Conversation with the Prime Minister’s daughter

By: PNG Exposed

Betha Somare, the daughter of Prime Minister Michael Somare, and his Press Secretary has been been attempting to defend the governments lack of action on the Paraka Scams in an email correspondence forwarded to this blog.

As you can read below, while Betha has been willing to talk, which is commendable, she has not yet been able to provide legitimate answers to some simple questions like: Why has the government not tried to get the injunction against prosecutions lifted?

That question got a response any first year law student could spot was false and other questions about Gabriel Yer and the Kapris Tapes have been met with obfuscation – not answers.

While Betha should be congratulated for her attempts at open government her answers so far do nothing to challenge the fact that her father, Michael Somare, is the Chief of a government that is overseeing the theft of millions of Kina every week from the people of PNG.

Whether that is because:

1. He is completely incapable of controlling the theft of public money by his Ministers and senior public servants, or
2. He and his family are themselves benefiting from the theft – either directly in cash or indirectly by tolerating the scams in order to hang on to power.

does not matter.

The fact is Somare is not the Prime Minister OF the people he is the Chief of a House of Thieves who are stealing FROM the people.

No medicines in the hospital, no staff in the rural health centre, no books in the school library, giant pot holes in the road?

The Prime Minister knows why we suffer these injustices because he spent 5 MONTHS reading the Commission of Inquiry report into the Finance Department and how K780 was stolen over 6 years.

Five long months while millions more Kina flowed out of the door.

And what has he done since getting the Report in October 2009 – NOTHING.

Come on Betha, no more excuses or obfuscation, the people deserve ACTION.

The conversation with Betha Somare - please read from the bottom up

Dear Betha

Thank you for your reply (below) to the three questions in the earlier email (further below).

Unfortunately most people will find your answers completely unsatisfactory because:

1. On the Paraka injunctions it is nonsense to say the
government cannot do anything because of the doctrine of the separation
of powers. Any law student could explain this for you. Either you are
receiving very poor legal advice; or really don’t understand the
doctrine; or you are deliberately attempting to mislead. The government
employs whole teams of lawyers in both the Solicitor General’s office
and Department of the Attorney General who are in and out of court on a
daily basis on government business. This includes frequently trying to
overturn injunctions or questioning the earlier decisions of the court.
There is NOTHING in the doctrine of the separation of powers that stops
the government seeking to get the injunction lifted. Indeed, the
injunction that was granted was an ex parte temporary injunction given
as an emergency measure by the judge on hearing only one side of the
argument. The normal process when an ex parte injunction is given is
for the matter to go back before the judge a few days later for all
parties to be heard and for the judge to consider whether the
injunction should stay in place. By doing nothing to ensure an inter
parties hearing the government is failing in its duty to the people. If
the government is hiding behind a misguided reading of the Separation
of Powers as an excuse not to act then the people are entitled to
conclude the government endorses the K780 million scam. If you require
independent legal advice to assist you on this issue then happy to find
some lawyers who will help you and the PM on a pro bono basis.

2. On the issue of Gabriel Yer you have completely avoided the
question that was asked. To state that it was not the PM who appointed
Yer as Secretary of Finance some years ago is IRRELEVANT. The question
you were asked was, why has the Prime Minister, knowing Yer is heavily
implicated in the Paraka Scams decided in the last fortnight to hand
him all the financial powers of the Department of Planning? While it
was great the government responded to the scams in Planning by
taking powers away from Teinsten it was ridiculous to then give
financial control of that Department to Gabriel Yer. The PM said in the
statement you kindly circulated that he had spent 5 months studying the
Finance Department Commission of Inquiry report and therefore he must
know intimately all the ways Yer has allegedly stolen large sums of
money. Yet he gives him MORE power?

3. On the allegations made by William Kapris your answer is
wholly misconceived. Nobody is suggesting that Pruaitch et al are not
entitled to a presumption of innocence. What the people are saying is
that serious allegations have been made and the police should
investigate them. Yes, Kapris is a convicted felon, but since when did
the Police start ignoring tip offs from criminals? Often such people
are the polices’ best source of information. Who better than a bank
robber to know who financed and profited from his crimes? To ignore his
sworn statements and not insist on a police investigation smacks of a
cover-up. If the politicians are indeed innocent what do they have to
fear? Why does the PM not ask them to stand aside and insist the police
conduct a full investigation? Or is it one law for MPs and another for
the rest of us?

We all look forward to your response
PNGexpose

On 5/21/10, Betha Somare <betha_somare@pm.gov.pg> wrote:

1. Fundamental rules of separation of powers are at play here so the executive and the legislature cannot interfere with the rulings of the court.

2. Your previous allegation that Yer is PM’s appointee is misleading. Gabriel Yer was appointed to my understanding following PSC process. Yes he is mentioned in the COI but government cannot act at this time because of the above mentioned court order.

3. I am not a lawyer but William Kapris is not a remandee, he is a convicted felon. He has no credibility. And you have no evidence that his utterance have any substance. Where are we heading when we begin to believe one person’s word without evidence is the truth? In PNG the law is still that one is innocent until proven guilty. Starting from the premise that people are guilty and then trying to make mud stick is an injustice.

Betha

Dear Betha

Many thanks for your reply and we appreciate your commitment to the truth. Perhaps you can explain:

1. What steps has the government taken to have the temporary injunction obtained by Paul Paraka lifted?

2. Why, knowing that Gabriel Yer is heavily implicated in the scams, has the PM given to him the financial powers taken from the Dept of Planning because of the scams involving Minister Tiensten?

3. What steps has the PM taken to investigate the claims by William Kapris against Minister Pruaitch, who also benefited from the removal of powers from Tiensten?

Kind regards
PNGexposed

On 5/20/10, Betha Somare wrote:

Thank you for emailing me even though you are nameless. I am happy to inform you that the findings and recommendations of the commission of inquiry were presented to parliament by the prime minister during a recent session of parliament.

This means it became a public document and available for all to see.

Unfortunately, Paraka Lawyers took out a successfully court injunction
stopping publication and discussion on the Report.

Government is also unable to implement the recommendations of the Report
because of the pending court decision. For your information, I have
attached the PM’s statement to parliament when he presented the Report.

I hope that in your quest you can also expose the truth.

Cheers,
Betha Somare
PM’s Media Unit
Papua New Guinea
Tel: (675)3276525 (675)3276525
Fax: (675)3233943

Hi Betha
When is the PM going to do something?
The Paraka Scams – K780 million stolen from the people<http://pngexposed.wordpress.com/2010/05/15/the-paraka-scams-k780-million-stolen-from-the-people/>
Yama and Gelu conspired to steal K15.5
million<http://pngexposed.wordpress.com/2010/05/18/yama-and-gelu-conspired-to-steal-k15-5-million-from-the-people-of-png/>