources in a sustainable manner.

There are options whereby the vast forest resources that provide us such a rich life do not need to be destroyed. We don’t need to destroy our forests so that we can progress.

Sustainable alternatives
At a time when the world is facing a global warming disaster, we can do our bit by preserving our forests and finding alternative means of income using forest products in a sustainable manner.

Yet after 40 years, we have silently and meekly allowed pirates to raid our shores and accept a few measly kina in compensation.

For each shipment worth about K6 million (K2.6 million), we accept less then K100,000 (NZ$43,000). Where is the common sense in this? For each forest cut down, thousands of species of flora and fauna are devastated and some may never recover.

We are destroying our natural home so we can live in an unnatural home … in pursuit of money and material goods so we can be “happy” because someone who we thought was more educated and civilised told us so.

But we will never be happy in this endless pursuit of the unnatural, living in an unnatural world where unnatural leaders make unnatural decisions that cause us more misery – naturally. We are only chasing illusions of happiness.

Certainly if we continue to allow this, if we are thinking, intelligent patriots, as we so often like to tell one another, then we are truly failing ourselves, our nation and our future.

It can be done  – it just needs all of us to rise up and do it together.

Gary Juffa is an Opposition MP in the Papua New Guinean National Parliament and Governor of Oro (Northern) Province. This commentary was first published on his Facebook page.

• More PNG stories
  

By David Robie at Te Papa

Northern Province Governor Gary Juffa made a blistering attack on politicians who are “selling out” Papua New Guinea to foreign cartels with an open door policy over extraction industries, but offered some good news too.

Speaking at the Second Pacific Ocean Climate Conference at Te Papa Museum in Wellington this week, he cited the 3600 sq km Managalas Conservation Area collaborative project between the Rainforest Foundation Norway (RNF) and local landowners as an encouraging pointer to the future.

It has taken more than three decades for the area to be declared at Itokama village last November 29 by Juffa and the Environment and Climate Minister John Pandari.

The conservation region, known as the Managalas Plateau, in Juffa’s home province is the largest to be declared in the country and has expansive tracts of primary rainforest.

The conservation area will protect the plateau from large-scale encroachment from the logging, oil palm and mining cartels while protecting the sustainable and traditional forest lifestyles of the 21,000 local people, said Juffa.

However, as one of just five opposition MPs in PNG’s 111-seat National Parliament, Juffa was highly critical at the conference about the current political system and rampant corruption in the country.

He said most Papua New Guinean politicians, once they were elected to Parliament, no longer represented the interests of the people who had voted for them.

Jumped sides
An example was how quickly opposition MPs, such as the Pangu Pati, jumped to the Prime Minister Peter O’Neill government’s side after the general election last July.

O’Neill was reelected as prime minister by 64-40 votes in August and his ruling People’s National Congress has now decimated the opposition. Twenty one parties are represented in Parliament.

The logging cartels did their best to unseat Juffa and put up six candidates against him because of his outspoken opposition to the extraction industries.

“When I was a customs officer I had some amazing experiences combating this particular group of characters,” he said.

“Papua New Guinea had introduced a new policy in 1995 as a shift away from the West towards Asia. But really it was an effort to try to open the doors to the cartels that were hell bent on coming in to rape our rainforests.”

Governor Juffa on the opening up of Papua New Guinea to the Asian logging cartels and mining companies. Video: Café Pacific

Juffa has currently turned to working more closely with local politicians and landowners in an effort to educate leaders in a more productive way of helping their people life a sustainable lifestyle.

The governor is a prolific user of social media in Papua New Guinea to get his message across to the public and in a Facebook posting this week he said:

Land PNG’s security
“Land is Papua New Guinea’s only true security [and] is once more for sale.

“Sadly the colonised mindset is enthusiastically embracing the scam … forgetting the terrible record of the government in protecting state land from theft and fraud.

“The corporate pirates are now attacking your future. You will be owned – and a landless people.”

Juffa criticised the lack of media – and coverage – at the conference, and also the shortage of climate activists and absence of West Papuan human rights advocates.

He suggested the organisers might prioritise such “frontline” activists for the next conference in two years time.

Governor Gary Juffa on the “absence” of the media. Video: Café Pacific

After two weeks of controversy, Pangu Pati leader Sam Basil and most of his party have split with Papua New Guinea’s Opposition and defected to Prime Minister Peter O’Neill’s post-election government, consolidating the People’s National Congress hold on Parliament.

In spite of repeated denials by Basil, Prime Minister O’Neill announced the defection yesterday afternoon, reports Loop PNG’s Annette Kora.

Basil defected with all 11 Pangu MPs from Morobe Province, including Central Province, Sohe and Lufa.

The defection has been widely condemned on social media and Papua New Guinea blogs as a “betrayal” and Oro Province Governor Gary Juffa made an impassioned plea in a video message appealing to fellow Opposition MPs to continue to work responsibly in Parliament for “the interests of all Papuan New Guineans” and not just a few.

Just four Pangu Pati MPs, including former Prime Minister Sir Mekere Morauta (Port Moresby North West), refused to defect and have remained with the Opposition.

ABC News correspondent Eric Tlozek reports Basil was one of the O’Neill government’s most outspoken critics, and his successful grassroots campaign wiped out senior government MPs in his home province of Morobe.

But Basil said he had to respect the Prime Minister’s mandate, Tlozek reports.

“So all I can say is that Papua New Guineans have chosen the government, now we make our choice to join PNC.”

ABC also reports Basil has also filed a criminal complaint against rival members of his party executive who challenged his move, alleging they stole party funds.

The defection helps secure O’Neill’s grip on government, and the Prime Minister praised Basil and the defecting Pangu Pati MPs.

• Other PNG stories

My advice for Papua New Guinea’s new MPs and their staff, minions, hangers on and supporters …

Some words about the middle bench.

It’s a myth.

I should know. I was there believing that myth for the first two years of the last term of Parliament.

The middle bench IS government.

I attended government caucus from time to time and made critical reviews of government decisions. If you are allowed to attend government caucus…you ARE government.

Why did I not choose the Opposition at that time?

Because I believed the myth of the “Middle Bench” …

Little difference
And I saw little difference in either side at that time…with the government seeming to be a slightly better option. I hoped I could do more to influence government decisions for the better. How wrong I was. The benefit of hindsight has since proved otherwise.

Well at that time both government and opposition seemed like bad choices, just flipsides of the same coin, and I honestly thought there was a special place in Parliament for neutral ground or a Third Way from government or opposition.

Well, I was wrong. I was naive.

FACT: “There is no neutral ground”.

Surprise surprise, there is no middle bench!

Anyway my continued critical review of the decisions made by Prime Minister Peter O’Neill’s People’s National Congress (PNC) government were pissing many off … so eventually I was removed.

That’s right, by the ruling party PNC. As I said, some of their members resented the critical review I provided. They despised my outspokenness on national issues and questioning their self interest in most decisions.

They lobbied hard and when the ruling party met and decided unanimously to kick me out. That’s right. They can do that. Which means they are in control of that part of Parliament.

‘Don’t make trouble’ message
Which means the middle bench is a myth!

Soon after I was quietly asked by a government MP to inform the government I wished to remain and would not make trouble.

If I could do this, I could stay but must remain mute and support all government decisions..good or bad.

So I decided to move to Opposition.

See I felt I was elected to speak for my people. All of Papua New Guinea. Not be a puppet and follow others blindly even when they were wrong.

So I left.

It now dawned on me that the middle bench … was only in my head … not in reality … so if you are there…you are in government..

And if they hold control over that area, they own that territory. You are their territory. You can pretend and be quiet and they will allow that pretence to be projected to the people. But speak up too often … then you will see who has control over that area and you will soon see that you are there at their will and whim.

All the best.

Gary Juffa is an Opposition MP in the Papua New Guinea Parliament and Governor of Oro province. He contributes occasional articles to Asia Pacific Report.

• Five MPs join the PANGU opposition

OPINION: By Gary Juffa, Governor of Oro and a candidate in the PNG general election

Papua New Guinea’s incoming government must put a list of urgent 100 days agendas to attend to immediately upon taking office and put the necessary resources to address them and an effective management system of monitoring, review and redirection.

Right up there on that list  must be a diagnostic review of the 2017 national elections.

Basically this review will highlight what happened, what went wrong, why, who was responsible and what needs to happen to improve and ensure a democratic transparent effective election in 2022 so that the people’s constitutional rights to elect their parliamentary

Here was my experience this week:

On Wednesday, I voted at Iora, Kokoda. But only after some time.

Yes, my name was not on the Electoral Roll 2017. Even though I had made sure my details were updated. Even though I checked the website and it had my name listed and at the location and yet on Wednesday I was not on the 2017 Roll.

I was finally allowed to vote because I was a candidate as per provisions of the law that allowed for this. In other words, if I could not vote because I was not on the 2017 Electoral Roll that would be a blatant and very explicit fact showing that the 2017 rolls were not effectively updated.

Others should vote too
I asked if others can vote too since that was only fair. Since the Prime Minister, Peter O’Neill, who was also not on the 2017 roll was allowed to vote and I was allowed to vote, why couldn’t every other person who had voted in 2012 and before be allowed to vote.

I was informed by polling officials that they were instructed that only the 2017 Electoral Roll was to be used and not the 2012 electoral roll or the preliminary roll.

I spoke to many frustrated and angry people who declared that they had made sure their names were updated and yet they were not on the 2017 roll and thus unable to vote.

From my discussions it could be concluded that in some instances more then 40 percent of the people were turned away in some areas and in some areas even higher numbers with percentages as high as 70 percent quoted by observers and scrutineers.

Some of the stories they told were simply infuriating and one can only be bitterly aware that this People’s National Congress (PNC) government led by Peter O’Neill does not care for the people of Papua New Guinea.

Many who found their names were not in one area had to travel a fair distance to other stations to search for their names to vote. In the case of the aged and elderly, mothers who had young children to tend to or those with disabilities and those with no financial means, this was too much. How sad.

Many found the polling officials unhelpful and barely aware of their duties and functions. I noted several young high school students who had no prior work experience.

Wide open to electoral fraud
Meanwhile, the process was so wide open for electoral fraud that it would be so easy for those with some intent and planning to be able to commit electoral fraud with much ease and little chance of detection or deterrence.

Many claimed that the process of updating the roll was hindered simply because papers for recording this process “ran out”.

Not a few expressed anger that people who had no experience and qualifications and some of dubious character had been engaged to do this and some had not even bothered to go out to do their work. The work itself was so poorly coordinated that it could not be described in anyway as being “effective”.

One such person was chased and stoned today in Kokoda when sighted as he had been responsible for a significant percentage of voters being turned away.

Several of my aged aunts and uncles were visibly sad and angry as they were unable to exercise their democratic right to vote. One told me that they felt that this may be their last time to be able to vote and yet they could not vote even though they had voted ever since PNG attained independence on 16 September 1975.

In fact, many of the people in Papua New Guinea who had voted since Independence were unable to vote for the first time in their life. Many were frustrated and sad. This was a huge negative psychological experience for them

It is apparent to many that the ruling PNC and O’Neill are arrogant and totally inconsiderate of the people of Papua New Guinea to exercise their democratic right to elect their representatives into Parliament.

If they were not, they would have done everything possible to ensure that this election was not such a failure.

• Other PNG election stories
• School orders Electoral Commission out for classes – holiday extended
• Papua New Guinea elections end
• From ‘anticipation, excitement’ to dictatorship fears in PNG election

Feelings of “anticipation, excitement” first gripped Papua New Guinea as polling opened last month.

Auckland University of Technology doctoral candidate Stephanie Tapungu and her husband Kenneth told PMW’s weekly Southern Cross radio programme on 95bFM that rising female representation and online engagement were a source of hope.

The PNG Electoral Commission reports the number of female candidates standing in the two-week election beginning on June 24 comprised 165 of the total 3332 candidates.

The only province that did not register a female candidate is West New Britain.

Kenneth Tapungu told Southern Cross:

“There’s been a rise in women’s numbers, candidates, and this has in a way really changed the dynamic of the game itself and this has really challenged the existing status quo of elections and campaigns.”

But the anticipation and excitement was short-lived and quickly descended into condemnation of the state of the electoral common roll as thousands reported they had not been listed, despite registration, and also disruptions as reported a week later on PMW’s Southern Cross.

Ballot paper chaos
In Lae, students set fire to ballot papers in protest, while others at Unitech missed out on voting as only 1100 ballot papers arrived for a voting population of 5000.

Similar stories were echoed across Papua New Guinea as 4000 to 5000 students in Goroka were denied the chance to cast a ballot.

At the University of Papua New Guinea, voting again did not take place due to a lack of ballots.

Only 1200 ballot papers arrived from the Electoral Commission instead of the expected 5000.

Allegations of corruption, calls for resignations, and fears of a dictatorship soon emerged, even as Prime Minister O’Neill shrugged off polling chaos.

He told EMTV News the 2017 elections were a “dramatic change” from the previous three due an apparent lack of violence and no “hijacked” electoral process.

“I hear comment from election observers that delays like this are common in developing country elections, particularly with remote and rugged terrain and diverse cultures,” O’Neill said.

Fears of dictatorship
But O’Neill’s comments did nothing to dissuade Gary Juffa, Oro’s current governor and an opposition candidate in the elections, from expressing his fears Papua New Guinea was heading for a dictatorship.

“We are inching closer to dictatorship and ensuing bloodshed and violence that must come from the hostility towards it. But like lemmings and sheep, we are led to that reality with little resistance at all. Is this the Papua New Guinea we all believed in once upon a time?”

Juffa claimed the elections have been rigged – “deliberately set to fail” – due to fraud and issues at the polls.

Peter S. Kinjap reported for Asia Pacific Report that rival Ialibu candidates had also accused O’Neill of “rigging” the elections “from the start”.

The plethora of missing voter details across Papua New Guinea, despite concerted efforts made to update them, was further evidence of the country’s fall from democracy, Juffa said.

“This will mean that democracy certainly did not prevail in this instance. In fact, many will probably agree that come the end of these elections, democracy was hardly a reality everywhere in Papua New Guinea.”

PNG Attitude’s Keith Jackson said recent developments mean the international election observer team are “duty bound to investigate when reaching their conclusion on whether this election has been free and fair and provided a just result”.

Election disruptions, problems
Enga’s vote being deferred amid election disruptions and polling problems were some of the developments called to mind, he said.

Also amidst all of the chaos at the polls Electoral Commissioner Patilias Gamato told reporters he would not resign in his quest to ensure the general election is “run smoothly”.

A day after Gamato’s statement, four senior election officers were arrested for carrying K185,000 (NZD$80,000) in cash and suspicious documents, cancelling Port Moresby’s one-day polling.

There are also fears the elections could be deemed a failure, Kenneth Tapungu told Asia Pacific Report yesterday.

He says Prime Minister O’Neill voted in his village – Kauwo, in Pangia Southern Highlands province – on a Sunday, which contravenes the country’s constitution.

Stephanie Tapungu, whose countenance was positive as polling opened, now reflects:

“The elections were planned to be a failure from the start. It started out positive, but so much happened – from ballot boxes being lost and mix ups, to deferral of counting and polling, and the suspension of election managers. This election was just full of drama.”

• More PNG election stories

I suspect that these Papua New Guinea elections have been so deliberately set to fail, leaving much room for fraud and confusion, that we will be distracted from what is really going on – the establishment of a dictatorship.

Already Prime Minister Peter O’Neill has his own special police unit that flies around Papua New Guinea escorting him in his private airlines, he has a special army unit of 40 exclusively for his callout, he controls the media and Public Service.

And, it seems, the Police and Defence commands — and perhaps the judiciary … the signs and red flags are blinking bright red now…

Yet many people do not see it at all. We are inching closer towards dictatorship and the ensuing bloodshed and violence that must come from the hostility towards it. But like lemmings and sheep, we are led to that reality with little resistance at all. Is this the Papua New Guinea we all believed in once upon a time?

Last Wednesday in Oro province provided a demonstration of how much the PNG government is not for PNG. It was also a demonstration of how democracy should not work.

For instance, the majority — between a third and a half — of Popondetta Urban voting age citizens have not voted because the current common roll does not have their names. Many citizens claim they had made the effort to update their details and were still turned away.

Preliminary roll ‘okay’
Meanwhile, Electoral Commissioner Patilias Gamato has advised that the preliminary roll can be used. This means he indirectly agrees that the EC failed to effectively update the 2017 roll. This instruction was obviously not made known to Electoral Commission officials managing the polling at the Independence Oval on Wednesday.

Many people who had taken time out and had travelled to vote were turned away angry and anxious. This election was certainly costing them. They will have to come back for the last day, but the slowness will probably ensure that a large group will not have been processed by the end of the polling at 4pm.

This will mean that democracy certainly did not prevail in this instance. In fact, many will probably agree that come the end of these elections, democracy was hardly a reality everywhere in Papua New Guinea.

This should hardly be a surprise given that we have actually endured a covert dictatorship and hardly realised it.

Own effort
Meanwhile, not a few of the learned are saying that everyone should have made their own effort to ensure they were registered.

A true statement we all would like to agree with. I was tempted to think this way too. Then I thought of my people in rural PNG. My uncles and aunts who do not read or write and are at once the greatest selfless humans I know and, despite whatever people think, are equal shareholders of this great nation, Papua New Guinea.

They too deserve to vote. They too deserve to be informed. They too have the right to be given the opportunity to decide whether they want to update their details on the common role or not.

May I just say to all my learned friends making such statements as “it’s your fault if you are not on the roll; stop whinging”, that this would be true if the awareness programme had been been carried out sufficiently and it would be true in a society which is totally literate and where means of communication are available to all, a society that, say, had more then just 40 years or so as an independent nation of 1000 tribes with their own language groupings and cultural peculiarities.

Such statements are also spiteful about our people. Many of our people who live in rural PNG do not have access to the benefits of technology and modern services and goods that you may have had and may have now.

Our people, remember them? Well some of these are the people who will adore you and feed you and love you selflessly when or should you ever go home for a visit from time to time.

It would also be a safe statement to make if Papua New Guinea were governed by a government which allowed information access for all. A government that made funding available for provincial governments and relevant information dissemination entities like the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC).

Government by the people
Of course, that would have to be a government of the people, by the people, for the people …which this government clearly is not, if any of its decisions made in the last five years are anything to go by.

It is clear that the Electoral Commission failed. But the commission is not entirely to be blamed because, the buck stops at the top, and that’s the People’s National Congress (PNC) government of Peter O’Neill.

They have totally failed in the last five years to ensure that everyone was on the roll.

The awareness programme was an abysmal failure. Rural Papua New Guinea especially had virtually no knowledge of this. That’s 85 percent of PNG.

Adequately informed
Were our people adequately informed? They were not.

The Electoral Commission had five years to do this. It failed.

Just as it did with the K200 million national identity (NID) project. Deliberately too, it appears.

This government failed. Peter O’Neill failed

The 2017 Elections are looking very much like a failure.

A planned failure, perhaps … it has to be.

Sipping champagne
From the PNC government’s perspective, maybe they are chuckling and sipping champagne and congratulating each other on a job well done. Chaos provides opportunities for those who plan it to. Who knows?

Meanwhile in stark contrast, preparations for APEC seem to be going on very well. Surprise, surprise. Funding is abundantly available and preparatory meetings, plans, strategies and training and capacity testing efforts are well in progress. Not a few MPs whose companies will be involved in various services needed have already picked up hefty contracts.

So obviously the government can do a great job. If it suits them.

Ask yourself, is APEC more important then the democratic rights of a people to elect their leaders to represent their interests in Parliament?

This just shows how much the PNC government cares for its people. How much? In my measure, it was so weak and poor an effort, so pathetic, it was “zilch”.

Gary Juffa’s commentaries are frequently published by Asia Pacific Report with permission. This commentary is a combination of two of his latest pieces.

• More PNG election stories

Pacific Media Watch News Desk

Oro Governor Gary Juffa has condemned the Papua New Guinea government for “hypocrisy” and “double standards” over the controversial deportation of New Zealand Catholic missionary Douglas Tennent.

Acting Chief Immigration Officer Solomon Kantha told EMTV News that Tennent’s deportation last week related to “visa conditions”.

However, Juffa, who has been vocal about foreign investors in the country during the election campaign, said the move by the Immigration Office to deport Tennent was illegal and not in the best interests of Papua New Guineans who were being marginalised on their own land by big foreign companies.

If the current PNG government was interested in the people it would support Tennent and say, “let us fight this corruption and deal with this on behalf of the landowners,” Juffa said.

The PNG Immigration Department is reviewing its decision to deport Tennent, reports Cathnews.

Kantha said Tennent’s visa had been cancelled by Immigration and Foreign Affairs Minister Rimbink Pato because of his alleged involvement in landowner issues, the NZ Catholic news service reported.

The acting immigration head said the decision was based on a “complaint” from landowners in East New Britain.

The Sikite Mukus palm oil project has been a “hive of landowner dispute” between those who want the project and those who do not want the project, EMTV News said.

Archbishop refuses
The Post-Courier reported that Kantha had told the archbishop of Rabaul, Francesco Panfilo, that Tennent could reapply for a new visa and work permit.

However, the archbishop has refused to do so unless he receives reassurance from PNG’s Foreign Affairs Department that Tennent could return.

He is also demanding to know who lodged the complaint letter.

The managing director of the landowners’ umbrella company, Memalo Holdings Ltd, has denied being responsible.

Wesley Pagott said although the members of Sigite Mukus Integrated Rural Development Project (SMIRDP) disagreed with with what Tennent had been doing, they were surprised to hear that he was deported.

Memalo Holdings was originally incorporated listing six separate landowner companies as shareholders.

They were all incorporated on the same day. Two have since been delisted.

Memalo controls the land on which the SMIRDP is being developed by the Malaysian logging company Rimbunan Hijau Group (PNG).

The group has a diverse set of interests that encompass forestry, timber processing, palm oil, transport, media, retail and property development.

It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Rimbunan Hijau, a company based in Sarawak, Malaysia.

Governor pledges support
The Acting Governor of East New Britain, Cosmas Bauk, has pledged his support for Tennent, Cathnews reported.

He said he would do everything in his power to make sure that Tennent could return to continue on with his work.

Bauk said he was disappointment at the manner in which the current government had been doing its business without regards to the people’s fight for justice and what they rightfully claimed as theirs.

He commended the church for their efforts in assisting the people in Pomio and East New Britain and would stand with the church in this fight.

The Papua New Guinea 2017 general election is June 24 until July 8.

• Deported NZ missionary wants clarity

Popular Oro Governor Gary Juffa, one of the opposition leaders contesting Papua New Guinea’s general election next month, has called on the nation to take back the country from elitist “globalised zombies”.

Declaring that Papua New Guinea needed fresh leadership when the country goes to the polls, the People’s Movement for Change Party (PMCP) leader added that it must be one that did not repress the people.

He appeared to be referring to the current government of Prime Minister Peter O’Neill and a host of foreign advisers.

Juffa, who has travelled to Henganofi, Kainantu and Lufa in the Eastern Highlands to endorse his candidates, called on Papua New Guinea to break free from a “colonised mindset” and take back its economy from foreign control.

“Our people need basic services like health, education, law and order, justice, markets and platforms to perform promote and export their art culture and sport,” he said.

Papua New Guineans were convinced by others “who merely exist for profit and material riches alone, whose heads are filled with intelligent schemes and scams but whose hearts are empty.”

‘Sucked the life’
“These globalised zombies, a class of elitist rich who have sucked the life out of their societies are here to do the same,” he said.

“These evil beings and their agents who come to ‘help’ will have our people become so busy thinking and moaning about what we don’t have … that they [will] have us forgetting about the abundant blessings we do have and the great opportunities that come with them.”

Juffa said he had always advocated that Papua New Guinea was a blessed country.

“It has rich soil and there is plenty for everyone,” he said.

“Look at our people. They are great people. Talented and compassionate. They take care of themselves. They provide for their families. We are not a welfare state. We do not need to pay anyone social security.

“What we need to do is economically empower our people. All our people.

“What we must do is provide true loving leadership … that promotes the interests of the people.”

Papua New Guineans will vote between June 24 and July 8.

The deployment of military troops to Hela province is reminiscent of tragic events that unfolded about 28 years ago that sparked off a crisis and left more then 20,000 Papua New Guineans dead.

When Bougainvilleans decried the unfair treatment of landowners, pollution and lack of the government’s care for fairness and future, the government reacted by sending Mobile Force troops. Their brutal effort at reprisal triggered off one of the bloodiest moments in Papua New Guinea’s short history as an independent nation.

At a meeting of the International Parliamentarians for West Papua in the Houses of Parliament, a new declaration was made yesterday calling for an internationally supervised vote on the independence of West Papua.

The meeting was attended and supported by Samuela ‘Akilisi Pohiva the Prime Minister of Tonga; Bruno Leingkone, Minister for Foreign Affairs in Vanuatu; Rex Horoi, MSG Special Envoy on West Papua, Solomon Islands; Ralph Regenvanu, Minister of Lands and Natural Resources in Vanuatu; Gary Juffa, Governor of Oro District, Papua New Guinea; Lord Harries of Pentregarth, UK House of Lords, Jeremy Corbyn, MP, Leader of the UK Opposition; and Benny Wenda, international spokesperson of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua and several other British MPs.

The Prime Minister of Tonga offered his country’s full support for the ongoing struggle of the people of West Papua. He explained how it was the responsibility of the United Nations to ensure human rights were upheld in West Papua and how he would continue to push for this.

Jeremy Corbyn spoke of his personal interest in West Papua and his role as a UN observer in East Timor. He talked of the need for justice and human rights to be delivered to the people of West Papua and stated that the world could either continue having this conflict or could choose to live in a world of peace and justice which would come from the recognition of human rights for everybody – a cornerstone of foreign policy.

He reiterated his support for the struggle for freedom of West Papua and how he would like this to be written in the policy of the British Labour Party.

A statement by the Prime Minister of Guyana, Moses Nagamootoo was read by Melinda Janki, an international human rights lawyer. He offered his country’s ongoing support of the right to self determination for the people of West Papua.

Ralph Regenvanu told of Vanuatu’s long term support for West Papua. He spoke of how the first Prime Minister of Vanuatu, Father Walter Lini, had stated that “Vanuatu would not be truly independent while any other Melanesian country is not”.

MSG commitment
He spoke of the commitment by Melanesian countries to bring West Papua into the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) and that Vanuatu was working for West Papua to gain full membership of the MSG at its upcoming meeting.

Rex Horoi special envoy from the Solomon Islands highlighted the key areas of the Solomon Islands support for West Papua which involved: urgency of stopping Human rights abuse in West Papua, recognsising the political identity of the ULMWP and the strategic engagement of the Solomon Islands government with neighbours in the Pacific and around the world. He also redefined the importance of the Pacific by renaming the “small island states” as the “big ocean states”.

Gary Juffa also mentioned his personal connection with the people of West Papua. He told of how his father had captained the first boat of refugees from West Papua and how he promised them that he would do everything he could to fight with them for their freedom.

He explained that regrettably PNG still recognised Indonesian sovereignty but a large movement in PNG was emerging in support of West Papuan freedom and that he would continue to be one of the main political voices of this movement.

Lord Harries remembered meeting Benny Wenda when he first came to the UK in 2003, how the issue was almost unknown at this time and what a long way it had come today with representatives from the “big ocean nations” championing the cause.

He continued to read out a statement of support by Reverend Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu:

“Dear people and friends of West Papua. Please accept, from the southern tip of Africa, the love and blessings of a retired fellow-traveller for justice. Human rights and justice are universal values. It has been very heartening to witness the growth of the movement to secure justice for the people of West Papua. Your call for an internationally supervised vote to determine the will of the people of West Papua has my support. God bless you.”

Finally Benny Wenda, described his feelings around being here now after a long journey, declaring that the Indonesian occupation is illegal and must be ended now.

He finished by reading out the declaration that was signed by all international parliamentarians present.

The secretary-general of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua, Octovianus Mote, rounded it off thanking everyone, including the various generations of freedom fighters for Papua represented here.

The declaration reads as follows:

Westminster Declaration for an Internationally Supervised Vote in West Papua

We the undersigned Members of Parliament, being members of the International Parliamentarians For West Papua:

I. Declare that continued human rights violations in West Papua are unacceptable.

II. Warn that without international action the West Papuan people risk extinction.

III. Reiterate the right of the people of West Papua to genuine self-determination.

IV. Declare the 1969 ‘Act of Free Choice’ to be a gross violation of this principle.

V. Call for an internationally supervised vote on self- determination in accordance with UN General Assembly Resolutions 1514 and 1541 (XV).

Palace of Westminster, 3 May 2016

• Other West Papua reports

#LiveUpdatesPapua Tweets

Last week I watched in absolute disgust as MPs in Papua New Guinea giggled and laughed as the Minister for Health made light humour over the fact that the government had slashed funding for Church-run health facilities to the tune of K50 million (about NZ$23 million).