From PAUL OATES
On Emmanuel Narakobi's 'Masalai' blog site, there has been an interesting debate that started out about the world's most corrupt countries.
The subject of corruption seems to be a topical one and for some reason, the discussion turned to corruption in today's Papua New Guinea.
The question of what is corruption seems to be in the eye of the beholder.
In order to define a corrupt practice, there needs to be a commonly accepted benchmark or yardstick. Illegal activities are, or should be very easy to spot and prosecute. Unethical activity however is or can be a very grey area. A recognised and agreed Code of Ethics is therefore required.
Now on the subject of recognised ethics, it seems there could be many interpretations of ethical behaviour. A recent decision, by an Australian government minister, that was announced on the same day as he was skiing with someone who stood to benefit from that decision by a reported $250 million could be merely coincidental. Certainly the minister thought and said so irrespective of what the Australian media seemed to suggest. But if there is reportedly 'no such thing as a free lunch', at what point does a reciprocal favour become unethical and therefore in an official view, 'corrupt'?
Many countries throughout the world have a recognised culture of reciprocity. In an Australian context, reciprocity is sometimes difficult to
appreciate. Australians are traditionally taught to give without expecting anything in return. Yet this does not always apply in many other cultures. Prior to working in PNG, part of our training required learning about the theory of reciprocity and how one might actually give offence to someone by giving them something they had no way of repaying on an equivalent level. This was a new concept for many just as the expectation of paying and receiving a 'tip' is, or used to be, totally foreign to an Australian. Yet in the United States, this practice is expected as a necessary way of ensuring good service and helping the employee augment a limited salary.
Australia has an essential part of most Federal and State governments, an internal audit function. This audit function is also augmented by an external audit authority and in many cases, there is also an equivalent of an Ethics Commission or Investigation Authority to which possible breaches by government officials of the law and ethical behaviour, can be referred.
In PNG, the official body tasked with investigating and reporting on possible breaches of the law and recognised standards is the Ombudsman Commission. PNG's Chief Ombudsman came to the forefront recently when an attempt was made on his life. This attempt amazingly seemed to coincide with some very high level investigations into PNG's political leaders. Reports just tabled in the PNG Parliament by the Ombudsman clearly indicate that some unlawful activities have been made by some high level PNG government
people. There is an indication that some illegal decisions were made that need proper investigation. The report into the Moti affair clearly requires a police investigation yet at the point where the investigation was about to be presented to Parliament, PNG's Prime Minister peremptorily closed the Commission of Inquiry down. The PNG PM seemed unaware of any apparent conflict of interest with this decision. Now it seems there are indications that the PM himself gave the illegal direction to fly Moti out of PNG. Yet a
spokesperson for the PM now reportedly claims that as Mr Moti's case in Australia collapsed due to a technicality, there doesn't seem to be any reason to continue with any investigation. In a post on the Masalai bog, a person claims everyone involved in the Moti flight knew it was illegal but left it up to the 'higher ups' to sort out. As the Americans are want say:"Go figure!'
Now in PNG, there has been slowly increasing culture of unofficial 'tipping' or as it is locally referred to as a 'six pack' culture. This terminology refers to the practice that in order to get a government official to actually do something, a six pack of beer or equivalent, is required. PM Somare is on record as saying that he believes the PNG public service is corrupt yet apparently, he is either unable or unwilling to do anything about it. Recent claims have now surfaced that even the PNG PM is accused of accepting monetary incentives worth many millions from a foreign country in order ensure he maintained political power in the 2007 general election. It is claimed that by reportedly 'buying' members of parliament to vote with his government with this money, Somare was able to keep in power. There is
now a worrying claim by a qualified mining engineer on a 'mine watch' web site recently raised concerns that a giant mine in PNG owned and run by the same foreign country that reportedly gave the millions to the PNG PM has been grossly undervalued to PNG's disadvantage. The foreign owners of the mine have now reportedly blacklisted the 'minewatch' site to all employees.
PNG's ethical standards are set out in the Constitution and subsequent legislation. This legislation was influenced by an Australian and PNG perspective prior to PNG Independence that was and has been accepted by successive PNG governments. The traditional PNG culture of reciprocity doesn't feature specifically in the PNG Constitution. This aspect has allowed some to believe that no stated mention means it isn't illegal under Melanesian culture.
So what benchmark for corruption is acceptable in today's PNG? Surely those elected to the PNG Parliament are elected to serve and look after the PNG people rather than themselves? At the apparent behest of PM Somare, the PNG Speaker of Parliament, who is supposed to be impartial, last year effectively closed down Parliament to prevent a vote of no confidence in the
government. When the Parliament opened again this month, the PNG Opposition moved a vote of no confidence in the Speaker. The Speaker then reportedly had no idea what to do and deferred to the Clerk of the House who also had no clear idea of what to do. The Speaker then ruled that a vote couldn't be taken.
So if those in the PNG government from the PM through the Speaker of Parliament down to all the members are not prepared to permit the PNG Parliament to operate as it was designed to do, then PNG democracy is at an end. It is suggested by a PNG blogger on the Masalai site, that PNG dictatorship has now effectively commenced.
Monday, March 08, 2010
Mystery woman 'lawyer' arrested
Caption: Mystery 'women lawyer' Helen Mark Kuipa at the MOSIC office at the Boroko police station during her questioning yesterday
City top cop shocked as suspect is a wantok and relative
THE woman "lawyer" who helped suspected bank robber William Nanua Kapris and 11 others escape from the Bomana maximum security facility on Jan 12 was arrested in a house at the Talai settlement in Badili, NCD, on Saturday, The National reports.
What shocked NCD metropolitan commander Chief Supt Fred Yakasa was that she happened to be from the same village as his and is a relative.
"That showed that people from everywhere and anywhere can get involved in this sort of thing, and not just from one area," he told a media conference yesterday.
The woman was identified as Helen Mark Kuipa, 26, from Kupalis village in Wabag, Enga province.
Chief Supt Yakasa said she maybe educated to Grade 11 or 12, or maybe first year at the university.
But she was not a lawyer, he said.
She was caught between 8pm and 10pm at Talai settlement following a tip-off.
Prior to that, she had been moving around from Gerehu to Morata and Nine Mile.
Chief Supt Yakasa said after the Jan 12 escape, Helen had spent one-and-a-half weeks with the fugitives, including Kapris, in and around Sogeri before they made their way back into the city and went separate ways into hiding in various locations.
He said Helen was flown from Lae to
He said her role to pose as a human rights lawyer for prisoner John Siko Wel was planned for her.
He said after her admission to helping the prisoners to escape from Bomana prison, police found that the escape was alleged to have been engineered through her "very close" relationship with BSP bank robbery suspect Kapris.
Helen has been charged with one count of aiding the escape of Siko Wel. She was charged under section 138(a) chapter 262 of the Criminal Code. She faces 11 other charges under this section for the 11 other prisoners who escaped.
She is likely to be charged with armed robbery, impersonating a lawyer and deprivation of liberty. She faces a total of 14 charges.
Chief Supt Yakasa said the Major Organised Crime Investigation Team (MOSIT) was still interrogating Helen on her involvement in the escape and to verify any alleged connection she may have had in relation to the BSP bank robberies of 2008.
He said Helen was cooperating well with police investigators.
He said they were piecing together clues to the puzzle.
"We are getting information about the whole drama. Members of the public with information should come forward."
Five escapees from the Jan 12 breakout still remain at large. On Friday, five escapees who broke out from Bomana last September surrendered to police.
Court bars inquiry report
THE Government has been barred from implementing the recommendations of the final report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Finance Department.
The
The interim injunction issued by Justice Bernard Sakora prevents the Chief Secretary and his task force team from implementing the recommendations of the report.
The order prevents the Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare, Chief Secretary Manasupe Zurenuoc, their agents, servants or instruments of the State from implementing, discussing, debating, or giving effect to the report compiled by retired judge Maurice Sheehan and his Commissioners.
The order also bans the media from reporting the recommendations of the report.
The orders were issued under section 155(3)(a) of the Constitution. The orders remain in force pending the hearing of the judicial review challenge on the entire report itself.
The orders were obtained by former Solicitor General Zachery Gelu and Paul Paraka, principal of Paul Paraka Lawyers, the biggest law firm in the country.
Paul Paraka Lawyers, through its Alotau branch, approached Justice Sakora to hear this application. Because of its urgent nature, the judge agreed to hear it on Saturday.
The plaintiffs allege that the final report of the inquiry contains certain adverse findings and recommendations against a number of organizations and individuals without any foundation.
They contend that the report is flawed I many respects, and breaches certain legalizations and the Constitution. They contend that the final report is not only unprofessionally done, but also done illegally outside the terms of reference of the inquiry.
"Such illegal report cannot be allowed to be debated, discussed, or acted upon. Adverse findings and recommendations made in a flawed report cannot be allowed to find its way into the public domain," Gelu contended.
Gelu and Paraka contend that of the 43 specific cases reported in the final report, only 18 were within the terms of reference and had been properly inquired into. They said 25 were illegally inquired into as they were outside the terms of reference, and in most of these cases, no payments were made by the Finance Department.
After a four hour hearing, Justice Sakora issued the orders. The judge also ordered that the matter be listed for a judicial review hearing in Waigani.
Somare changes tact
ANGORAM MP Arthur Somare has decided not to refer the two daily newspapers to the Parliamentary Privileges Committee to force the names of two ministers and a MP allegedly involved in the escape of wanted criminal William Kapris to be made public, The National reports.
Mr Somare has now changed tact, and has now moved a motion for the Speaker to request the newspapers to publish those names.
The Public Enterprises Minister explained his change of tactics last Friday.
“At that time, I believed that such action would provide an ideal opportunity for those who felt that they were wrongly accused, to defend themselves and avail themselves to whatever legal remedies they saw fit.”
“Since then, the advice that I have received suggests that such action would not achieve that outcome and the privilege would in fact thwart any legal recourse that a wrongly accused member or minister may have against the author of such newspaper reports.”
“My Motion therefore now, is to move that this Parliament through the Office of the Speaker, request the newspapers that ran the stories mentioned, to name those “government ministers, members of Parliament and High-Ranking Officials” named in the affidavit and be published as a matter of Public Interest.”
He said he was responding newspaper reports: The National, February 10th & 11th 2010 Edition [Front Page], “Politics Involved In Bomana Escape”, The National, March 2nd 2010 Edition [Front Page] “Three Politicians Funded Escape”, The Post Courier, March 3rd 2010 Edition [Front Page] “Ministers, Members of Parliament and High-Ranking Officials Were Involved”
“General and ‘sweeping’ allegations about “government ministers, MPs and High-Ranking Officials” being involved in criminal acts like the Kapis robberies, in my view, constitute reckless and malicious journalism intended to make everyone of us a suspect and thereby call into question our personal integrity and innocence, as long as you or I fall into the category of being a government minister, member of Parliament or a High-ranking official.”
But sources told The National Mr Somare felt pressured to change tactics because some MPs within government were questioning the motives behind his move.
“Some Members were wondering what Somare or the Government would achieve in this exercise. It is not in the interest of government to have names extracted from a police investigation that is still under way. Whose interests will this serve?” one source said.
Sunday, March 07, 2010
More questions raised at Kapris
From PAUL OATES
Well may Mr Kapris, or is it Kapis, claim to have been acting in conjunctionwith some high profile figures. But the point must surely be, if such a claim was made, to what extent would it benefit Mr Kapris? There can only be one good reason why Mr Kapris would want to 'spill the beans' on any high level accomplices. He wants to have a record made of his testimony BEFORE anyone tries to get to him and rub him out.
Well may Mr Kapris, or is it Kapis, claim to have been acting in conjunctionwith some high profile figures. But the point must surely be, if such a claim was made, to what extent would it benefit Mr Kapris? There can only be one good reason why Mr Kapris would want to 'spill the beans' on any high level accomplices. He wants to have a record made of his testimony BEFORE anyone tries to get to him and rub him out.
The example of Lee Harvey Oswald, the accused killer of US President Kennedy, readily comes to mind. The fact that it took over a year for Jack Ruby, Oswald's killer, to be brought to trial reeks of conspiracy and corruption at a high level. Ruby died in custody before he could appear in court. It doesn't take much imagination to work out that Kapris was sprung for a reason or that there were powerful and influential backers behind the scenes. It begs the question of why Kapris was sprung if he had nothing to offer anyone?
The PNG Police Commissioner should indeed be taking a personal interest in the case and ensuring a full and legally water tight testimony is extracted from Kapris before any further information is 'leaked' to the public. The question of who leaked the Kapris confession should be the subject of a full investigation along with how Kapris was sprung from a maximum security establishment. Nothing less than a full judicial review should be made and quickly at that. The best evidence is always the freshest.
One cannot but observe the apparent duplicity of Mr Arthur Somare who has insisted the three high level helpers who assisted Mr Kapris escape must be publically named. Why would this be done before anyone has been charged? It would only help destroy the case against them by the Prosecution. On the other hand, Mr Somare jnr. has been amazingly quiet about getting to the
bottom of such other issues as the Motigate affair, the Taiwan millions and any amount of official corruption claims. Why is he so insistent about knowing who the claimed three accomplices are?
It could be speculated that if there had been a high level deal going, anyone who had been left out of the action might want to know who was involved? Whether that was to keep them quiet or to get a cut of the loot might also be a matter of conjecture?
_______________________
Who is threatening our national security?
March 2, 2010
By Kumbit Aivi
The recent highly publicised prison walk out and the subsequent recapture of suspected bank robber and notorious criminal William Nanua Kapris and his cohorts has brought to the fore at least two serious issues facing our country. While this walk out continues to pose a temporary physical security issue, the real issues that underlie a threat to our national security are vested in the circumstances surrounding the walk out and the state's ongoing responses to our law and order challenges.
Kapris has been adamant since his capture and detention that some benefactors of the activities for which he is accused, especially the two daring bank robberies, are high profile people in the community and that these people have since profited from the loot. If his claims are true, then this country is in serious trouble. That there are indeed people of high standing who occupy positions of great trust and responsibility are behind Kapris' life of crime is indeed a great cause for concern. This is the first
real national security issue that needs addressing immediately.
Police and other authorities within our justice system will be well advised to take heed of Kapris' allegations and do everything within their powers to disprove him. His revelations, if he did disclose anything at all, may well be a case of sour grapes since the law caught up with him and left him high and dry while his passive partners enjoyed the loot in relative peace and
security. Whatever his motive is for the attempt to now 'spill the beans' on his cohorts, a thorough investigation is required to get to the bottom of his claims.
Certain members of the disciplinary forces are clearly deeply entrenched in this particular case judging by the police uniforms and equipment that were used in the robberies and the unusual lapses in security protocol that lead to the walk out at the Maximum Security Unit at Bomana last month. These must be carefully investigated and the perpetrators brought to face justice
together with Kapris. There have also been insinuations about a possible involvement by certain politicians and bureaucrats which must also be investigated and the individuals responsible rounded up and made to face the law. It is in the interest of our long term security and well being that the state must act judiciously and swiftly to properly prosecute this case and set up a good deterrent precedent for the future.
The PNG Police Commissioner should indeed be taking a personal interest in the case and ensuring a full and legally water tight testimony is extracted from Kapris before any further information is 'leaked' to the public. The question of who leaked the Kapris confession should be the subject of a full investigation along with how Kapris was sprung from a maximum security establishment. Nothing less than a full judicial review should be made and quickly at that. The best evidence is always the freshest.
One cannot but observe the apparent duplicity of Mr Arthur Somare who has insisted the three high level helpers who assisted Mr Kapris escape must be publically named. Why would this be done before anyone has been charged? It would only help destroy the case against them by the Prosecution. On the other hand, Mr Somare jnr. has been amazingly quiet about getting to the
bottom of such other issues as the Motigate affair, the Taiwan millions and any amount of official corruption claims. Why is he so insistent about knowing who the claimed three accomplices are?
It could be speculated that if there had been a high level deal going, anyone who had been left out of the action might want to know who was involved? Whether that was to keep them quiet or to get a cut of the loot might also be a matter of conjecture?
_______________________
Who is threatening our national security?
March 2, 2010
By Kumbit Aivi
The recent highly publicised prison walk out and the subsequent recapture of suspected bank robber and notorious criminal William Nanua Kapris and his cohorts has brought to the fore at least two serious issues facing our country. While this walk out continues to pose a temporary physical security issue, the real issues that underlie a threat to our national security are vested in the circumstances surrounding the walk out and the state's ongoing responses to our law and order challenges.
Kapris has been adamant since his capture and detention that some benefactors of the activities for which he is accused, especially the two daring bank robberies, are high profile people in the community and that these people have since profited from the loot. If his claims are true, then this country is in serious trouble. That there are indeed people of high standing who occupy positions of great trust and responsibility are behind Kapris' life of crime is indeed a great cause for concern. This is the first
real national security issue that needs addressing immediately.
Police and other authorities within our justice system will be well advised to take heed of Kapris' allegations and do everything within their powers to disprove him. His revelations, if he did disclose anything at all, may well be a case of sour grapes since the law caught up with him and left him high and dry while his passive partners enjoyed the loot in relative peace and
security. Whatever his motive is for the attempt to now 'spill the beans' on his cohorts, a thorough investigation is required to get to the bottom of his claims.
Certain members of the disciplinary forces are clearly deeply entrenched in this particular case judging by the police uniforms and equipment that were used in the robberies and the unusual lapses in security protocol that lead to the walk out at the Maximum Security Unit at Bomana last month. These must be carefully investigated and the perpetrators brought to face justice
together with Kapris. There have also been insinuations about a possible involvement by certain politicians and bureaucrats which must also be investigated and the individuals responsible rounded up and made to face the law. It is in the interest of our long term security and well being that the state must act judiciously and swiftly to properly prosecute this case and set up a good deterrent precedent for the future.
Free phone calls over the Internet
If you want to make free phone calls over the Internet, drop me a line at malumnalu@gmail.com or 76849763 and I'll set you up.
Today's Farm Report
While we are getting some rain there's not enough runoff yet to fill the dams. Not like out west where the desert will bloom this year and Lake Eyre will probably fill.
Fungi are sprouting up everywhere and the cattle are doing well after only 12 years of drought.
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