By
MALUM NALU
Prominent lawyer, author and former diplomat Peter
Donigi died of a heart attack at Port Moresby General Hospital last Thursday morning.
Donigi, 63, from Wale Lowan village along the West
Coast of East Sepik, served Papua New Guinea with distinction as a lawyer and
senior diplomat with postings in Germany, and PNG’s Permanent Representative at
the United Nations in New York accredited to the Holy See.
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| Peter Donigi |
He is survived by wife Diana and six daughters
Stephanie, Amanda, Yasmine, Caitlin, Davita and Loretta.
Donigi was one of the first batch of graduates from
the Legal Training Institute in 1973 and served as deputy secretary for Foreign
Affairs and Trade under Sir Anthony Siaguru in 1975, before becoming a diplomat.
He previously taught at University of PNG,
specialising in constitutional law.
As an academic and writer, Donigi wrote many books
on law and published many articles, dealing with constitutional and resource
law including human rights,
He was outspoken on matters concerning resource law
and ownership rights of indigenous peoples, including the controversial Boka
Kondra Bill – which pushed for Papua New Guineans to have greater ownership of
mining, oil and gas resources and fair and equitable benefit sharing
arrangements
Donigi was lead counsel of Opposition Leader Belden
Namah’s legal team at the time of his death.
Namah described him as “a great man who
brings out the best in people with his genuine humbleness and achievements as a
constitutional lawyer and diplomat”.
“The nation has lost one of its greats.
“He is a great loss to us (Opposition) and the
country.
“We pray for peace and comfort for his family,
colleagues and the people of East Sepik.”
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