The New Zealand government says it hopes an electrification aid project that was halted in Papua New Guinea can still be completed if security improves.

Work on the Enga Electrification Project in PNG’s Enga province has stopped due to ongoing violence around the project area in Tsak Valley.

New Zealand spent NZ$6.7 million over the last six years on the project which aimed to connect at least 4000 households to electricity.

• READ MORE: NZ pulls plug on $6.7m power project in Papua New Guinea amid tribal violence

It was part of combined efforts with the US, Australia and Japan to help 70 percent of PNG homes get connected by 2030, as agreed to in 208 when PNG hosted the APEC Leaders Summit.

However, contractors had to be withdrawn from the area after a surge in tribal fighting in August last year, according to a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

“Ending New Zealand’s involvement is a disappointing outcome, particularly given New Zealand’s longstanding and extensive efforts to deliver energy infrastructure in Enga Province,” the spokesperson said.

“New Zealand is working on a transition plan with partners in Papua New Guinea. It is hoped this will allow for the successful completion of the project if security improves.”

Northern lines installed
The ministry said 13.5 KM of distribution lines in the North of the project area were largely installed but were yet to be commissioned or connected to houses.

It said 12km of distribution lines in the south of the project area remained at various stages of construction.

Meanwhile, PNG’s Foreign Minster Justin Tkatchenko told local media that New Zealand would hand over equipment from the project to PNG Power Limited, a state-owned entity.

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

A New Zealand aid project in Papua New Guinea has been halted due to security concerns, and appears unlikely to be completed.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) confirmed work on the Enga Electrification Project in PNG’s Highlands region had “stopped due to ongoing violence around the project area”.

New Zealand invested $6.7 million over the last six years into the project which aimed to connect at least 4000 households in the area to electricity.

• READ MORE: Other Enga reports

It was part of combined efforts with the US, Australia and Japan to help 70 percent of PNG homes get connected by 2030.

However, tribal and election-related violence has surged in numerous parts of Enga Province in the past few years, with police largely unable to quell the unrest.

A spokesperson for MFAT said contractors stopped work at the site in Tsak Valley in Enga’s Wapanamanda District last August.

Laden with risks
The choice of Enga for the electrification project was laden with risks, not just because of its remoteness and rugged terrain, but also due to the high level of tribal and election-related violence.

Development researcher Terence Wood of the Development Policy Centre said while the project’s goal was worthy, New Zealand appeared to rush into the project without giving enough thought to the complexities involved.

“You’d think very carefully about the country context, and contexts in different parts of the country, and that would guide where you work and also how you worked,” Dr Wood said.

“So violent parts of the Highlands, or the upper Highlands, of Papua New Guinea would be the last places you’re engaged with.”

He noted that large swathes of PNG’s population lack reliable access to electricity, so many rural communities in PNG would benefit from electrification, but added that challenges were compounded by the country’s poor governance.

“With work such as electricity, it’s one thing to build it, you also need a functioning government to maintain it.

Geopolitical motivation
When PNG hosted the APEC Leaders Summit in 2018, the country’s prime minister at the time, Peter O’Neill, agreed on the PNG Electrification Partnership with with leaders from Australia, New Zealand, Japan and the US.

Dr Wood said geopolitics had driven New Zealand, alongside the other countries, to plunge into the project.

“We’ve sort of jumped in thanks to a perceived threat that China might be going to engage in this type of aid work in Papua New Guinea, and because of our haste, we didn’t pay sufficient attention to some of the complexities associated with providing electricity to Papua New Guinea.

“Aid donors often race in propelled by other motivations, and therefore don’t think carefully enough about the context and about how they might design their aid work to make sure it’s effective.”

Dr Wood said there was a high probability that the project would never be completed successfully.

‘No respect for authority’
Enga Governor Sir Peter Ipatas admitted that escalating tribal violence and the build-up of illegal weapons in the province had got out of hand, putting many innocent lives at risk.

“In my province, my people have taken the lawlessness to another level using modern weapons, guns, and this has been also a sign of no respect for authority.”

He said a vacuum of law enforcement made the problem worse, as Engan warlords and their fighters were rarely arrested or prosecuted for fighting and destroying villages.

However, Governor Ipatas said the problem with the high level of Engan tribal fights was an internal one, not directed at foreigners.

“Now the guns are only used for tribal fights. Nobody outside the the tribes that are involved are in any danger in our context as Engans, because you only fight your enemy. That’s the rule from our tradition.”

He urged PNG’s national government to ensure police do their job, suggesting more police assistance from Australia and New Zealand would be helpful.

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

Political leaders in a Papua New Guinea province plagued by gun violence are making a collective stand to stop it.

There is a new sense of political will among Enga Province’s political leaders and police to come down hard on the use of illegal weapons. But they are confronted by a daunting task.

Recent research by Joe Barak of PNG’s National Research Institute has tracked the escalation of tribal and election-relate violence in PNG, particularly in the Highlands where the most frequent violent attacks are recorded.

• READ MORE: Other Engan reports

The research shows that Enga Province had the highest number of incidents, 79 between the years 2018 and 2022, or 27.8 percent of the overall number of incidents in the Highlands region during that period.

Prime Minister James Marape this month laid out a ‘war on guns’-type plan to crack down on lawlessness in PNG by asserting the authority of the state. But all too often in Enga the authorities have been part of the problem.

Each of the past few general elections have sparked deadly fighting between supporters of rival candidates in at least two of Enga’s electorates, with fingers of blame pointed often at political leaders.

Furthermore, there’s now more high powered weapons in circulation than ever, and in many cases they are sold by the country’s security forces, police and military.

This set of issues is not confined to Enga, but this province has seen the worst of it. A massacre in an Engan village in 2024 which killed at least 49 people was shocking even for a part of the country familiar with tribal warfare.

No respect for authority
Enga’s Governor, Sir Peter Ipatas, said people in his province had taken lawlessness to another level using modern guns, with no respect for authority.

“In the past, the tribe used to take ownership and they would discuss whether to fight or not,” he explained.

“These days, you have got young people who are on drugs or whatever, causing fights, and a lot of innocent people’s lives are at risk, so we need to come up with a tough strategy to identify all these culprits.”

Prosecutions have been lacking and this needed to change, Ipatas said, adding that it required police to “actually do their job to make sure that our people who do not respect authority, who break the laws, are investigated and prosecuted properly”.

A generally poorly resourced police force has long struggled to deal with social disorder in Enga.

Also Engans have had a lot to deal with themselves in the past couple of years, including landslide disasters, political instability and displacement of communities caused by the Porgera gold mine operations. Through it all, the violence persists.

Lethal force
Early last month in Enga’s Wapenamanda district, a raid on suspected illegal firearms holders by the elite police Kumul 23 unit resulted in five people being killed.

Despite criticism about alleged deaths of innocent people in the raid, Marape was unapologetic about the use of lethal force to target illegal gunmen

He said this approach would continue because those driving violent conflict through the build-up of illegal weapons had ruined countless lives in this area.

“Wapenamanda was a peaceful district — it’s now destroyed,” the prime minister said.

However, the former commander of PNG’s Defence Force, retired Major-General Jerry Singirok, commended Enga’s political leaders for finally saying “enough is enough”.

He said they were taking ownership of their past mistakes, and showing a willingness to get their clans and tribesmen to put down their guns.

Illegal guns
However, before Enga’s violence problem can be stemmed, the build-up of illegal firearms needs to be addressed.

General Singirok has been pushing for gun reform in the country for decades. He headed a UN-backed report into gun violence in the Highlands which was published last year, finding there could be as many as 100,000 illegal weapons in circulation in the region, many of which are sold by police, military and corrections officers.

“I had a particular encounter where a tribesman showed me a pump action shotgun bought from the police force, and the young people on the street said ‘well, if you don’t have bullets, we buy [them] from the military and the police’,” Singirok said.

“So as part of the crackdown, the government must hold security forces accountable and [serve] heavy penalties on those soldiers who are moonlighting their weapons or selling their weapons or selling ammunition.

“It’s very important to cut off the supply chain of weapons and ammunition,” he said, noting that security forces needed to enforce command and control, and regularly account for use of weapons and ammunition from their armories.

The government is looking at a range of options to reduce the massive build-up of illegal firearms across the country, with Marape mentioning a possible amnesty period and a buy-back scheme.

Singirok said the major 2005 gun reform report he authored made clear that incentives are the way to go. He said communities were more likely to give up arms if they know projects that help develop health, education or other services can be established in their area as a result.

Heat on police
Both Singirok and Ipatas said they expected that having an Engan Member of Parliament as PNG’s new police minister would help combat law and order problems in the province.

The prime minister appointed one of Enga’s veteran politicians, Sir John Pundari, the MP for Kompiam-Ambum, an electorate which has suffered repeated tribal violence since the 2022 national elections.

Firstly, rather than Enga, Pundari had his sights on PNG’s capital Port Moresby, where he singled out police senior commanders, saying they need to set an example for the rest of the country by lifting the standard of policing.

“Improve your duty statements, monitor those KPIs, do audit against those KPIs. The deliverables must be visible. The outcomes must be felt. The pride of policing in this country must start from the National Capital District.”

Pundari’s message may have been corporate in language, but it reflected hopes of many Papua New Guineans: for police to simply do their job.

To do their job they need to be properly resourced — that has not always been the case. It will have to be if police are to stop the fighting, the massacres and political vendettas in Enga.

Pundari is pushing for the death penalty to be brought back to deter violent crimes in the country.

PNG’s political class is sounding deadly serious about ending gun violence, but the ‘big men’ will have to lead by example.

As far as Enga is concerned, the true test of that commitment will come in next year’s general election.

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

Women, girls, the elderly, and young boys have rushed to pack any vehicle they could as they escaped heavy tribal fighting that has erupted in Papua New Guinea’s Porgera Valley.

The sound of gunfire erupts in the peaceful valley, shouts of war follow the gunfire, and amid the chaos, women and girls have been hiding, ever keeping a close eye on the scenes unfolding before them.

The fight in the golden valley of Porgera started earlier this week when two factions of illegal miners fought among themselves and one faction of the group killed two men from the other faction.

• READ MORE: Pope Francis calls for end to tribal ‘spiral of violence’ in PNG visit

And the fight erupted from then on. With no leader since the death of their local member of Parliament, Maso Karipe, the valley has seen fighting intensify since Wednesday.

Caught smack in the middle are security personnel who have tried their best to bring peace to the mining township.

Papua New Guinea celebrates its independence from Australia on 16 September 1975 this weekend with a national holiday tomorrow.

The PNG Post-Courier attempted to make contact with security personnel but could only hear gunfire as the men continued to protect the mining site and each other.

Mass exodus of 5000
Porgera has seen a mass exodus of more than 5000 people.

The 20 people killed include two local mine workers and the numbers increase steadily each day. The electorate is run by gunmen, with all local services stopped and prices of goods the highest the electorate has seen in years.

The main road via Mulitaka has been closed since the May 24 landslide. The bypass road is yet to be completed.

A state of emergency must be declared, says Lagaip member Aikem Amos as his electorate borders the mining township.

He said that the government had often said short-term pain for long-term gain. However, that had fallen on deaf ears as gunmen moved into the valley laying waste to those who dared stand up against them.

Akem has called on the national government to intervene to stop the recent fight that has escalated.

He confirmed that all the schools, hospitals, aid posts, and other government services, including the BSP banking service in Porgera, were all closed in fear of this tribal warfare that is flaring like wildfire, costing a lot of lives.

Warlords ‘in control’
He said the fight was not confined to the Porgerans themselves but men from Lagaip districts and Mulitaka LLG were also involved in this fight.

“The fight is said to be covering all the Porgera valley,” Akem said.

The Lagaip MP said there was no road network, no communications, and even the price of goods and services had sky-rocketed in the last few days due to the fight and the road reconstruction in Mulitaka.

“The only thing that seems to be working is the Porgera gold mine,” Akem said.

He added there were not enough policemen and soldiers to maintain peace in the valley.

A few security personnel who were there were protecting the mine site and the nearby area and outside the mine premises all was in the hands of warlords.

“I as the member for Lagaip call for the government to intervene and declare a state of emergency in Porgera Valley now,” Akem said.

‘Peaceful golden valley’ gone
“If the government takes longer time to stop the fight in Porgera now, we might never have a mine in the next two weeks or months and years to come,” he added.

He said that there was no leadership in Porgera and the place once called a “peaceful golden valley” was in the hands of warlords now as we were were speaking.

Akem said without the late Maso Karipe there was nobody in Porgera to provide leadership.

“I am a leader for the people of Lagaip and I cannot look after Porgera District too given the status of my capability. But as a leader, I will always call for the national government’s intervention,” he said.

Prime Minister James Marape and coalition members were reminded in Parliament this week that law and order was the number one priority.

PM Marape said: “In this meeting, this body of leaders, on behalf of the coalition government, has elevated the fight for law and order as a number one priority as we move our country into 50 years of Independence and beyond.

“We resolved that, in the face of many competing needs, this government must, at the very earliest, explore every possible means to uphold the rule of law in our country, strengthen law enforcement, and ensure that the police and all systems of justice are functioning properly.

Concerted effort needed
“While we work on the economy, fixing health and education, and developing infrastructure through Connect PNG, every concerted effort must be made in the area of law and order, including fighting corruption.

“This is the number one focus for our coalition government.”

Prime Minister Marape emphasised that this initiative built upon the government’s ongoing efforts in the law and justice sector, including targeted personnel training to bolster ongoing force and the broader justice system.

According to sources on the ground the New Porgera mine had shut down its operations for a day as fighting continued on Wednesday.

However, by Thursday, the mine had reopened.

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

In his address to Papua New Guinea, the Sovereign Head of the Vatican and the Head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis, called for an end to ethnic violence in Papua New Guinea.

Pope Francis arrived in Papua New Guinea a month after the brutal killings in East Sepik Province where men, women and children were mercilessly killed.

This happened at the backdrop of continued tribal conflicts in parts of the Highlands Region where in February an ambush resulted in mass killings in Enga Province. Isolated incidents of ethnic clashes have happened in cities and towns.

• READ MORE: At least 64 killed in ‘largest’ tribal clashes in Papua New Guinea
• From bows and arrows to assault rifles: How the rules of PNG tribal wars have changed — Scott Waide
• PNG pilgrims endure impenetrable jungle, mountainous terrain and being stranded at sea ‘to see the Holy Father up close’ — Scott Waide

Highlighting these issues that continues to plague rural Papua New Guinea, Pope Francis called for individuals and groups to take responsibility in stopping the spread of violence.

“It is my hope that tribal violence will come to an end, for it causes many victims, prevents people from living in peace and hinders development,” Pope Francis said.

“I appeal, therefore, to everyone’s sense of responsibility to stop the spiral of violence and instead resolutely embark on the path that leads to fruitful cooperation for the benefit of all the people of the country.”

The Pope went on to challenge the Catholic faithful to follow the Gospel of Jesus, and preach the good news of peace hope and love.

Faith can be ‘lived culture’
“For all those who profess to be Christians — the vast majority of your people — I fervently hope that faith will never be reduced just to the observance of rituals and precepts.

“May it be marked instead by love of Jesus Christ and following him as a disciple.

“In this way, faith can become a lived culture, inspiring minds and actions and becoming a beacon of light that illuminates the path forward.

“At the same time, faith can also help society to grow and find good and effective solutions to its greatest challenges,” Pope Francis said.

SPECIAL REPORT: By Scott Waide, RNZ Pacific PNG correspondent

The nauseating stench of dried blood hung in the air as we arrived in Karida village, a few kilometers outside of Tari in Papua New Guinea’s Hela province.

Through the landcruiser window, I could see two men carrying a corpse wrapped in blue cloth and a tarpaulin. They were walking towards the hastily dug graveyard.

This was July 2019.

• READ MORE: Five arrested in connection with deadly Papua New Guinea massacre
• Other PNG tribal warfare reports

A longstanding tribal fight by various factions in the Tagali area of the Hela province had triggered this attack. Several armed men came at dawn. The residents, mostly women and children, bore the brunt of the brutality.

The then Provincial Administrator, William Bando, advised us against travelling alone when we arrived in Tari. He requested a section of the PNG Defence Force to take us to Karida where the killings had happened less than 24 hours before.

Two men carrying the corpse, hesitated as we arrived with the soldiers. One of the soldiers ordered the men to disarm. The others who carried weapons fled into the nearby bush.

On the side of the road, the bodies of 15 women and one man lay tightly wrapped in cloth. The older men and women came out to meet the soldiers.

The village chief, Hokoko Minape, distraught by the unimaginable loss, wept beside the vehicle as he tried to explain what had happened.

“This, I have never seen in my life. This is new,” he said in Tok Pisin.

Complexity of tribal conflicts and media attention
For an outsider, the roots of tribal conflicts in Papua New Guinea are difficult to understand. There are myriad factors at play, including the province, district, tribe, clan and customs.

But what’s visible is the violence.

The conflicts are usually reported on when large numbers of people are killed. The intense media focus lasts for days . . . maybe a month . . . and then, news priorities shift in the daily grind of local and international coverage.

Some conflicts rage for years and sporadic payback killings continue. It is subtle as it doesn’t attract national attention. It is insidious and cancerous — slowly destroying families and communities. In many instances, police record the one off murders as the result of alcohol related brawls or some other cause.

The tensions simmer just below boiling point. But it affects the education of children and dictates where people congregate and who they associate with.

Although, the villagers at Karida were not directly involved in the fighting, they were accused of providing refuge to people who fled from neighboring villagers. The attackers came looking for the refugees and found women and children instead.

The ‘hire man’ and small arms
Over the next few weeks, local community leaders drew attention to the use of “hire men” in the conflicts. They are mercenaries who are paid by warring tribes to fight on their behalf. Their most valued possessions are either assault rifles or shotguns paid for by political and non-political sponsors.

The Deputy Commissioner for Police responsible for specialist operations, Donald Yamasombi, who has personally investigated instances of arms smuggling, said the traditional trade of drugs for guns along the eastern and southern borders of Papua New Guinea is largely a thing of the past.

“People are paying cash for guns. They are bringing in the weapons and then legitimising them through licensing,” Yamasombi said. “The businessmen who fund them actually run legitimate businesses.”

The involvement of political players is a subject many will state only behind closed doors.

In the highlands, the hire men are a recent addition to the complex socio-political ecosystem of tribal and national politics. Political power and money have come to determine how hire men are used during elections. They are tools of intimidation and coercion. The occupation is a lucrative means of money making during what is supposed to be a “free and fair” electoral process.

“Money drives people to fight,” Yamasombi said. “Without the source of money, there would be no incentive. There is incentive to fight.”

Rules of war
At the end of elections, the hire men usually end up back in the communities and continue the cycle of violence.

In February, Papua New Guineans on social media watched in horror as the death toll from a tribal clash in Enga province rose from a few dozen to 70 in a space of a few hours as police retrieved bodies from nearby bushes.

The majority of the men killed were members of a tribe who had been ambushed as they staged an attack.

Traditional Engan society is highly structured. The Enga cultural center in the center of Wabag town, the Take Anda, documents the rules of war that dictated the conduct of warriors.

Traditionally, mass killings or killings in general were avoided. The economic cost of reparations were too high, the ongoing conflicts were always hard to manage and were, obviously, detrimental to both parties in the long run.

Engans, who I spoke to on the condition of anonymity, said high powered guns had changed the traditional dynamics.

Chiefs and elders who once commanded power and status were now replaced by younger men with money and the means to buy and own weapons. This has had a direct influence on provincial and national politics as well as traditional governance structures.

Tribal conflicts, not restricted to the Highlands
In 2022, a land dispute between two clans on Kiriwina Island, Milne Bay province, escalated into a full on battle in which 30 people were killed.

The unusual level of violence and the use of guns left many Papua New Guineans confused. Milne Bay province, widely known as a peaceful tourism hub, suffered a massive PR hit with embassies issuing travel warnings to their citizens.

In Pindiu, Morobe province, the widespread use of homemade weapons resulted in the deaths of a local peace officer and women and children in a long running conflict in 2015.

The Morobe Provincial Government sent mediators to Pindiu to facilitate peace negotiations. Provincial and national government are usually hesitant to intervene directly in tribal conflicts by arresting the perpetrators of violence.

This is largely due to the government’s inability to maintain security presence in tribal fighting areas for long periods.

Angoram killings
Two weeks ago, 26 women and children were killed in yet another attack in Angoram, East Sepik.

Five people have been arrested over the killings. But locals who did not wish to be named said the ring leaders of the gang of 30 are still at large.

Angoram is a classic example of a district that is difficult to police.

The villages are spread out over the vast wetlands of the Sepik River. While additional police from Wewak have been deployed, there is no real guarantee that the men and women who witnessed the violence will be protected if they choose to testify in court.

Will new legislations and policy help?
The Enga massacre dominated the February sitting of Parliament. Recent changes were made to gun laws and stricter penalties prescribed. But while legislators have responded, enforcement remains weak.

The killers of the 16 people at Karida remain at large. Many of those responsible for the massacre in Enga have not been arrested even with widely circulated video footage available on social media.

In April, the EU, UN and the PNG government hosted a seminar aimed at formulating a national gun control policy.

The seminar revisited recommendations made by former PNG Defence Force Commander, retired Major-General Jerry Singirok.

One of the recommendations was for the licensing powers of the Police Commissioner as Registrar of Firearms to be taken away and for a mechanism to buy back firearms in the community.

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

Papua New Guinea police have arrested five people in connection with the brutal attacks in Angoram district that left around 25 people dead last week.

RNZ Pacific correspondent in PNG, Scott Waide, said the ringleaders who initiated the attacks in three remote villages in East Sepik have not yet been arrested.

He said they were still armed and on the run after an estimated 30 young people targeted Tamara, Tambari and Agrumara villages over what is believed to have been a land dispute.

• READ MORE: UN shocked over beheadings, burnt village in brutal PNG violence

Hundreds of people have been displaced as a result of the deadly violence, with reports that survivors were hiding in bushes.

Waide said there had been no government presence or assistance sent to the survivors who desperately needed food and help.

East Sepik Governor Allan Bird has said tribal violence continued to deteriorate in the country.

A villager from Angoram, Andrew Sangi, told RNZ Pacific last week the government was not actively involved to solve the problem.

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

RNZ Pacific and ABC

Violent attacks on three remote villages in Papua New Guinea’s north have reportedly killed 26 people, including 16 children, while several people were forced to flee after attackers set fire to their homes, the United Nations said.

“I am horrified by the shocking eruption of deadly violence in Papua New Guinea, seemingly as the result of a dispute over land and lake ownership and user rights,” UN Human Rights chief Volker Turk said in a statement.

The death toll could rise to more than 50 as PNG authorities search for missing people, Turk said.

• READ MORE: Other PNG tribal warfare reports

Provincial Police Commander in East Sepik James Baugen said: “It was a very terrible thing, when I approached the area, I saw that there were children, men, women. They were killed by a group of 30 men.”

He told the ABC that all the houses in the village were burned, and the remaining villagers were sheltering at a police station, too scared to name the perpetrators.

“Some of the bodies left in the night were taken by crocodiles into the swamp. We only saw the place where they were killed, there were heads chopped off,” he said.

“The men are in hiding, police have been deployed but there have been no arrests yet.”

Turk called on PNG authorities “to conduct prompt, impartial and transparent investigations and to ensure those responsible are held to account”.

Impunity for criminals
Governor Allan Bird of East Sepik, where the murders occurred, said the violence in the country had been getting worse during the past 10 years.

“The lack of justice in PNG is a problem, and it is getting worse,” he told the ABC.

“Over the last 10 years or so, if a crime is committed, investigations hardly result in arrest. Even if they are arrested, it’s difficult to go to court and go to jail. That is giving law-breakers more courage to do the wrong thing,” he said.

Advocating for stronger police enforcement and stronger prosecution mechanisms, he said there would be a reduction in crime when people started going to jail.

He told the ABC that the police force had had a long-standing problem with command and control.

“The head of police here, for some reason, is constantly changing. It’s a three-year contract, but they keep changing every six months, 12 months,” he said.

“They removed our provincial police commander in January and there’s no replacement even today.”

Tribal warfare exacerbated
Home to hundreds of tribes and languages, Papua New Guinea has a long history of tribal warfare.

But an influx of mercenaries and automatic weapons has inflamed the cycle of violence.

During the past decade, villagers swapped bows and arrows for military rifles and elections have deepened existing tribal divides.

At the same time, the country’s population has more than doubled since 1980, placing increasing strain on land and resources, and stoking deepening tribal rivalries.

Eight people were killed and 30 homes torched in fighting in the Enga province in May, while at least 26 men were killed in an ambush in the same region in February.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ and permission from ABC.

National politicians and pastors are fuelling the tribal fighting in Papua New Guinea by supplying guns and ammunition, says Enga’s Provincial Administrator Sandis Tsaka.

Tsaka’s brother was killed a fortnight ago when a tribe on a war raid passed through his clan.

“[My brother] was at home with his wife and kids and these people were trying to go to another village, and because he had crossed paths with them they just opened fire,” he said.

• READ MORE: Other Enga unrest reports

Enga has seen consistent tribal violence since the 2022 national elections in the Kompiam-Ambum district. In May last year — as well as deaths due to tribal conflict — homes, churches and business were burnt to the ground.

In February, dozens were killed in a gun battle.

Subsequently, PNG’s lawmakers discussed the issue of gun violence in Parliament with both sides of the House agreeing that the issue is serious.

“National politicians are involved; businessmen are involved; educated people, lawyers, accountants, pastors, well-to-do people, people that should be ambassadors for peace and change,” Tsaka said.

Military style weapons
Military style weapons are being used in the fighting.

Tsaka said an M16 or AR-15 rifle retails for a minimum of K$30,000 (US$7710) while a round costs about K$100 (US$25).

“The ordinary person cannot afford that,” he said.

“These conflicts and wars are financed by well-to-do people with the resources.

“We need to look at changing law and policy to go after those that finance and profit from this conflict, instead of just trying to arrest or hold responsible the small persons in the village with a rifle that is causing death and destruction.

“Until and unless we go after these big wigs, this unfortunate situation that we have in the province will continue to be what it is.”

Tsaka said addressing wrongs, in ways such as tribal fighting, was “ingrained in our DNA”.

Motivation for peace
After Tsaka’s brother died, he asked his clan not to retaliate and told his village to let the rule of law take its course instead.

He said the cultural expectation for retaliation was there but his clan respected him as a leader.

He hopes others in authority will use his brother’s death as motivation for peace.

“If the other leaders did the same to their villages in the communities, we wouldn’t have this violence; we wouldn’t have all these killings and destruction.

“We need to realise that law and order and peace is a necessary prerequisite to development.

“If we don’t have peace, we can’t have school kids going to school; you can’t have hospitals; you can’t have roads; you can’t have free movement of people and goods and services.”

Tsaka said education was needed to change perceptions around tribal fighting.

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

Papua New Guinean Prime Minister James Marape visited Wabag, the capital of Enga  province, to meet authorities before flying to the site of last week’s landslide disaster to inspect the damage up close.

Tribal violence between two clans in Tambitanis is still active, reportedly leading to 12 deaths since Saturday last week, reports said.

Provincial Administrator Sandis Tsaka said that after 14 days the affected area would be quarantined with restricted access to prevent the spread of infection, and those who remained undiscovered would be officially declared missing persons.

• READ MORE: Uncertainty surrounds PNG landslide death toll as relief supplies begin arriving at disaster zone
• Other PNG landslide disaster reports

According to the UN International Organisation for Migration, 217 people with minor injuries had received treatment, while 17 individuals who had major and minor injuries were treated at the Wabag General Hospital (as of 30 May).

The IOM said some patients with major injuries remained in the hospital

Earlier, PNG police chief inspector Martin Kelei told RNZ Pacific people on the ground want the bodies of their loved ones to be retrieved as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, a geotechnical expert from New Zealand, who arrived on Thursday, is conducting a ground assessment as the landslip is still moving.

ABC News reports that uncertainty surrounds the final death toll from the landslide with a local official saying he believed 162 people had been killed in the natural disaster — far fewer than estimated by the United Nations or the country’s government.

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

By Stephen Wright of BenarNews

The Papua New Guinea government’s push for news organisations to become its cheer-leading squad is under further scrutiny this week as Parliament hears testimony from journalists and top officials.

The effort to wield influence over the news, first announced last year as a “media development policy”, has been watered down in the face of strong opposition.

Despite the changes, the policy still contains avenues for politicians and officials to undermine the watchdog role of the Pacific island country’s media.

• READ MORE: Other PNG media freedom reports

“When we say media development we are saying media should be a tool for development because we are a developing nation,” said Steven Matainaho, Secretary of the Department of Information Communication Technology, which devised the media regulation plans.

“In a more advanced and mature economy it could be used as a Fourth Estate for balance and check, but in a developing economy every stakeholder should work together to develop the country — that includes the media,” he told the Committee on Communications’ hearing at Parliament House.

Papua New Guinea’s global ranking in the annual Reporters Without Borders press freedom index deteriorated to 91st place this year from 59th last year. In 2019 it was placed 38th out of the 180 nations assessed.

“We’re calling it the ‘media control policy’, not the ‘media development policy’,” Scott Waide, a senior Papua New Guinea journalist, told BenarNews.

“We didn’t agree with it because it was trying to make the media an extension of the government public relations mechanism,” he said.

Amid the criticism, the parliamentary committee on Wednesday asked the Media Council of Papua New Guinea to amend its submission to include a proposal that it takes the leading role in drafting any media policy.

Marape threatened media
Prime Minister James Marape has threatened to hold journalists accountable for news reports he objected to and has frequently criticised coverage of his government’s failings and Papua New Guinea’s social problems.

The government has an at times tenuous hold over the country, which in the past few months has suffered economically ruinous riots in the capital, spasms of deadly tribal violence in the highlands and a succession of natural disasters.

The fifth and latest draft of the policy argues that a government framework is needed for the growth of a successful media industry, which currently suffers from low salaries, insufficient training, competition for readers with social media and, according to a government survey, a high level of public distrust.

The media policy is also needed to justify providing funds from the government budget to bolster journalism training at universities, according to Matainaho.

It envisages a National Media Commission that would report to Parliament and oversee the media industry, including accreditation of journalists and media organisations. A Government Media Advisory Committee would sit inside the commission.

A separate National Media Content Committee would “oversee national content” and a National Information Centre would “facilitate the dissemination of accurate government information” by overseeing a news website, newspaper and 24-hour news channel.

It also aims to make existing state-owned media a more effective conduit for government news.

Government role ‘too much’
Neville Choi, president of the Media Council of PNG representing the major mainstream broadcasters and publishers, said the plans still give far too much of a role to the government.

He said the council is concerned about the long-term risk to democracy and standards of governance if the state became the authority for accreditation of journalists, determining codes of practice, enforcing compliance with those codes and adjudicating complaints against media.

“One must consider how future actors might interpret or administer the policy with political intent,” he said in the council’s submission to the committee.

“The proposed model would allocate too much centralised power to government,” he said.

Waide said the main focus of a media development policy should be on training and providing adequate funding to university journalism programmes.

Media, he said, “is a tool for development in one respect, in that we need to promote as much as possible the values of Papua New Guinean society.

“But there has to be a healthy mix within the media ecosystem,” he said. “Where opinions are expressed, opinions are not suppressed and not everyone is for the government.”

Call to develop ‘pathways’
Although the policy mentions the importance of press freedom in a democracy and freedom of expression enshrined in the country’s constitution, other comments point to different priorities.

“It is necessary to review, update and upgrade how we do business in the media space in PNG. This must be with the mindset of harnessing and enhancing the way we handle media information and news for development,” Minister of Communications and Information Technology Timothy Masiu said in the document.

It is timely to develop “pathways” for developing the industry and “holding media in general responsible and accountable,” he said.

And according to Matainaho: “The constitution protects the rights of the citizens, we must not take that away from the citizens, but at the same time we need to find a balance where we still hold the media accountable.”

His department had studied Malaysia — which ranks lower than Papua New Guinea in the press freedom index and has draconian laws used to threaten journalists — when it was developing the media policy, Matainaho said.

Media’s rights under the constitution are not absolute rights, he said.

Harlyne Joku contributed to this report from Port Moresby. Copyright ©2015-2024, BenarNews. Republished with the permission of BenarNews.

Despite a “historic” ceasefire agreement in Papua New Guinea between Enga authorities and tribal leaders after months of bitter warfare, a young woman has been found brutally killed near Kaekin village, Wapenamanda.

Despite the peace agreement and signing concluded in Port Moresby last Thursday and officiated by the Provincial Administrator Sandis Tsaka and Police Commissioner David Manning, the killing of the woman highlights that many others do not support the ceasefire.

The victim is believed to be in her early 20s with the killing said to have taken place on Friday morning.

• READ MORE: Warring tribes in Papua New Guinea agree to ‘completely end killings’

The body was found lying next to the main Okuk Highway at Kaikin Pausa village within the tribal fighting zone by several local boys from Yaibos and was reported to police.

Police and security forces on the ground attended to the crime scene to establish the identity of the deceased, but it was very difficult to identify her as her face was believed to be skinned and removed by a sharp object.

Police said that the deceased was killed somewhere else and dumped along the road.

Police were investigating.

‘Three-month ceasefire’
RNZ Pacific reports the warring tribal groups in Wapenamanda district in Enga Province had agreed to a “three-month unconditional ceasefire”.

The agreement, reached in negotiations in Port Moresby, should end killings involving tribes in the Middle Lai, Aiyale and Tsaka Valley of Wapenamanda.

However, the Post-Courier reports that no agreement has been reached to surrender guns after the leaders began historic peace talks last week.

The newspaper said intense fighting, which began more than three years ago, has left hundreds dead, millions of kina worth of properties destroyed, and thousands left homeless.

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

A ceasefire is expected on the battlefields of Wapenamanda in Papua New Guinea’s Enga Province that has claimed hundreds of lives and caused massive destruction to properties in three constituencies.

According to lead peace negotiator and Enga Provincial Administrator Sandis Tsaka, a ceasefire agreement is anticipated to be signed this week among three parties to solve the crisis.

These parties are the state and two warring tribal leaders to make way for the peace process to start.

• READ MORE: Wapenamanda massacre: PNG leaders angry over tribal war ‘barbarity’
• Other Wapenamanda massacre reports

The leaders of both warring factions are currently involved in intense negotiations with the State Conflict Resolution team led by key negotiator and Chief Magistrate Mark Pupaka in Port Moresby.

The state negotiating team comprises Deputy Police Commissioner (Operations) Dr Philip Mitna; Assistant Commissioner of Police Julius Tasion; newly appointed Enga provincial police commander Chief Superintendent Fred Yakasa; Enga Provincial Administrator Sandis Tsaka and Chief Magistrate Pupaka.

The government negotiators are meeting and having discussions separately with each faction.

According to the state team, the roundtable conference was brought to Port Moresby because a ceasefire agreement and subsequently a Preventive Order issued in September last year failed.

Guerrilla-style warfare
The preventive order did not work when the tribal factions took up arms in guerrilla-style warfare.

The conference will ensure that both parties, including the allies of 25 tribes from Tsaka valley, Aiyale valley and Middle Lai constituencies, agree to an amicable resolution in consultations with neighbouring tribes.

The Yopo tribe’s leader Roy Opone Andoi of Tsaka valley apologised in a public statement to the state for damaging government properties and for the lives lost in the three-year tribal conflict.

Andoi said it was regrettable to see a “trivial” tribal conflict that started with his Yopo tribe and neighbouring Palinau tribe in Tsaka valley escalate to “unimaginable proportions”, displacing more than 40,000 people.

“I want to apologise to the state, rival tribes and neighbouring communities and the country for all the damage, including negative images portrayed through the media during the course of the conflict,” he said.

Andoi said he would like to take the opportunity to thank the government for appointing the state team, comprising Police Commissioner David Manning, Tsaka and Pupaka, to conduct roundtable discussions towards restoring peace and normalcy.

He said the government’s intervention came in following the latest casualties, including a massacre of more than 50 men from the Palinau allies by Yopo allies during an intensified battle on February 28 near Birip and Hela Opone Technical College on the border of Wapenamanda and Wabag districts.

Andoi said that with the help of the state team, he was hoping for a better outcome to bring back normalcy in the district and the province.

Republished from the PNG Post-Courier with permission.

By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist, and Scott Waide, RNZ Pacific PNG correspondent

As women and children seek hope of a future without tribal fighting, the cycle of killing continues in Papua New Guinea’s remote Highlands.

Tribal warfare dating back generations is being said to show no signs of easing and considered a complicated issue due to PNG’s complex colonial history.

Following the recent massacre of more than 70 people, community leaders in Wabag held mediation talks in an effort to draw up a permanent solution on Tuesday, with formal peace negotiations set down for yesterday between the warring factions.

• READ MORE: Other tribal warfare reports

A woman, who walked 20 hours on foot with seven children to flee the violence in the remote highlands, was at the meeting and told RNZ Pacific she wants the fighting to stop so she can return home.

In 2019, the then police minister said killings of more than two dozen women and children “changed everything”.

But a tribesman, who has asked to remain anonymous, told RNZ Pacific the only thing that had changed was it was easier to get guns.

Multiple sources have told RNZ Pacific the government appears to be powerless in such remote areas, saying police and security forces are sent in by the government when conflict breaks out, there is a temporary pause to the fighting, then the forces leave, and the fighting starts again.

There are also concerns about a lack of political will at the national level to enforce the law using police and military due to tribal and political allegiances of local MPs, as recommendations made decades ago by former PNG Defence Force commander Major-General Jerry Singirok are yet to be fully implemented.

While the government, police and community groups look at peaceful solutions, mercenaries are collecting munitions for the next retaliatory fight, multiple sources on the ground, including a mercenary, told us.

Killing pays
After “Bloody Sunday”, which left dozens dead in revenge killings, the men with guns were out of bullets.

Tribal fighting in Papua New Gunea’s Enga Province reached boiling point on February 18, fuelled by a long-standing feud between different clans, which resulted in a mass massacre.

The tribesman who spoke to RNZ Pacific said they did not want to fight anymore but believed there was no other option when someone from the “enemy” turned up on their land wanting to burn down their village.

“Prime Minister [James Marape] — we want development in our villages,” he said, speaking from a remote area in the Highlands after his village was burnt to the ground.

There is no employment, no infrastructure, no support, he said, adding that those were the things that would keep people busy and away from engaging in tribal conflict.

At the moment killing people paid, he said.

‘Hundreds of lives lost’
“Businessmen, leaders and educated elites are supplying guns, bullets and financing the engagement of gunmen,” Wapenamanda Open MP Miki Kaeok said.

The MP is worried about the influence of money and guns, saying they have taken over people’s lives especially with the increase in engagement of local mercenaries and availability of military issued firearms.

“Hundreds of lives have been lost. Properties worth millions of kina have been ransacked and destroyed. I don’t want this to continue. It must stop now,” Kaeok pleaded.

Meanwhile, men in the Highlands are paid anything between K3000 (NZ$1300) to K10,000 (NZ$4,400) to kill, the tribesman claimed during the interview.

Then, he called over one of the men involved in that fight, an alleged killer, to join the video interview.

“Um this is the hire man,” he introduced him. “If they put K2000 (NZ$880) for him and say go burn down this village — he goes in groups — they clear the village, they give him money and he goes to his village . . . ”

The “hire man”, standing slouched over holding a machete, looked at the camera and claimed 64 people were killed on one side and eight on another pushing the total death toll to more than 70.

Wabag police told RNZ Pacific on Tuesday that 63 bodies had been recovered so far.

“A lot of people died,” an inspector from Wabag told RNZ Pacific.

The killings have not stopped there; a video has been circulating on social media platforms of what appears to be a young boy pleading for his life before he was killed.

The video, seen by RNZ Pacific, shows the child being hit by a machete until he falls to the ground.

The man who allegedly carried out the brutality was introduced to RNZ Pacific by the tribesman via video chat.

“They recognise that this person was an enemy,” the tribesman — translating for the killer, who was standing in a line with other men holding machetes — told RNZ Pacific.

“This small guy (referring to the dead child) came out of the bush to save his life. But he ended up in the hands of enemies.

“And then they chopped him with a bush knife and he was dead.”

“In revenge, he killed that small boy” because the killer’s three family members were killed about five months ago.

Asked whether they were saddened that children have died in the violence, the killer said: “No one can spare their lives because he was included in the fight and he’s coming as a warrior in order to kill people,” our source translated.

Killing people — “that’s the only way”, they said.

He said that while fighting had been going on most of his life, military style weapons had only been in the mix for the last decade or so.

He said getting a gun was relatively easy and all they had to do was wait in the bush for five days near the border with Indonesia.

“We are using high-powered rifle guns that we are getting exported from West Papuans.”

He added the change from tribe-on-tribe to clan-to-clan fighting has exacerbated the issue, with a larger number of people involved in any one incident.

Mediation underway
A Wapenamanda community leader in Enga Province Aquila Kunza said mediation was underway between the warring factions in the remote Highlands to prevent further violence.

“The policemen are facilitating and meditating the peace mediation and they are listening,” Kunza said.

Revenge killings had been ongoing for years and there was no sign of gunmen stopping anytime soon, Kunza said.

“This fight has lasted about four years now and I know it will continue. It occurs intermittently, it comes and goes,” he said.

“When there’s somebody around (such as the military), they go into hiding, when the army is gone because the government cannot support them anymore, the fighting erupts again.”

Kunza has been housing women and children who fled the violence and after years of violence and watching police come and go, he is calling for a community-led approach.

At a large community gathering in Wabag the main town of Enga on Tuesday people voiced their concerns.

“The government must be prepared to give money to every family [impacted] and assist them to resettle back to their villages to make new gardens to build new houses,” Kunza said.

He said formal peace negotiations are taking place today as residents from across the Enga Province are travelling to Wabag today for peace talks between the warring factions.

‘Value life’
Many Engans have lamented that the traditional rules of war have been ignored as children have not been spared in the conflict and societal norms that governed their society have been broken.

A woman who was kidnapped last year in Hela in the Bosavi region — a different area to where the recent massacre took place — and held for ransom said PNG was on the verge of being a failed state.

“I’ve gone through this,” Cathy Alex told RNZ Pacific.

“People told us who gave them their guns in Hela, people told us who supplied them munitions. People told us the solutions. People told us why tribal fights started, why violence is happening,” Alex shared.

She said they managed to find out that killers got paid K2000 (NZ$880) for killing one person, that was in 2017.

“For a property that’s worth K200/300,000 [up to NZ$130,000] that’s destroyed, the full amount goes to the person who caused the tribal fight,” she said.

“How can you not value the life of a person?”

Government help
With retaliations continuing the “hire man” who claims to have killed more than 20 people from warring tribes, said he is staring down death.

“He would have to die on his land because…when they come they will fight…we have to shoot in order to protect my village,” the tribesman explained.

“He said he’s not scared about it. He is not afraid of dying. He got a gun in order to shoot, they shoot him, and that’s finished.”

“He’s really worried about his village not to burn down.”

The tribesman said that without government committing financial support for infrastructure, jobs and community initiatives the fighting will continue.

He also wants to see a drastic change in police numbers and a more permanent military presence on the ground.

“We don’t have a proper government to protect us from enemies in order to protect ourselves, our houses . . . and to protect assets we have to buy guns in order to protect them.”

Parliament urged to act
Last week, the PNG Parliament discussed the issue of gun violence.

East Sepik Governor Allan Bird, who is on the opposition benches, has called on the government “to respond”.

He said the “terrorists in the upper Highlands” needed their guns to be stripped from them.

“We are a government for goodness sake — let’s act like one,” Bird said.

Deputy Prime Minister John Rosso agreed with Bird’s sentiments and acknowledged that the situation was serious.

He called on the whole of Parliament to unite to fix the issue together.

RNZ Pacific has contacted the PM Marape’s office for comment with no response yet.

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

Women’s rights advocates in Papua New Guinea are calling for peace and for the men in Parliament to act against the violence in the country.

The call comes following tribal fighting in Enga Province ended in a mass massacre at the weekend, which has so far claimed more than 60 lives.

Dorothy Tekwie, founder of Papua New Guinea Women in Politics, said she was heartbroken for the women who’ve have lost their children in the brutal killings.

• READ MORE: Other Wapenamanda massacre reports

“Any woman would be emotional…and I am also calling on women throughout Papua New Guinea to stand up. Enough is enough of violence of all forms.

“We are asking for accountability from our members of Parliament. It doesn’t matter whether they are in government or in opposition. This is a national crisis.”

Tekwie said the government needed to return the peace in the Highlands so infrastructure, housing, health and education development could begin.

On Wednesday, the government addressed a motion to take action on tribal conflicts and violence, specifically in Enga province.

Mothers mourning
Another advocate Esmie Sinapa said as gunmen planned their next attack in the Highlands, mothers were mourning the deaths of their children.

Sinapa said violence had been escalating across the nation for some years.

“Imagine 60 mothers, wailing, weeping for their sons. As mothers of this country, women of this country, we are very concerned,” she said.

Cathy Alex, who was kidnapped last year in the Bosavi region and held for ransom, said PNG was on the verge of being a “failed state”.

As a woman who herself had experienced similar violence, Alex said the government must act.

“I don’t know what kind of country we call ourselves,” she said.

“This is a country . . . that if we look at indicators that shows a failed state. We are already it.

‘Individuals stand up’
“What’s holding this country together is individuals like these individuals who stand up for their communities and hold peace.

“What happened [in Enga] is completely unprecendented,” she added.

Tekwie said PNG women want affirmative action taken by government to deal with some of these issues.

“Starting with early education for one. We are mothers and are finding it so hard to get our kids into school,” she said.

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

Some people are literally making a killing in Enga.

Yes, they really are.

Hired gunmen are getting rich by the day and picking up women and girls as payments as well, leaving deaths and destruction in their wake in what is apparently becoming a booming industry.

• READ MORE: Wapenamanda massacre: PNG leaders angry over tribal war ‘barbarity’
• Wapenamanda massacre: ‘Pregnant mothers fled for their lives’
• Wapenamanda massacre — 50 killed in PNG’s worst tribal fighting
• Other PNG tribal warfare reports

The news is disturbing, to say the least, for a province that has got so much going at the moment.

As the illegal industry takes root by the day, we do not see this deadly business which is already stretching the limits of tolerance and the resources of the law and justice sector, ending soon.

Police Commissioner David Manning promised more manpower will be deployed into the province to assist those on the ground to curb the tribal fighting.

At the same time, he is asking for help from the provincial leaders to get down to their communities to stop the fighting and killing.

Grabbed world attention
The recent massacre in Wapenamanda has grabbed world attention again and this time the Australian government, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese describing the event as “very disturbing”, promising more technical aid to PNG to address this madness.

Tribal fighting has always been a curse in Enga for years. What started as bow and arrow affairs in the past have now gone high-tech with the deployment of drones, Google maps and high-powered guns, resulting in the high number of deaths

Genocide is the word to describe what is happening.

Powerful tribes are eliminating the weak, and leaving the disciplinary forces helplessly watching by the roadsides as the massacre continues to go.

There is no concern for the lives killed, the injuries or the plight of the hundreds of mothers and children caught up in this mayhem.

In the words of Provincial Police Commander, Superintendent George Kakas, businessmen, educated elites and well-to-do people fund these activities, hire gunmen and purchase firearms and ammunitions.

We would like to add politicians to the list because we suspect that they procured the weapons and left them with their supporters during the elections and these guns are now coming out.

How could they sleep peacefully?
How could these people find the peace to sleep peacefully in the night when their money, the technology, the guns and bullets they supplied are killing in big numbers and the murderers are uploading images of the dead bodies online for the world to see?

Prime Minister James Marape recently promised new legislation to curb domestic terrorism and we wait to see whether this law will ever get passed by Parliament.

This law is needed now to make the facilitators and the killers account for their actions.

In the interim, the government must declare a State of Emergency in Enga to deploy the full force of the law into the fighting zones to deal with the perpetrators.

They are known to the police, the leaders and even the Prime Minister.

What is stopping the police from arresting these culprits? Are they above the law? Are they protected species, vested with the power to end lives of other people in this manner?

Entire tribes wiped out
What are we waiting for?

To see entire tribes wiped out from the face of Enga before we move in to collect the bodies, take the women and children to care centres and keep watching from the roadsides.

Enough is enough. Declare the SOE in Enga. Enact the domestic terrorism legislation. Arrest those that facilitate and kill.

So much is going for Enga today and if nothing is done to end this ugly disease, Enga is doomed.

This PNG Post-Courier editorial was originally published under the title “Genocide in Enga” on 21 February 2014. Republished with permission.

Papua New Guinea’s image on the international stage took a battering yesterday when graphic images of dead bodies piled upon each other and displayed on roadsides in the restive Enga province went viral on social and mainstream media in the country and abroad.

More than 50 men were killed when two tribal enemies engaged in a brutal gun battle on Sunday morning from about 4am until 5pm in the afternoon at Birip 7mile village along the Highlands Highway between Wapenamanda and Wabag districts.

Local police said the ongoing guerilla warfare between the Saa Walep, Ambulyn tribes and their allies with Kaekin, Palinau and Sikin tribes have claimed hundreds of lives, devastation of land and properties and displacement of more than 20,000 people.

• READ MORE: Wapenamanda massacre: ‘Pregnant mothers fled for their lives’
• Wapenamanda massacre — 50 killed in PNG’s worst tribal fighting
• Other PNG tribal warfare reports

Graphic images and news of the killings spread swiftly through Australia and other parts of the region yesterday morning.

Police said very high-powered weapons, including military grade guns, were used in the killings, and that many more bodies were yet to be recovered.

While the massacre took place on Sunday morning, by 1pm yesterday, Police Minister Peter Tsiamalili Jr said there were “46 hired gunman dead! 3 locals only!” and that
“This trend of hired gunmen is a build up of more then 15 plus years!”

Police Commissioner David Manning said: “The multiple deaths that occurred from a tribal clash in the vicinity of Wapenamanda, Enga Province, was a disgraceful act of barbarity.”

‘We label this domestic terrorism’
Prime Minister James Marape said: “We label this as almost domestic terrorism — you [are] terrorising the society, you disturb against a community, that’s terrorism.”

“As Prime Minister, I am deeply moved and I am very, very concerned, I am very, very angry, in between these many words that you could express in as far as communities not responding to the rule of law.”

He went on to say: “I just want to appeal to our people in Enga, especially the tribal warriors, there is no prize to be engaged in tribal fights.

“We have great concern for what is happening in Enga Province, to lose one life, let alone many lives does not evade our consciousness and our concern.”

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also responded to media queries, saying he was very concerned about the fresh spate of violence in Enga, a province that had seen considerable Australian and other investments.

Graphic news and images of the slaughter, which police said included women and
children, were shared widely on social and mainstream media all of Sunday evening and yesterday.

Senior policeman Samson Kua, who is in charge of the western end of the Highlands region, said high powered firearms such as self-loading rifles (SLR), M4 machine guns, AR 15, M16s, pump action shot guns and other weapons were used in the killings.

‘Hang their heads in shame’
“All leaders based outside of Wabag who are related to the conflicting tribes must now hang their heads in shame and assist police on the ground in Enga to stop the tribal fight once and for all,” Kua told the Post-Courier.

“There has been enough destruction to properties and establishment. Now it has claimed many lives.”

Kua said policemen could not go between the warring tribes when high-powered firearms are being used.

“[Sunday’s] mass killings nearly claimed the lives of some policemen and soldiers as well.

“In any tribal fights when there is massive use of high-powered firearms, there is no winner to the fight. Common sense must apply here, anyone who takes part know the outcome when he is involved. Let’s all try and work together to stop the tribal conflict.”

East Sepik Governor Allan Bird, who is the opposition’s candidate for prime minister in an impending vote of no-confidence on the government, was stinging in his criticism of the government’s lack of response and quick action.

“We regret the senseless violence that has resulted in families losing fathers, brothers and sons. We also regret the collateral damage that these situations cause with women and children being assaulted and abused,” he said.

‘Deplorable death tally’
“It is deplorable that the death tally of senseless violence continues to increase under their watch.

“We need results, not rhetoric. The country is experiencing serious law and order issues — it’s a war zone in some parts of the country.

“We need our law enforcement agencies to be ready, prepared, and willing to tackle these situations.

“The country needs strong action now. The government needs to restore law and order for our rural people urgently.”

But Marape defended his government saying: “Police have been looking into what has been happening in Enga, in terms of contact tracing, finding out who is responsible, I want to relate to our youths who are holding guns out there, people outside who are sponsoring, will not be there to answer to you.”

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

A man housing people who fled a massacre in Papua New Guinea’s Enga province yesterday says pregnant mothers and children are displaced.

More than 50 bodies have been retrieved, with police still searching as intertribal tension continues.

Prime Minister James Marape said he was “deeply moved” and “very, very angry” and will give arrest powers to the military to contain the violence.

• READ MORE: Wapenamanda massacre – 50 killed in PNG’s worst tribal fighting
• Other PNG tribal warfare reports

Aquila Kunza, who lives in Wapenamanda, told RNZ Pacific the situation was “disheartening.

“They are below 10-years-old [the people staying with him],” Kunza said.

“Some of them are pregnant mothers, they fled for their lives. [Those who are] 10-years above, they fight.”

Kunza said boys as young as 10 have been left traumatised from fighting on the battlefield.

Veteran PNG journalist and RNZ Pacific correspondent, Scott Waide, said it “is one of the worst instances of killings” that he has seen in the past decade.

In 2022, there was a massacre on Kiriwina Island, northeast of capital Port Moresby with a death toll of more than 20 — violence that was triggered by a feud after a death at a football match a few weeks earlier.

The incident in Enga province highlands this week has been fuelled by a long standing feud between different clans — Sikin and Kaikin tribes and the Ambulin tribe, according to national public broadcaster NBC.

The clans were aided by guns from the black market, Waide explained.

According to his sources on the ground, the weapons used were not homemade, but rather military grade, including “Israeli-made Galil, US-made M16s”.

“There’s a huge black market attached to this tribal fighting that’s happening,” he said.

“One assault rifle costs upwards of K30,000 [about NZ$13,000]. So it’s a very complex web of people who benefit from this tribal fighting as well.”

‘Businessmen and educated elites supplying guns’
Acting Enga provincial police commander Inspector Patrick Peka has condemned the actions of leaders and “educated elites” from both warring factions for supplying guns and ammunition, and hiring “tribal warlords” and “gunmen” from other districts to come and fight as their incentives are lucrative.

An MP in an electoral district within Enga province, Wapenamanda Open, has called for a state of emergency (in Enga) in an effort to curb lawlessness.

In a statement, Miki Kaeok, who is a Pangu Pati member of Marape’s government, appealed to Enga governor Sir Peter Ipatas and all MPs from the province to rally behind his call.

Kaeok said the tribal fighting had turned into a “guerilla type of warfare” with parties from all parts of the province directly involved.

“Businessmen leaders and educated elites are supplying guns, bullets and financing the engagement of gunmen,” he said.

“They must be identified and their business accounts thoroughly checked to substantiate their direct involvement.”

‘People have given up’
There are 18 or so tribes scattered around mountains and rivers fighting in the highlands.

In a nearby town, Wapenamanda it is almost business as usual, Kunza said.

He said elders had stopped at nothing to try and ease tensions.

“We have tried every means [to stop this]. Churches have taken a collective stand to try stop them. Elders sat the men with guns down and told them to stop and listen. They were told they will be supported and relocated,” he said.

However, their attempts to convince the men did not work, who defied all advice “to our surprise and disappointment”, Kunza said, before violence escalated again.

“People have given up, people are exhausted” from the ongoing tribal fighting.

“Please all men and put down your guns” for the sake of the women and children, he is pleading with the fighters.

Tribal politics
Peka said a lot of the people killed in this violent incident were hired from other parts of the province to kill.

“Most dead bodies identified are men believed to be from Laiagam, Kandep and Wabag plus other parts of the province,” Peka said.

Waide said it was not a secret that people have offered their services as “mercenaries” in tribal fighting.

“It’s a sad situation and unfortunate turn of events and it’s escalating by the year,” Waide said.

He said it was always difficult to understand the reasons behind the ongoing violence without understanding the cultural context and tribal politics.

Meanwhile, the Pacific Islands Forum said it stood ready to support PNG after some of the worst tribal fighting the country has ever seen.

In a statement, Forum Secretary-General Henry Puna expressed his sincerest sympathies to the government and people of the country.

Puna urged all parties involved to seek peaceful resolutions to this conflict.

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

Under the banana leaves on a roadside in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands lies the dismembered and bullet-riddled bodies of eight men.

All have been pulled out from the hillside along the highway from Wapenamanda to Wabag in Enga province.

They were among at least 50 people killed in the worst outbreak of tribal fighting in the country’s recent history.

• READ MORE: Other PNG tribal warfare reports

These were not locals but hired guns from neighbouring districts and provinces who had been brought in to fight in a tribal fight.

Assistant Commissioner of Police-Western End Samson Kua has condemned the killings.

The call from security personnel is now for all leaders of Enga to put aside political differences and assist security personnel to promptly address the tribal fighting.

Information received is that security personnel were nearly shot as well as they tried to stop the fight.

The recovery of bodies continues.

A ghastly sight
In another report, the Post-Courier described it as a ghastly sight as a picture of bodies piled high on top each other on a police vehicle was shared on online platforms.

The bodies belonged to men who fought in a fight between two tribes in Wapenamanda.

The grassland of Wapenamanda was their battlefield as they fought with guns, knives, and other homemade weapons.

Police called for more support.

The dead bodies were of the Sikin and Kaekin tribesmen and were retrieved by policemen supported by the PNG Defence Force.

The men were killed yesterday at Akom/7 mile during heavy gun fire.

The situation is said to be still tense, but the highway was clear for the travelling public.

Police told the Post-Courier they had retrieved at least 50 bodies from the roadside, grasslands and hills of Wapenamanda by Monday morning.

Rival factions used “high-powered guns”, such as AK47 and M4 rifles in the battles, the newspaper reported.

The death toll was expected to rise.

Republished with permission from the PNG Post-Courier.

Papua New Guineans engaged in tribal fights will face life imprisonment once Parliament has its way with the amendment of the Tribal Fights Act in October.

And the PNG government is looking at amending laws to also give police additional powers and immunity under special operations to protect the lives of policemen and women.

The “restlessness” in Enga over the last couple of days has been labelled as “domestic terrorism”, which the security forces will be addressing under the special police unit and force that has been instructed to be set up.

• READ MORE: Other PNG tribal warfare reports

Prime Minister James Marape enroute to Wabag, Enga Province and then onto Port Vila, Vanuatu, fpor the Melanesian Spearhead Group leaders’ summit yesterday said the October Parliament Session would deal with amending the Tribal Fights Act to stop these “horrific fights” throughout the country.

Under he PNG Constitution there is an Inter-group Fighting Act 1977 with a purpose to discourage fighting between groups of Papua New Guineans by providing for:

• The creation of offences in relation to such fighting;
• The imposition of severe penalties for such offences;
• The collective punishment of the leaders of groups involved in fighting; and
• The imprisonment of group leaders for non-payment of penalties imposed on them as a result of their group’s participation in such fighting.

Severe penalties
The Tribal Fights Act, now under a policy directive to be enacted, will be severe and is expected to deal specifically with life imprisonment among other punishments.

“Next October when we go to Parliament, we will be amending the Tribal Fights Act,” Marape said.

“Those who start tribal fights will be receiving life imprisonment, not just for Enga but right across the country.

“We don’t want people to get engaged in tribal fights, those who cause tribal fights we will give them life imprisonment and that is the policy direction my government has given with the necessary legal change happening and being drafted as we speak.

“For now, police have been instructed to look into stepping up their operations.”

Police Commissioner David Manning had put in place an operational order and re-structure to enable the military and police to cooperate — “we try to get a specific command, a high-ranking police officer,” Marape said.

“I will be stepping into Wabag today and will address our people out there . . . and will be appealing to the people out there.

It was not the entire Enga Province involved, it was about four tribal fights based on police intelligence.

“We know who the ring leaders of the tribal fights are,” Marape said.

“In respect to restlessness in our country we are labelling this restlessness as domestic terrorism and so a special police unit being organised will go in full power to specific hotspot areas.”

Republished with permission.

Six hired gunmen in Enga were shot dead by men from the Ambulin tribe on Friday in what Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape has described as “jungle justice”.

Police alleged that on Friday around 5am, the six men sneaked into Ambulin tribal territory to ambush them but were caught. The Ambulins surrounded them in a culvert and shot five men.

Security force members intervened and rescued the sixth man, but he died later in hospital.

• READ MORE: PNG opposition calls for emergency over Highlands naked body killings
• Other PNG crime reports

Police said the gunmen were from the Silin and Kaekin tribes.

Provincial police commander Acting Superintendent George Kakas said one was from Sirunki in Laiagam, one was from Kompiam and four from Wapenamanda.

“According to the Ambulin tribe, these six men were hired to go into their territory and ambush them,” he said.

“They [Ambulins] said the killing of the six men was a warning to other tribes, especially from Kompiam, Laiagam or Wapenamanda not to get involved in their tribal warfare.”

Bodies dragged
Commander Kakas said the bodies of the five men were dragged out of the culvert and had their hands and legs tied to the back of a vehicle.

“Their bodies were then thrown on the road as a message to other tribes sending gunmen not to get involved in another tribe’s warfare.”

He said investigations were underway, with 70 policemen being deployed at the site.

Meanwhile, Commander Kakas warned businessmen, educated elites and other people funding activities to hire gunmen, buy guns and bullets to stop the practice.

He said that operational plans were being drawn up to focus on the “manipulators” of the bloodshed “while we are increasing the number of security force personnel deployed to hotspots to minimise killings and property damage”.

“Through their respective commanders, security force personnel have been instructed to use all means necessary to detain gunmen and to use lethal force when warranted,” he said.

Police Commissioner David Manning has advised Prime Minister Marape and Internal Security Minister Peter Tsiamalili of additional measures being taken to strengthen security in Enga.

Engan hot spots
He said Assistant Commissioner, Operations, Samson Kua would lead the operation.

“It is important that ramping up personnel in hot spots in Enga does not undermine security presence in other areas,” Commissioner Manning said.

“As such, I have appointed Assistant Commissioner Anthony Wagambie Jr to focus on enhancing security operations to support the reopening of the Porgera mine, while force strength in areas such as Hela and the Southern Highlands will be maintained.”

Commissioner Manning said the approach being taken in Enga was “a break from the colonial methods of the past”.

“While we bring the full weight of the state to bear on those who perpetrate these heinous acts, we must be honest and acknowledge that security forces cannot arrest or kill our way out of tribal fighting in Enga.

“We have to deal with the cause of these conflicts at the root and stop this senseless violence where it starts.”

Cretilda Alokaka is a reporter with PNG’s National newspaper. Republished with permission.

Papua New Guinea police in Madang and the National Capital District have arrested a total of 101 men suspected of being involved in two separate incidents reported in both provinces over the long weekend.

In Madang, 34 villagers were arrested after they clashed with police over the death of a local man from Korak village identified as Joseph Masul.

After the death of Masul was reported, the villagers along the Bogia-Madang Highway were up in arms and retaliated by blocking the main highway.

• READ MORE: Other PNG crime reports

The blocking of the highway, according to Madang police, hindered services and movement of people into Madang over the long weekend.

Police moved in after Assistant Commissioner of Police-Northern Peter Guinness assisted with police officers from Lae, who removed the roadblock and picked up 34 suspects.

While in NCD, 67 men were rounded up by police at Gerehu Stage 5 over a fight that erupted after the death of a man was reported during the third game of Australia’s State of Origin rugby league series two weeks ago.

The 67 men were on their way to instigate another fight when police were informed and moved in swiftly, arresting all 67 men and removing their weapons.

Murder suspect in hiding
NCD Metropolitan Superintendent Silva Sika said the suspect in the initial murder case had been hiding from police, angering the victim’s relatives.

The relatives approached a youth who lives at Banana Block who was about to leave for school and questioned him about what had happened a week earlier.

Superintendent Sika said the youth then went to the block, organised his friends who painted their faces black and and marched towards where the deceased’s haus krai (house of mourning) was. They were about to attack the mourners when police stopped them.

He said they would be charged for unlawful assembly, armed with offensive weapons and about to cause a fight in public.

Sika said the men were all armed and were moving in a public place that instilled fear in the public.

While speaking to the suspects at Waigani police station, Superintendent Sika told the suspects that people living Port Moresby must try to respect the rule of law.

‘Respect rule of law’
“I will not hesitate to demolish the areas where you are residing. Moving around in public places with weapons shows no respect for the rule of law,” he said.

“I am happy that the police responded on time to arrest and remove all the weapons from you. If they had not done that it [would] be another disaster in the city where innocent lives and properties will be lost or damaged.

“The weapons that you had in your possession are dangerous and life threatening so you must be charged for that to show others that carrying offensive weapons and moving in groups in public places is against the law.”

Republished with permission.

The Papua New Guinea government is calling for local communities in Porgera, Enga province, to end the violence as it works to reopen the Porgera goldmine by September.

In April, tribal violence in Porgera led to the closure of schools and businesses, raising concerns about the safety of people and the goldmine.

As part of efforts to address the issues on the ground and restart the goldmine a security forum was held in Paiam town in Porgera last week.

• READ MORE:  Porgera mine ‘killing fields’ – 21 Papua New Guineans die
• Other Porgera reports

The Prime Minister’s Office said leaders and security forces appealed to the local warring tribes to end the fighting because of its effects on the mine, businesses and the community.

The government said it is working day and night to ensure the goldmine — closed for four years — is reopened in September so benefits could flow to the people.

Prime Minister James Marape made a direct appeal to the people of Porgera and the surrounding communities to stop fighting and do away with the guns and tap into spin-off benefits from the mine.

“Let your children live in peace and get the benefits from the mine and stop the killings,” he said.

Porgera mine forum in Wabag
He also appealed to all the affected communities, landowners, mine licence areas to bring their issues and grievances and what benefits they would like to get at the new Porgera Mine Development Forum in Wabag next month.

“We want to hear from you. We want to know what you want and how we can share the benefits from our 51 percent stake in the New Porgera Mine,” Marape said.

The national government has also announced a total of 700 million kina (NZ$314 million) for a seven-year infrastructure development grant, which is to also address outstanding issues like resettling of people away from the mine area.

Marape said the first gold and revenue from the new Porgera mine was anticipated by October this year or thereafter.

The national government will issue or sign the mining licence by the end of August this year following the Mine Development Forum.

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

Standing in the middle of the countryside, the sound of heavy gunfire is loud and the shouts of the people in rural Wapenamanda in Papua New Guinea’s Enga province are fearful.

Police and the PNG Defence Force officers are crouched hidden on the hillside, safeties off their firearms, silently watching the melee below in Warumanda village.

The echo of the military grade Mac 58 and self-loading rifle (SLR) comes from the tribal fight; bullets aimed at the security officers miss but hit close to their feet.

• READ MORE: More PNG law and order reports

A burst of machinegun fire is heard.

Provincial Police Commander Superintendent George Kakas stands stoic in the thick of things.

He said his men were outnumbered and outgunned.

“We estimate about 500 men involved in this tribal fight, bullets are coming at us but instead they whiz past us and we can only take fire as we decide our next move,” he said.

The fighting is between Sikin and the Itiokons.

‘Explosion’ of fighting
However, the inclusion of other tribes into both tribes has seen an “explosion of all-out fighting”, Commander Kakas said.

Joining Sikin tribe are the Kaekins, and other tribes from Tsak LLG, Wabag and Kompiam-Ambum and Mupapalu, while the Itiokons include the Nenein tribe.

“I advised Air Niugini to cancel its current flight because of the intense fighting which was taking place right under its flight path towards its descent into Wapenamanda Airport,” Commander Kakas said.

“I will advise them when the situation is conducive later this week.

“We tried to cross over the only bridge over the Lai river to Warumanda village — where the destruction was taking place — and could not cross over because the metal decking has been were removed, preventing us from crossing.

“We exchanged shots with the tribesmen, luckily none of my security force members were harmed in the exchanged,” he said.

“I have now reorganised my men to remain static at strategic sites to prevent the marauding tribesmen to advance further.

‘I need men .. . support’
“I need men, I need firepower and I need the support,” he says.

“Homes are burning and lives lost, 10 people have died with countless others left without a home and without any hope of having one in the coming days.”

“Three bodies were brought out of the battleground, 8 others unaccounted for, and more than 10 taken to hospital by security forces.”

On Tuesday afternoon, security personnel were shot at and a shootout ensued with the personnel seeking higher ground.

Enga Governor Sir Peter Ipatas said bluntly in Parliament last week that both sides of the House should stop with the projects and concentrate on fixing law and order.

“We cannot keep on saying that everything is okay.

“We need to think beyond our self-interest and start addressing the law and order issues in the country”.

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

The successful restart of Papua New Guinea’s New Porgera Limited gold mine is currently at high risk due to the security crisis in the valley.

Twenty one people have died since March 6 as Porgera, Enga Province, has turned into a “killing field” amid tensions between two ethnic groups, the Nomali and Aiyala.

Barrick Gold chief executive and president Dr Mark Bristow responded to questions raised by the Post-Courier saying that “a safe and stable operating environment is critical for the restart of Porgera Mine.

• READ MORE: Other Porgera mine reports

“Therefore, we see a need for an immediate intervention to address the lawlessness in Porgera as the current conditions put in jeopardy the restart of mining operations.

“Safety is paramount at the Porgera mine site. Our primary concern is the welfare of our local employees who reside in Porgera and commute to and from the site.

“As with the rest of the community, we rely on the police and other law enforcement agencies to provide law and order.

“Our local employees are directly impacted [on] by the ongoing violence and the resulting closure of vital government services, including schools and hospitals.

Support for special police operation
“We support the community’s calls for a special police operation and sustainable security solutions to the many social issues that have grown since the mine was placed into care and maintenance, including tribal violence and murder, kidnapping, hijacking, vandalism, and the widespread proliferation of high-powered firearms.”

Losses from illegal mining and theft are estimated at K100 million (NZ$46 million) a year and K200 million (NZ$92 million) from Hides Tower Lines sabotage — not including sizeable PJV security costs and the substantial ongoing costs for constant repair of fences, buildings, vehicles and other equipment and infrastructure.

Speaking to the Post-Courier, Police Commissioner David Manning said that the focus of security personnel would be to secure the surrounding communities of the mine site.

Commissioner Manning also confirmed the deployment of an extra 100 Special Services Division (SSD) officers to assist in curbing the rise in crime and to help restore normality.

“We are ready to assist, and I have had briefings with the local leaders and we will be working closely with the district development authority (DDA) to ensure we have the support but also work together in bringing back peace to Porgera,” he said.

A security brief released on Wednesday has shown that the high number of killings are in the town area.

As of Wednesday, critical community services such as the BSP Bank, Paiam Hospital and local schools are closed again indefinitely.

Law and order crisis
The law and order crisis applies to the whole Porgera Valley and not just the mine site and its infrastructure — this also extends to other operational footprints (Hides Power Station, HTL Corridor, Riverine, and Highlands Highway).

Law and order is at the lowest point ever since the opening of the mine and this is  affecting the operation of the mine, landowners, and the communities.

A security update from the district has reported:

• Continued deterioration of security (law and order) in the Porgera valley;
• Firearms sightings and discharges within SML/LMP continue to increase;
• Multiple instances of armed holdups and theft from employees and contractors. Since January 2023 a number of supply trucks and passenger buses have been ambushed and looted between Laigam and Kairik Airport;
• Security incidents involving the kidnapping of women and children have increased,
• Effectiveness of MS and PNG Defence Force personnel on the ground is limited due to the absence of necessary resources and specific orders; and
• Tribal fighting throughout the valley and at Hides continues, with ongoing fatalities and widespread property destruction.

The Post-Courier understands that local police numbers are down, firearms are used regularly within the valley and intrusions into restricted areas continue with armed men entering the mine site.

It is alleged there is a lack of support from the district, province and the national government for more security forces at Porgera.

The lack of leadership and support from community leaders and landowners have seen criminal elements protected and served by the clan and communities.

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

At least 32 people have been killed in an all-out war between Kulumata and Kuboma tribes in Milne Bay’s Kiriwina island.

Internal Security Minister Peter Tsiamalili Jr confirmed that the killings had erupted early last month after yam gardens were destroyed.

“A police team from Port Moresby was deployed yesterday morning to the island to contain and manage the raging war,” he said.

• READ MORE: PNG politician pleads for more police following island massacre
• PNG official confirms more than 30 dead in tribal clash in Trobriands
• 30 killed, many injured in PNG ‘island of love’ tribal massacre

“The Commissioner of Police David Manning is in charge of the operations and directives.

“He has advised me that he is taking swift and appropriate action.

“Police will help forge peace,” he added.

According to sources on the ground, the fight started in early September when a man from Kuboma tribe was killed in a fight over a soccer game in the remote Trobriand archipelago.

Situation still tense
The situation has remained tense since then and escalated on Monday, when the Kuboma villagers (seven villages inland that include Bwetalu, Yalaka, Buduwalaka, Kuluwa, Luya, Wabutuma and Gumilababa villages) allegedly destroyed all the yam gardens of the Kulumata villages (Kavataria, Mulosaida and Orabesi villages).

The Kulumata villagers went up to the station to demand answers from the district development authority on why their yam gardens were destroyed and for authorities to address the situation when they were attacked by the Kuboma villagers who were already there waiting for them.

All-out tribal warfare with traditional spears and bush knives broke out between the two parties, that led to 26 people being killed from the Kuboma side and about six people killed from the Kulumata side.

Another source said it was “frightening to see such violence on their island” that is locally known or dubbed as the “island of love”.

“Tribal fighting has always been part of our lives and culture.

“But normally when someone got killed, the fighting stopped, they cease fire and start the traditional process of dealing with the death, and they do not just continue fighting like this.

“The Kulumata and the Kuboma people are all related to each other and it is heartbreaking for us as mothers, sisters, daughters to watch our people fight among themselves like this.”

“But you must also understand that our gardens are very important to us.

Painted in war colours
“Our yams are important and very valuable, to see them chopped off, destroyed — yes our men would be so angry, because we value our gardens.”

They [men] painted themselves in the traditional war colors and went up to the station to show their frustration.

When they met the other party, they started fighting, and we ran away with our children.

“They will not harm women and children but it was just too frightening to watch, so we ran away,” the source said.

Attempts to get comments from the local MP and Deputy Opposition Leader Douglas Tomuriesa was unsuccessful yesterday.

RNZ Pacific’s PNG correspondent Scott Waide said the clash during the football match five weeks ago left two people dead.

He told RNZ Pacific Waves that in this week’s retaliatory attack a 13-year-old boy was among the dead and several women were wounded.

Kiriwina Island Area Manager Nelson Tauyuwada said in the lead-up to the massacre, crops were damaged, threatening livelihoods.

Rebecca Kuku is a reporter with The National in PNG. Republished with permission.

More than 30 people have been confirmed dead by Papua New Guinea government official Nelson Tauyuwada following tribal fighting on Kiriwina Island in the Trobriand archipelago.

Tauyuwada, the Kiriwina Island Area Manager, said the death toll would probably increase.

He believes a soccer game clash that took place last month sparked the fatal incident that happened yesterday.

• READ MORE: 30 killed, many injured in PNG ‘island of love’ tribal massacre
• Other reports on PNG tribal fighting

“There are many layers to the rivalry between the two tribes involved, including political lines,” he said.

However, Kabwaku United Church Committee member David Mudagada said the fighting broke out from general election related issues.

“The fighting broke out from general election related problems. That triggered some other small issues, social issues that’s why they started the fight and it’s quite a mess right now,” Mudagada said.

“What I heard from those people around the scene is that they started fighting from the government station and then they moved the people towards their villages and they are slashing them with knives and all this — and then they retaliated,” he said.

Chaotic situation
He said the situation was chaotic.

“The government authorities are also at the scene right now they are trying to stabilise the situation…..then get the police from the Alotau, capital of Milne Bay province, and then they go to the small island in the Trobriand Islands.

“We are not sure when they are going to arrive, there were a couple of police officers there but they were outnumbered,” he said.

PNG’s constabulary is still trying to get officers to the scene and is expected to update the media as more details come to hand.

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

Thirty people are reported to have been killed and many seriously injured in the worst tribal warfare on Kiriwina Island in Papua New Guinea’s Milne Bay Province yesterday.

The number of deaths will be the highest ever recorded during a tribal warfare on the island.

Douglas Tomuriesa, the member for Kiriwina-Goodenough and Deputy Opposition Leader,  confirmed that 30 people were dead and many were seriously injured.

• READ MORE: Other reports on PNG tribal fighting

He was organising an airline charter to transport police personnel from Alotau to fly in to the Kiriwina, known as the “island of love”, in the Trobriand group, to bring the situation under control.

The situation is reportedly tense and may escalate further due to the number of deaths.

A villager said a worse case scenario by this morning might be other villagers taking sides and joining the warfare.

According to him the district has only two police personnel, despite a number of fully furnished houses for police personnel on the island.

Firearms discharged
He also alleged that firearms were discharged in the fight resulting in the high number of casualties.

Confirming the fight in a WhatsApp message, Provincial Police Commander Peter Barkie  said: “Yes, received info daytime today about fighting on the island but police don’t have a boat, only dinghies, so we secured NMSA boat but logistics was slow and captain advised that, not safe to travel at night so police team will travel 5.00am at East Cape to Losuia.”

Commander Barkie also requested for reinforcements to be on standby and that a decision would be made when the police team arrives on the ground.

A concerned women leader, Joyce Grant, has appealed to Internal Security Minister Peter Tsiamalili for urgent government intervention, describing the number of deaths as the highest ever recorded in the history of Kiriwina society.

Her WhatsApp message said: “Although I am not mandated leader, however as concerned leader of my community, it is with the saddest of hearts that I write to your high office to appeal and ask for urgent government intervention.”

According to Grant, the fight began at approximately 11am yesterday, Monday, 24 October 2022.

Three main villages of Wards 19 and 20 of Kiriwina LLG approached the district office at Losuia to express their anger over the consistent destruction of their gardens by known perpetrators of neighbouring villages.

Gardens ‘a focal point’
“Gardens in the villages are the focal point of community existence. Without a garden, you are not able to sustain your family’s livelihood,” she said.

“However, no government officials were on hand to mediate the matter, including non-presence of law-and-order committees as the police station is manned by limited police personnel only.

“The church elders were also present to assist to contain the situation but the neighbouring villages were also ready for confrontation, therefore the situation was not able to be contained.”

The issue had started almost two months ago, immediately after the 2022 national general elections, and involved a soccer match. That fight resulted with one death and several people seriously injured.

“A police mobile unit was sent to maintain peace however to date, no clear resolution was reached to mitigate the issue then,” Grant said.

“Please Minister, our people need the governments urgent intervention of Police presence on the ground for the sake of our people’s lives. People are dying and the question is ‘who is responsible?’

Tomuriesa appealed to both warring factions to lay down their arms.

He said that when police reinforcements arrive, they should be “honest with themselves” and assist police by identifying the original instigators to face the law.

Republished with permission.

Port Moresby’s “amazing city” tag in Papua New Guinea is fast losing its varnish and appeal — its veneer of a modern metropolis tarnished by an ethnic underbelly that relishes criminal activity, racial violence and a tendency to unleash aggressive violent behavior at any opportune time.

Last weekend’s violence which left three people dead is the fifth such “amazing act” this year, says an exasperated Police Commissioner David Manning.

The question, raised on social media, in homes, schools, offices, among local landowners, the Motu Koitabu, and discussed in pubs and boardrooms across the city, is: “When will enough be enough?’

• READ MORE: Other reports on PNG ethnic clashes

When will Port Moresby truly rise above its ethnic cleansing bloodbath rituals to become the modern Amazing City of cross cultures that it professes to be, and that every peace loving Papua New Guinean wants to enjoy?

A drug deal gone wrong has sparked a deadly ethnic war between Eastern Highlands and Hela province people living in Port Moresby.

Yesterday, the fight was violent around the Erima, Wildlife, 8 and 9 Mile settlement areas as pitched battles raged.

NCD Governor Powes Parkop called for calm and for peace to return, adding it is against the law to carry offensive weapons in public.

‘Leave it to police’ call
Commissioner Manning also called for calm and for the warring parties to lay down their arms and let police investigate the killings.

As of last night, three men were dead and six wounded who were being treated at the Port Moresby General Hospital.

Last night, Gordon, Erima, Wildlife, 8 and 9 Mile were tense with police patrols keeping a close watch on those areas.

The ethnic clash, the fifth so far this year, is putting a huge dent on the National Capital Diustrict Commission’s (NCDC) effort to promote the capital city’s image as “Amazing Moresby”.

On social media, angry residents have taken not so kindly to the fighting with many urging the government to clamp down on ethnic groups from the Highlands by returning all settlers back to their province of origin.

The Vagrancy Act, which enables police to evict illegal settlers in the city, was thrown out at Independence, which has led to a growing settlement population in the city.

But fed up Motu Koitabu landowners and angry residents want the city cleaned up.

A call for martial law
One commentator even called for martial law to be enacted and the city cleaned of all illegal settlers.

The flare-up between men from the Eastern Highlands and Hela provinces has sent innocent women and children scattering for cover and refuge.

It is alleged the death of a man from Eastern Highlands during a drug deal is said to have started the fight. The police, however, cannot say much, but could only confirm that an investigation has commenced on the issue.

The roads around Erima and 9 Mile saw men and women running with offensive weapons.

While police tried their best to make their presence felt during the chaos, they were outnumbered as scores of men continued to fight.

Commissioner Manning said that any ethnic clashes at other major centres in the country were “unnecessary” and “unfortunate”.

“It is concerning how people can employ their tribal tactics and think that they can clash with other groups in the cities and towns,” he said.

These ethnic clashes are a result of a lack of appropriate policing interventions.

Why have settlements grown?
Furthermore, there are a lot of discussions on why we have allowed settlements to grow in the last two to three decades and whether those settlements contribute to these ethnic clashes, he added.

Meanwhile, NCD Governor Parkop warned city residents carrying weapons who have gone unnoticed.

Bows and arrows, machetes, iron bars, stones and other dangerous weapons were seen publicly yesterday at the Gordon bus stop and Erima with the ethnic clash still tense with police continuously patrolling the area.

City Manager Ravu Frank said this kind of behaviour was illegal. Unfortunately, lives have been lost. City residents have to move around freely and not be in fear of their safety.

The parties concerned must air their grievances to police.

Commissioner Manning said ethnic clashes were no longer restricted to rural centres and it had greater impact on everyone’s lives and gave concern to a lot of people, especially government and police when it happened in the urban environment.

In 2022 alone, five ethnic clashes have erupted between different groups — mostly from the Highlands region.

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

While Papua New Guinean policing continues to be an issue in Porgera, Enga Province, the killings continue in the mining township.

And the latest killing of a village court magistrate has added to the 70 deaths within a period of six months.

Police Commissioner David Manning has recently announced the establishment of a specific unit to “have the sole task and responsibility of securing our major resource projects around the country”.

• READ MORE: Other reports on the Porgera crisis

“We will be taking steps to establish the unit by this week,” he said.

In the latest killing, a village court magistrate from the Lukal area who had been actively involved in facilitating peace efforts for the ongoing tribal disputes was killed on September 17 while he was out in the garden gathering food with his wife and a female in-law.

Unconfirmed reports state that the two women had been taken hostage and were yet to be located.

Nine days earlier, the now deceased Lopan Wake had led the Paiam community in a staged protest calling on the government to declare a state of emergency after a man from the same Lukal village was killed.

Haus krai blocked highway
Frustrated family members, relatives and the Paiam community expressed their frustrations by blocking the highway and staged a haus krai for the deceased on the open road.

They urged the government and relevant authorities to intervene and put an end to the spillover of killings of innocent people in the valley.

Immediate family and relatives of the late magistrate Wake said they want the law and government to deal with the matter.

Family spokesperson Kelly Yambi said there have been many spillover conflicts in Porgera that there was confusion over how to establish what tribal groups were responsible for the Lukal killings.

“I am not sure who is really responsible for the initial tribal conflicts but all I know is that the spillover of the conflict is affecting my people and we are falling victims.

“We signed a covenant with God and we do not want to take revenge.

“We have buried two men already and now I will bury my brother,” Yambi said.

Change to ‘how we do things’
Commissioner Manning said: “As part of our restructure we now see that we need to restructure how we do things and how the police force and other agency partners secure major resource areas.

“While the bulk of our resources are taken up in securing the projects its often for the detriment of the livelihoods of the communities that have been subjected to violent criminal activities.

“So by setting up this new unit, it will elevate demands on the resources so that we not only adequately secure projects but continue to progress our efforts in securing our community.”

“As soon as we establish the unit, our focus will be on reopening Porgera.

“Without a safe and secure environment to do so the reopening of Porgera can be challenging.

“And we are up to the task of providing the necessary support in securing not only the project but the surrounding communities before the project recommences.”

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

“It’s okay, we’ll just sit here and they can come kill us.”

These chilling words are from a defenceless woman (name withheld) who has seen first-hand the continuous killings in Papua New Guinea’s Porgera Valley, Enga province and accepting what could be the ultimate fate for her and her family.

Women and children in villages in that part of the country literally have nowhere to run since the killing spree has continued unabated in the gold valley, now tainted bloody and with ashes.

• READ MORE:  18 people hacked to death in Porgera in under an hour amid PNG elections
• Other PNG election reports

Attacks on villages in more than a year between warring clans of Nomali and Aiyala — not election related — can happen anywhere between 2 and 3 in the morning, and even during broad daylight.

There is nowhere safe, not even churches.

Police are outnumbered as the self-acclaimed thugs walk freely into villages and start firing indiscriminately with military grade weapons killing men, women, and children.

The hired guns are said to be there to make the kill and move on to the next victims.

Scared for their lives
The woman who spoke to the PNG Post-Courier said she and a large group of women and children were scared for their lives and the worry that it could be their last day to live.

“These warlords will walk into our villages destroying and burning down houses as early as 2am or 3am, even at dawn,” she said.

“We don’t sleep at night. All we do is pray to God for help. We don’t know where to go, we are helpless,” she said.

“My people fled the village and ran away. This week we heard that men were coming to attack us in the night.

“I did not know what to do so I just walked out onto the road and met some youths from my village, who told me plainly that there is nowhere for us to run too.

“So I said, ‘it’s okay let’s just sit here and if they come and kill us so be it’.”

She said mothers with children would have to run for their lives at any moment during the night to find the nearest hiding place for a few hours until dawn so they could look for a new place to go to within the besieged area.

No help in sight
This has been happening with no help in sight to address the tribal conflicts that have raged on long before this month’s general elections even surfaced.

With resources and concentration focused on the current polls taking place in the country, the self-proclaimed warlords have taken over the valley, raping women, killing people and burning down government and business properties.

Porgera has now turned into a killing field as public servants and those working in businesses in the valley have fled for their safety.

She said they had lost count of how many people had died.

“With the closure of Paiam Hospital, those who are injured very badly just sleep here under our watch, those in a critical condition will not make it,” she said.

“The roads out have been blocked, many have left with some more leaving but this does not stop the killing, every day we have a target on our backs,” she said.

Another community leader (name withheld) on the ground said the district needed a state of emergency declared.

21 killed by warlords
“Just today [Wednesday, July 20], a total of 21 people have been killed by unknown warlords. The victims are from Porgera, Tari and Kandep.

“Eight people were killed at Kanamanda Church area just next to Kia Kona at Paiam and a further seven were ambushed at Upper Maipagi, located at upper parts of Porgera station while they were looking for firewood in the bush,” he said.

“A young girl was killed among that 21 and others are fighting for their lives.

“It’s no more tribal conflict but a sort of genocide. Warlords hunting innocent lives even if they are not their enemies.

“This should have been prevented if the Defence Force deployed last month were not withdrawn straight after polling at Porgera.

“This time the government has failed us,” he said, clearly wondering whether their cries were being heard at all.

Melisha Yafoi is a PNG Post-Courier reporter. Republished with permission.

A brutal massacre in Porgera town yesterday afternoon in which 18 innocent people were killed has rocked Enga province and shocked Papua New Guinea.

Local police chief acting Superintendent George Kakas was shocked by the act of violence in the wake of the country’s national elections — he was left speechless when told by field officers about the killings.

Last night, caretaker Prime Minister James Marape said Porgera was now in a state of emergency.

• READ MORE: As Annaisha, 22, held her baby and waited to cast her vote, PNG police ‘switched their guns to auto’ and fired
• Other PNG election reports

“We have called out additional manpower from both the military and police, not just for Porgera but for other areas that need special assistance as well,” he said.

“We will beef up security as election requirements have diluted normal police work and the present killing is related to an ongoing tribal fight.”

In his policing career, Kakas has seen worse but yesterday’s act was one he thought was the work of a deranged mob who had no respect for the sanctity of life.

Of the 18 dead, 13 were men and 5 were women. They were going about their normal lives when men armed with machetes and axes hacked them to death.

Hour of wanton destruction
It was an hour of wanton destruction in which no one in the path of the rampaging tribesmen was spared, Kakas said.

Pictures of the dead posted online showed a trail of destruction with murderous intent. It seemed none of the dead had any chance of escaping.

In one picture, a woman clad in a PNG meri blouse lay next to a young girl, probably her daughter.

In another, a man and a woman lie side by side, having fallen where they were attacked.

The woman is on her knees, cowering in a foetal position, probably having begged for mercy — a futile attempt to evade the inevitable.

Men examining the scene looking for relatives were shown carrying bush knives and axes.

In turbulent Enga these are normal weapons.

Disputed gold mine
Porgera is the site of the disputed giant gold mine which has been closed for almost two years.

A violent tribal fight between the Aiyala and Nomali tribes has been raging, which has severely affected the elections in that part of the region.

The 18 deaths brings to 70 the number of people killed in Porgera in the past four months.

Although an emergency was declared in Porgera, the fighting between Aiyala and Nomali has continued, Superintendent Kakas said.

Security forces are present in Porgera Town. Together with local police, there are about 150 police and army personnel, however they are outnumbered by the tribal warriors, who are heavily armed.

“The 13 men and 5 women were killed in Paiam and Upper Porgera on Wednesday afternoon,” Kakas said.

Of the 18, five people were killed in Upper Porgera Station and 13 people killed at Paiam.

“Out of the 18 deaths, 3 men from Porgera town area were killed by Kandeps. This killing related to the ongoing tribal fight at Paiam has now escalated to Pogera Town.”

Troops moving in
“Police Commissioner David Manning said last night the PNG Defence Force (PNGDF) contribution troops for the task force were in the process of moving into Enga.

“There is no SOE declared, 120 soldiers from the 2nd PIR Bravo Company were sent in yesterday afternoon. They are based in Wabag and once all logistics are in place, they will further deploy to the electorates of Porgera, Laiagam, and Kompiam and join their RPNGC MS counterparts who are currently on the ground.”

Manning said the task force had 60 days to restore the rule of law in the electorates, secure the mine and provide protection for repairs to be done on damaged bridges –– especially on the Wabag-Kompiam road.

“We received reports of continuous killings in Porgera that began over the weekend. Priority deployment is to the Porgera valley, to quell the fighting between the local Porgereans and settlers from other parts of Enga Province,” he said.

“We have received urgent pleas to also evacuate non-Engans who currently work up there — for them to be escorted to safety.

“The 3 meter wide, 4-5 meter deep trench that was dug across the Surinki stretch of Wabag-Porgera road is still undergoing repairs. However, a temporary bypass has been constructed to allow traffic.”

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

Fresh fighting among candidates’ supporters has left another two dead in Hela’s Margarima in Papua New Guinea’s general election.

This takes the death toll to nine in the province since fighting broke out on July 4 – and nationwide election-related deaths have topped 45.

Cars and trucks were set ablaze and houses razed in Lower Wage on Sunday.

• READ MORE: Pangu Pati draws first blood in PNG election with 5 seats declared so far
• Other PNG election reports

Papua New Guinea Defence Force liaison officer Major Joshua Dorpar said fighting erupted again following the counting of election ballots for Margarima.

According to military sources in Margarima, the situation was still tense.

“Since the last fight two weeks ago, when the death toll was at seven, two more people have been killed, raising the death toll to nine. A couple of people are in hospital.

“Homes have been burnt down, vehicles destroyed, and we are working on restoring peace again, by talking to the of two groups that are fighting,” the sources said.

Lack of forces
Police commander Robin Bore said the fight started during polling on July 4 between incumbent Komo-Margarima MP Mannaseh Makiba’s (Pangu Pati) supporters and Independent Dr Benson Wakinda’s supporters at the Yambraka polling centre.

Bore said he did not have enough security forces to deal with the situation.

“We don’t have enough police manpower on the ground, especially armed/response units to attend to other law and order issues in the province, including the fighting in Margarima,” he said.

“We have one platoon of soldiers and Mobile Squad 12 but they will be concentrating on the counting and providing security for ballot boxes.

“Moreover, 40 regular members of Hela are on the roll over team led by Tari police station commander to provide polling security in nearby Highlands provinces.

“So, after completion of elections in Hela, we will look into those areas that require police help,” he added.

While election-related deaths reached 45 — as compiled by the media — many others went unreported or were unaccounted for.

Rebecca Kuku is a National reporter. Republished with permission.

• The National’s election InfoGraphics.

About 100 Papua New Guinea security personnel have arrived in Porgera, Enga Province, amid the fighting that saw 17 dead, 100 families displaced and homes destroyed over the weekend.

The arrival of the PNG Defence Force (PNGDF) in Porgera on late Sunday evening has eased the tension inside the mining township.

On Sunday about 5pm, more than 15 ten-seater vehicles with PNGDF soldiers arrived in Mt Hagen, Western Highlands, to be deployed to Porgera.

• READ MORE: Fierce fighting continues in PNG’s Porgera with death toll reaching 17
• Other tribal fighting reports

The contingent arrived late in Porgera with only a few war cries heard around the township.

Police Commissioner David Manning said: “A significant number of police and military personnel will be on the ground to address the issue at Porgera”.

When asked if armoured vehicles may be deployed to Porgera, Manning said: “The vehicles will not be deployed for this incident, an assessment of the situation on the ground is requiring a quicker response and that is the option I took.”

Mobile Squad 5 arrives
Mobile Squad 5 has arrived in Porgera to assist PNGDF with provincial police commander Chief Inspector Epenes Nili.

Police in Enga are seeking assistance from the Enga provincial government.

“The provincial government will be assisting with logistics and other necessary assistance,” Chief Inspector Nili said.

“Mobile Squad 5 arrived in Wabag late yesterday afternoon.

“They got organised last night and departed to Porgera at 4am.”

He said the situation had cooled down.

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

Seventeen people have been killed, hundreds of families made homeless, dozens of houses razed and government services ground to a halt in Enga Province’s Porgera district in Papua New Guinea as warring clans took up arms against each other.

Calls for government help went unanswered at the weekend.

Police in Porgera said the number of deaths had shot up to 17 as fighting continued.

• READ MORE: Other reports on PNG tribal fighting

The sounds of gunfire could be heard as all government assets, including the Porgera mine staff, remained locked in their homes and behind gates.

An employee of the mine said the sounds of gunfire could be heard on Sunday evening with war cries echoing through the town centre of Paiam.

The fresh violence — which got worse following the withdrawal of security personnel to the provincial capital Wabag to prepare for election duties — ended a fragile, two-month peace truce between the warring Nomali and Aiyala clans of Paiam in Porgera.

The sitting MP of Lagaip-Porgera, Tomait Kapili, said the ongoing feud between two clans also meant the planned reopening of the world class Porgera mine was “slim” and “may not happen within the timeframe wanted by the government”.

Disappointed with ‘inaction’
Enga Governor Sir Peter Ipatas was disappointed with the inaction by the PNG Defence Force and police hierarchy.

“I have been asking for security forces for the last three weeks,” a frustrated Sir Peter said.

He confirmed with the Post-Courier that Prime Minister James Marape had been informed of the situation in Porgera.

Police Commissioner David Manning said that the violence erupted after a man from the Nomali clan was chopped on his hand by a man from Aiyala.

Last Tuesday, a security guard was attacked and slashed. He died of his injuries in front of the shop he was protecting.

The killing of the guard saw a confrontation flare up, which led to police firing several shots to deter the two clans.

In retaliation, the Nomali clan chopped the hand of a man from Aiyala on Friday morning.

Outnumbered by tribal fighters
“A fight broke out, with Mobile Squad 11 who were on mine operation in Porgera taking command of the township but were outnumbered by tribal fighters who were in possession of high powered firearms,” Manning said.

“The two clans have destroyed properties.”

On Saturday, battle lines were drawn as the two warring clans faced off in the streets of the Paiam.

Continuous gunshots could be heard as both clans continue a feud that escalated to the burning of several homes belonging to settlers around the mining town.

The confrontation continued with the withdrawal of police units back to Wabag to await further orders to be deployed into other provinces of the Highlands region.

The withdrawal led to a fierce confrontation between the two clans that saw more than 50 people injured, homes destroyed and the Paiam town centre coming to a standstill.

Local police could only stand by and watch the removal of property from homes as the two clans ruled the streets of the township.

Awaiting deployment orders
Police Mobile Squad 5 was supposed to be in Enga. However, it is understood the unit had yet to receive its deployment orders.

According to a source, new PNG Defence Force soldiers had been tasked to go into Enga, but this had been delayed given that the national government did not settle outstanding debts for service providers and troops.

Porgera remains without any security support, with reports that local police — who are grossly outnumbered and without support — are exhausted and could not do much.

Sources in Paiam also indicated that the Paiam district hospital was still operating but staff are scared because of the lack of security. They were only taking in emergency cases.

A medical officer said casualties from the tribal conflict were not taken to the hospital due to security fears.

He said the hospital had not been targeted by the clans but buildings around the hospital grounds had been razed to the ground.

In developments late Sunday afternoon, more than 15 ten-seater vehicles with PNGDF personnel had arrived for deployment to Porgera.

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

In all of the meandering years in the life of Papua New Guinea, 2021, which ended on Friday has to be it.

The colours were there, the love and laughter were there, the sadness, emotions, losses, highs and lows, the bleakness of our long-suffering population and blackness of ethereal poor governance were all intertwined with making 2021 standout.

In a nutshell, 2021 will be remembered as the year that shook PNG to the core.

• READ MORE: Other PNG covid-19 reports
• PNG’s most wanted fugitive Tommy Baker shot dead

The biggest and most enduring life changer was covid-19. Like a thief in the night, it descended on our lives. It robbed our children of their innocence. It stopped our businesses dead in their tracks. It stole our bread. It stole the breath of our nation builders.

This year, we will still be waking, walking and wandering with covid-19. It was and is the most tumultuous health issue ever, hovering over the gardener in a remote valley to a bush driver in a town to a business executive in the city.

Big or small, rich or poor, we all face the same anxiety.

Covid-19 was on everyone’s lips and in everyone’s ears. It is a global event that is still unraveling and we cannot predict what it holds for us in 2022.

The Kumul will fly
Now you can’t go anywhere without a face mask. But we must rise to the occasion. We must be resilient like our forefathers. We must face it. The Kumul will fly.

So many of our fathers and forefathers left us over the past year. Men, who walked and talked with giants, whose dreams and aspirations – covid-19 or not – we must carry in our hearts and move forward. That is the challenge that awaits our bones in 2022.

Sir Mekere Morauata (2020), Sir Pita Lus, Sir Philip Bouraga, Sir Paulias Matane, Sir Ramon Thurecht, Sir Ronald Tovue and the Chief of Chiefs, GC Sir Michael Thomas Somare.

One could only wonder as we wandered, tearfully from “haus krai” to the next mourning house. Why?

In one swoop, 2021 took our history book and shook the knights of our realm out of its pages.

Men whose colourful and storied existence led to the birth of our nation. How said indeed it is that a country loses its foundation so suddenly. Shaken to the core.

While mainland PNG mourned the loss of Sir Mekere, Kerema MP Richard Mendani, Middle Fly MP Roy Biyama and recently Middle Ramu MP Johnny Alonk, Bougainville was not spared.

The island is reeling from losing its Regional MP Joe Lera and just two weeks ago, Central Bougainville MP Sam Akoitai. Our leadership shaken to the core!

Historic year for PNG
This is also a historic year for PNG. Sixty-four years after Sir Michael shook his fist at Australia and demanded: “Let my people go,” Bougainville has done the same, voting overwhelmingly to secede from PNG in a referendum.

Two weeks ago, its president declared: “Let my people go!” Shaken to the core!

Ethnic violence — 1000 tribes in distress with violence becoming an everyday happening, Tari vs Kerema, Kange vs Apo, Kaimo vs Igiri, Goi vs Tari, threatening the very fabric of our unity. Our knights in their freshly dug tombs would be turning in their graves.

Family and Sexual Violence against women and children and the ugly head of sorcery related violence.

I mean, how dare we call ourselves a Christian nation and tolerate such evil? How dare you men accuse our women, mothers, sisters and daughters, and murder them in cold blood?

What more can we, as a newspaper say? We have spent copious amounts of sheet and ink, more than enough on these issues, we have raised our anger, we have commiserated with those in power about these issues. The message is not getting through to the men of this nation. Where have all the good men gone?

Spectre of ‘pirate’ Tommy Baker
Law and order wise, the name Tommy Baker raises the spectre of piracy, armed robbery, shootouts with law enforcement and a million kina manhunt that has failed to corner Baker.

Until he was shot dead by police, the self-styled pirate was still out there in Milne Bay, hiding, abiding in time, waiting to strike again.

The Nankina cult group on the Rai Coast and its murderous rampage also shocks us, as a reminder of the Black Jisas uprising gone wrong, two decades before.

Add the consistent and constant power blackouts in the major cities and towns. This is hardly a sign of progress, especially when the management of the major power company PNG Pawa Ltd has been changed three times!

However, yes, we need to remember this too. In our topsy turvy perennial spin, some of the major positive developments need to be mentioned.

The giant Porgera Mine was shut down and promised to be reopened, Ok Tedi, Kumul, BSP and IRC all handed the government a gold card standard in millions of kina dividends.

And the government has signed for a gold refinery in PNG for the first time.

22 billion kina budget
The passing of a 22 billion kina (about NZ$9.2 billion) budget. That is, in the finest words of my best friend Lousy, preposterous. Never before has the budget being built around such a humongous money plan.

Spending is easy but raising it sounds very challenging. Therein lies the challenge.

The most important part is to ensure this money plan reaches the unreached, that service delivery will go where the ballot boxes, somehow manage to reach on election days.

One noticeable explosion of knowledge is the awareness of social communications platforms. For better or worse, Facebook has taken a stranglehold of the lives of ordinary Papua New Guineans.

Communication around the country has changed overnight at the touch of a button or dial of a mobile phone.

In sport – the heart of the nation missed a beat when star Justin Olam was overlooked in the Dally M awards. A major uproar in PNG and popularly support down under forced the organisers to realign the stars. Justin easily pocked the Dally M Centre of the Year.

The good book the Holy Bible, says there is a season for everything. Maybe we are in a judgement season, being tried and tested and refined. Only we can come out of that judgement refined and define the course of our country – from Land of the Unexpected to the Land of the Respected!

We will remember the 365 days of you, as the jingle fiddles our imagination, we were “all shook up!”

Patrick Levo is a senior PNG Post-Courier journalist. Republished with permission.

Pacific Media Watch

Three children were among ten people killed in a brutal attack in Porgera in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands last week.

This report by EMTV’s deputy news editor Scott Waide provides context and an insight into tribal fighting.

Twenty three people have been killed in tribal fighting so far during March alone.

The men women and children were killed at Suyan village near the Porgera township, the same village where police constable Timot Kavanmur was killed in January.

Initially, nine people had been confirmed dead. However, one of two victims wounded in the attack died in hospital late Wednesday afternoon bringing the total number of dead to ten.

• The Pacific Media Centre’s earlier report last week

Ten people – including three children – have been massacred when a fight between two warring tribes from Tari spilled into the Porgera Valley in the Papua New Guinea Highlands.

Two women and five men from Enga were also killed when the O Kiru and Miape tribes resumed fighting, this time Porgera.

Paiela-Hewa LLG president Sailas Ayeila, who was on the ground with the law and order team and security personnel, confirmed that those killed yesterday were from Enga in the Paiela, Porgera and Kandep areas but lived in the Suyan village near Porgera.

READ MORE: Scott Waide reports on the Porgera massacre
READ MORE: ABC report on the killings – Gunmen open fire in PNG highlands

He said this tribal fight had already claimed enough lives, including that of a young policeman recently.

Ayeila said the blood spilled by this fighting had been condemned by Porgera leaders, police and citizens.

He said that even though the tribes were asked to return home, the O Kiru warlords refused to leave and returned to Suyan village in Marenga area in search of their enemies – the Miape tribe – and slaughtered the innocent people.

Ayeila said the Porgera-Paiela leaders and their people were now calling on the national government to declare a state of emergency in the area.

‘Barbaric and animalistic’
“We Engans do have tribal warfare but we don’t kill in such a barbaric and animalistic way. We don’t kill women and children,” he said.

“I helped to recover those killed and transport the corpses to Paiam Hospital morgue, and I am terrified.”

“People of Porgera, public servants and mining employees are in fear now. Several weeks ago, the police and PNG Defence Force went on a raid after a young policeman was killed by these Tari tribes and the houses that were burnt to the ground by these security personnel belonged to innocent people,’’ Ayiela said.

He also requested the national government to begin a manhunt for the two warlords.

Ale Asa is a PNG Post-Courier reporter.

Yesterday, I returned from Tari Electorate in Hela Province following a one day trip to assess the situation following the horrific killing of 23 women (two of whom were pregnant) and nine children in the worst payback killing in our country’s history.

In my capacity as Minister for Police, I represented the James Marape-led government to be on the ground to pay respects to those killed and prepare and provide a brief to the Prime Minister on the circumstances behind the incident – what, who, when, how and why.

Tribal fights are not new in PNG and in recent years they have become more prevalent in the highlands region; one may argue they have been going on since the beginning of time.

READ MORE: Women who died in PNG’s Karida massacre were community ‘anchors’

However since that time the rules of engagement have always been that the elderly, women and children have been off limits.

So killing of innocent women and children in tribal conflicts until recently was unheard of. Last week’s merciless killings have changed everything. The immediate concern is that it will become the new trend.

I guess the questions people are asking are why did it happen, will it happen again and more importantly what is being done to prevent it from ever happening again?

Why it happened
On the first issue, why it happened:

What people would not be aware of was that last week there were three separate killings in Tagali local level government relating to a tribal conflict that has been going on for almost two decades.

The conflict has been between two tribes, one headed by a man called Oi Kiru, who comes from Pajaka 2 village, and the opposing tribe, led by Libe Koi and his second in charge Ha’gu’ai, who come from Yaganda village.

In June 2019, a key tribesman of Libe was killed. His name was Eganada and he lived in Munima village. Usually, when tribes go to war they solicit the support of surrounding villages they are married into or provide protection to.

In this case, a key ally to Libe was Eaganda, who in June was killed by his own cousin A’gun’ai (a known drug body) over an ongoing dispute between them. It is alleged A’gun’ai killed Eganada and in fear of his life fled to Oi Kiru’s village. As the saying goes, the enemy of your enemy is your friend.

However, while in the protection of Oi’ Kiru’s tribesman, we were told A’gun’ai, with a number of his own tribesman, killed six of Oi Kiru’s clansmen including his mother.

They returned to their village and threatened a nearby village called Karita, which A’gun’ai is married into, insisting that Karita village pay them protection money or face a similar attack.

Peace ceremony
On Sunday, July 7, Munima and Karita village got together to stage a peace ceremony, Karita offering 10 pigs and 4,000 kina to A’gun’ai and his clansmen.

Unbeknownst to them, Oi Kiru, learning of his mother’s death, raided a village near Munima called Peta, killing three women and three children – they were all shot to death using high powered rifles.

Following the killing at Peta village, on Monday morning around 6am young tribesman attacked Karita Village killing nine women and seven children. Two of the women were pregnant. They were killed after being attacked by the young men with machetes.

Why were women and children attacked at Karita village?

It appears the killing of women and children stemmed from the killing of Oi Kiru’s mother by men under the influence of marijuana. What followed was the payback killing of three women and three children at Peta village that triggered the further payback killing of nine women and seven children at Karita village.

On Tuesday, members of Police Mobile Squad and the Defence Force were deployed to the area. Following the recent visits by the governor of Hela Philip Undialu and me, the killings have stopped for now. Reports indicate those involved have fled the province.

The Governor and I visited both Munima and Karita villages to get a first-hand account of what happened and provide an assurance that the Marape-Steven government will bring those responsible to account.

I had intended to stay overnight at Karita village, since that was the last village to have suffered a major loss, however I was advised against it as Munima village would expect the same treatment.

Community leaders
Despite my disappointment in not spending enough time in the villages, the fact that the governor and I were on the ground prompted the community leaders from Munima and Karita not to continue to retaliate.

So what happens now.

Following consultation with Provincial Governor, Provincial Administrator and the Provincial Police Commander, including Acting Deputy Commissioner of Police David Manning, a platoon from the Defence Force and Police Mobile Squad is being stationed at Munima Primary School to provide round-the-clock security, to prevent any further escalation of violence.

High level discussions on a strategic deployment action plan, using drone technology and satellite surveillance, will be used to track and apprehend those on the run. An intelligence unit will also be established to gather information from community.

While a number of plans are being put into action to ensure peace prevails, to prevent such devastating acts of violence in our communities it is important that for the long term that we find a different way of resolving conflict that rejects revenge but encourages resolution through dialogue.

I intend to return to the province in a week’s time to get an update.

• This article is republished by Asia Pacific Report with permission from Keith Jackson’s blog PNG Attitude. It was originally published on Bryan Kramer’s Facebook page Kramer Report.

On Wednesday, some of the bodies of 18 women and children in Papua New Guinea were buried by the roadside in Karida Number One village.

They were the latest innocent victims of a 20-year tribal war driven by local warlords in the Tagali Local level government area of Hela province.

Karida Number One was not directly involved in the fighting that initially left seven people dead in neighboring Munima village.

READ MORE: Special reports on the Karida massacre

But they were accused of harbouring an inlaw involved in the attack.

And the women and children paid the price.

For the older generation of the Hela province, the killing of women and children has broken the traditional protocols of tribal fighting.

“This, I have never seen in my life. This is new,” Chief Hokoko Minape said in Tok Pisin.

Chief Hokoko is a household name in the Tagali LLG.

‘Like my mothers‘
He had been councillor for as long as anyone can remember. Then, expressing himself poetically through his grief he said: “The women and the children are like my mothers. I died with them. They are close to my heart. I died of grief. I am already dead.”

Muks Maia, the local church pastor, lives on a nearby hill in Karida village. He ran to the site when he saw the fire from the burning houses.

He was too late to do anything.

“When I got there, I saw the women and children. They had been cut up like animals. There were no men. The total number of those killed was 18.”

Beside the smouldering remains of a hut, one of the men said the women who died were the anchors in the community.

Their lives firmly rooted in the village. They cared for the land and the animals, while the men travelled in between Tari, Port Moresby and Mt Hagen.

It has been difficult to mourn for them, with the people unable to settle into their normal lives.

Attack hut still standing
The hut where the worst of the attacks happened, still stands. A whole family, including two pregnant women and their unborn children also died in the attack.

On Wednesday, the Hela Provincial Government declared the Tagali Local Level government area a “fighting zone”.

The police and the Defence force numbers are stretched with only 40 police personnel and one PNGDF platoon.

The only thing giving them some sense of security are the army and police patrols that have been going into the village since the raid.

Like Chief Homoka Minape, police and provincial authorities say the killing of women and children is unprecedented.

Three months into office, the Provincial Police Commander, Chief Inspector Teddy Augwi, is facing his first major crisis.

He says dialogue remains key in finding a solution and bringing the warring parties together.

• Scott Waide is the EMTV News Lae bureau chief. He visited Karida village in the wake of this week’s atrocity and he frequently writes for the Pacific Media Centre’s Asia Pacific Report.
• More PNG reports

The bodies of the Karida village massacre victims in Papua New Guinea’s Hela province have been buried as fearful villagers in the district have fled to safety, reports NBC News.

The victims in the Tari Pori district were buried late yesterday afternoon in the presence of Hela Provincial Administrator William Bando, the provincial police commander, police and defence force personnel.

Karida Community leader Jimmy Hox told NBC News reporter Lyanne Togiba the situation was still tense and everyone in Karida 1 and 2 villages had fled, fearing the return of the attackers.

Hox is now calling for police and defence force officers to restore peace and normalcy in the area.

He said they were living in fear, with villages deserted in the area where the murders happened.

Hox said the people also needed food and water as they hid out in the bush and mountains in fear of their lives.

NBC News did not confirm the number of deaths. Other media have reported between 22 and 24 being killed in the massacre.

• Earlier PNG massacre report

VIDEO WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT

Papua New Guinea has responded with outrage over the killings of at least 22 people, including two pregnant women, in tribal violence Prime Minister James Marape has called the “saddest day of his life”.

The Post-Courier reported that at least 22 and up to 24 had been killed, after earlier reports said 16 had died.

Marape warned the perpetrators “I’m coming for you” and that they faced the death penalty after the slaughter in his electorate of Tari-Pori.

“Today is one of the saddest day of my life, many children and mothers innocently murdered in Munima and Karida villages of my electorate by Haguai, Liwi and OKiru gunmen,” Marape said in a statement on his Facebook page.

READ MORE: Guerilla warfare – 24 killed in retaliatory attacks in Hela

Health workers told local television EMTV that 16 people died in a 30 minute revenge attack on Monday and “it was difficult to identify the bodies because they were all chopped to pieces”.

Photos of the dead were posted on social media showing their bodies gathered up in mosquito nets.

Red Cross condemns killings
The International Committess of Red Cross (ICRC) regularly provides humanitarian aid after tribal fighting and wants access to the conflict zone.

“It’s quite horrifying, we can’t independently confirm the casualties but these sort of actions is exactly what we encourage all parties to the tribal fighting in the Highlands to completely avoid,” said Ahmad Hallak, head of mission in PNG for the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) told SBS.

“In the last year at least I haven’t heard of any attacks that have killed so many innocent bystanders not directly involved in the fighting, it’s definitely concerning and I hope it’s not the start of a trend.

“With the introduction of modern weapons we are seeing more and more the humanitarian consequences that you see in countries that dominate dominate the news, on a much smaller scale, but similar humanitarian consequences.”

Tribal fighting in the PNG Highlands is commonplace but now it is fuelled by tensions over wealth distribution to rival impoverished landowners from the country’s billion dollar resources boom.

“There is a lot of disgruntled land owners who are dissatisfied with the gas agreements, they’re not satisfied with how the government and how multinational corporations have done deals with them,” said Chimbu highlander Bal Kama, a PhD candidate in law and governance at the Australian National University (ANU).

PM warns attackers ‘time is up’
PNG police said it followed the killing of six people in an ambush after a compensation ceremony on Saturday.

“This is not a tribal fight where the opposing villages face each other on field [sic], this is guerrilla warfare,” chief inspector Teddy Augwi told the Post-Courier.

“The relatives of the deceased retaliated outside Karida village in an executed plan, raided and using high-powered rifles shot dead the … people.”

Marape warned the attackers their “time is up”.

“To all who have guns and kill and hide behind the mask of community, learn from what I will do to criminals who killed innocent people, I am not afraid to use strongest measures in law on you,” he said.

“Last week I responded to question on death penalty on the floor of Parliament, it is already a law.”

PNG has not repealed capital punishment though no-one has been executed for decades.

“With this incident the prime minister has made a commitment to see that the death penalty mechanism is put into place, the law has already been passed,” Kama said.

“Whether that’s a good thing or not, that’s a matter for debate, but I think we’ll see some development on that shortly.”

Local authorities in Tari have called for the government to order the deployment of security forces protecting resource mining projects to protect local communities.

“My electorate in Hela Province hosts LNG and power transmission line for Porgera gold mine and since 2012 I have been requesting for more permanent police yet Konedobu police headquarters has not supported me,” Marape said.

“How can a province of 400,000 people function with policing law and order with under 60 policemen, and occasional operational military and police that does no more than band-aid maintenance.

“In memory of the innocent who continue to die at the hands of gun-toting criminals, your time is up, before I had someone else to report to, now I have no one else to report to but the innocent you kill.”

When he was elected in May, Marape promised to make PNG the “wealthiest black Christian nation” on Earth using resource royalties.

Stefan Armbruster is the Brisbane-based correspondent for SBS World News, reporting on Queensland and the Pacific region. This article is republished with permission.

• Massacre victims buried

An ongoing security crisis in Papua New Guinea’s Hela province is preventing many earthquake-affected communities receiving relief.

February’s magnitude 7.5 quake caused widespread devastation and about 150 deaths in Hela, Southern Highlands and Western provinces.

Hela was the worst-affected but its long-running problem of tribal violence, which has surged since last year’s election period, has now caused international humanitarian agencies to pull out of the province.

Hela’s provincial capital Tari is the focal point of some of the worst tribal fighting, exacerbated by mass displacement of Hela communities caused by the quake.

With more than a dozen tribal killings reported in and around Tari since February, Hela police have recently received reinforcements from other provinces but have often been outnumbered and outgunned by the fighting tribes.

Not even the presence of extra Defence Force personnel in Hela has been able to “We leaders are trying to resolve the problem. But some of the men… it’s too hard for the leaders to control their men.”bring the tribal fighting under control.

The sergeant in charge of Tari police station, Thomas Levongo, said five people were killed in the area last week, scuppering an attempt at peace talks.

‘It’s too hard’
“We leaders are trying to resolve the problem,” he explained. “But some of the men… it’s too hard for the leaders to control their men.”

The head of PNG’s Emergency Disaster Restoration Team said the overall response to the disaster had been successful, in that disease outbreaks and starvation had been prevented so far.

But according to Bill Hamblin, there were areas that Papua New Guinea can improve on in responses to future disasters. Meanwhile, he said there were parts of Hela that his team cannot reach, due to civil unrest.

“Although the UN tried to go into Komo the other day; we’ve had the United Church people who went in there attacked; we’ve had the UN turned back by the security forces because of the helicopters being stoned,” he said.

“So that security situation has to be addressed before you can bring in relief. No organisation’s going to send in people who look like they’re going to get killed.”

UNICEF in Papua New Guinea said humanitarian operations had been suspended in an area where more than 40,000 earthquake affected people were in need.

The agency has called for more global attention, from the UN in New York and Geneva, on the plight of the quake-affected people of Hela.

Too unsafe
Monjur Hossain, the Acting Country Director for PNG, said UNICEF had delivered aid supplies to Tari the capital of Hela after the quakes but could no longer access the province as it was considered too unsafe.

He said the situation was extremely complex, there was very little communication with province due to ongoing unrest, leaving the health and welfare of the people seriously threatened.

“The situation is really grave in terms of the deprivation in terms of the services and the lives of the people,” Hossain said.

“So we’ve been actually working at the regional and global level to raise this issue. We have recently had a global press conference organised in Geneva to raise the issue that we need to talk about Papua New Guinea.”

Despite the suspension of humanitarian services in the area, UNICEF said it had been able to launch a measles and tetanus vaccination campaign in other quake-affected districts of neighbouring Southern Highlands (Mendi-Munihu and Nipa Kutube).

Water and sanitation are among the most pressing needs in Hela and Southern Highlands. UNICEF’s latest situational report on the quake response said it had reached 10,000 people with water purification tablets and was also providing ‘psychosocial’ support.

The UN agency also said 55,000 people were estimated to be displaced and 65 percent of health facilities in Hela and Southern Highlands were severely damaged.

Aftershocks, landslides
The PNG government estimates more than half a million people in total were affected by the quake, its aftershocks and landslides; and 270,000 people – nearly half of whom are children – need urgent assistance.

Many schools are closed, having sustained extensive damages in the quake, although education in the region had already been badly disrupted since last year when the election-related violence spiralled out of control in pockets of both of the Highlands provinces.

Unicef said its funding requirement for the response was US$13 million, but it had a  shortfall of nearly 80 percent.

Meanwhile, the Emergency Disaster Restoration Team is clamping down on misuse of helicopter charters for medevacs.

The team is taking over the management of helicopters in relief operations from the Department of Defence.

Dr Hamblin said unnecessary charter of helicopters, at around US$7000 an hour, had been fast draining emergency funding.

He said opportunists using the choppers to reach health services for medical needs unrelated to the quake needed to be kept in check.

Tasking the helicopters
“We’ve got to control the tasking of those helicopters, so that’s now coming in to my office,” he explained.

“That’s been happening, when a helicopter sees you and someone says ‘oh we’ve got to get our three people out to Dodomona, away we go’, and I’m saying ‘well no way, you don’t go’. We’ve got to look at the priority and see what should be done.”

As the unrest and opportunism complicate the disaster response, the Tari MP James Marape appealed for calm among people in his electorate.

Having this week seen a court petition against his 2017 election win dismissed in PNG’s capital Port Moresby, Marape said he would now turn his efforts to forging peace in Hela and focussing on helping with relief efforts in the province.

He claimed he had been prevented from doing this in the past month due to the court petition, which was based on allegations that the MP had bribed voters during 2017’s troubled and violent election.

This article has been republished as part of the content sharing agreement between Radio New Zealand and the AUT Pacific Media Centre.

• More Papua New Guinea stories