PNGBLOGS

Paul Paraka was arrested and charged last week Friday 25th July and whilst the Police were imposing K50,000 bail, Paraka's lawyers went and saw Magistrate Pinson Pindipia who issued a " Certificate of Discharge" on the same day without even imposing a bail of K50,000 . A certificate of discharge is for discharging a convicted criminal from prison or remand etc. It could have been a bail certificate but instead it is a Certificate of Discharge, Is the Magistrate preempting something? The same Magistrate was accused in the media of having secret meetings with Paul Paraka early this year. The same magistrate adjourned Paul Paraka's cases for 6 months unduely. It is understood, Paraka's all other cases are coming up before Pinson Pindipia on Thursday. The fear is that Pindipia might do anything to make the case against Paraka fail come 31st July Pinson Pindipia is from Southern Highlands and  related to the Prime Minister

Noreen Pisa, as she is known was born in Port Moresby General Hospital to a very beautiful couple who she says were very much in love. “I was the last born to a family of four. My dad is from Ialibu, Southern Highlands and my mother is also a Southern Highlander from Kagua” she tells fastbusiness Her dad is a Chief Warrant Officer and a Pipe Major (PNGDF Music Director) in PNGDF Taurama Barracks and her mother, a house wife. She grew up in Taurama Barracks in a very closely knitted community were everyone knows everyone. She did her grade 1-8 in 1996-2003 at Taurama Primary School. Unfortunately, her mum passed away due to health issues when she was in grade 7. Here is how she recounts her mum’s loss. “My life changed from there on. I learned to become more and more independent” she tells fastbusiness. “It was very tough at that very young age. But my dad became my mother as well as my father” she proudly says. “He did things that I don’t think any father would do. From dea

By OHE Insider Same Ol, Same Ol Confirmed for 2015 Because the government continues to squander too much of our national wealth, OHE has already announced that the O’Neill government’s 2015 budget for PNG’s universities will be very close to the 2014 budget, which was similar to the 2013 budget, and so on.   Of course, PNG’s national budgets overall keep increasing.  That means the budget for our universities must stay the same.  PNG universities again will receive a “barely surviving” chunk of money that allows them to stay in debt and continue to quietly fall apart.   Poorer education for 2015 is business as usual for the O’Neill government, just as it was for the Somare governments, Morauta government, Skate government, Chan governments, Wingti government, and Namaliu government.  Nothing has changed on that front. Keeping the People Dumb and Ignorant Has Become A New National Directive However, the O’Neil government has done much better than past governments in one a

By: Maivo Lafanama NBC NEWS The National Executive Council's decision to disband the Task Force Sweep Team has been permanently stayed by the National Court. The decision was handed down this morning by Justice Les Gavera- Nanu. A decision by the N-E-C on June 18 and 24th respectively to disband the Sweep Team and have files transferred to a new interim investigative body are stayed effectively. Sweep Chairman Sam Koim filed a review application after the decision citing personal bias and unreasonable actions in its removal. The judge among others agreed there is a strong case established and that interest of justice is paramount as millions of kina have been allegedly stolen by individuals. Justice Gavera-Nanu also says its important the files are kept by the Sweep team to avoid risk of it being destroyed. PARAKA PLANS MAJOR PR CAMPAIGN TO CLEAR HIS NAME The man at the center of the Paul Paraka Lawyers payout controversy, the principal, Paul Paraka plans to co

Paul Paraka was arrested and charged on Friday afternoon by the Fraud and Anti-Corruption unit. His arrest is in relation to fraudulent payments made to his law firm. His law firm received 162 million kina through fraudulent means.  He was arrested and charged with stealing by false pretense, conspiracy to defraud the state, money laundering and misappropriation of public funds. He has been brought to the Boroko Police Station and will be released on bail. Mr. Paraka will appear at the Committal Court in Waigani on Monday. Director Fraud and Anti-Corruption Mathew Damaru told the media there are more people expected to be arrested and charged.  Whilst the legitimacy of the Task Force Sweep team is before the courts, arrests related to ongoing investigations into the Paraka saga, are continuing. Mister Damaru said more arrests will be made in coming weeks. Following the recent drama over the arrest warrant against the prime minister, the court-reinstatement of Task Force Sweep h

By OHE Insider Recent public statements by UPNG SRC President and law student Bobby Yupi show a tragic lack of intellectualism and overall knowledge about the world outside of PNG that now generally characterises PNG’s university students.     The decline in how PNG university students as a whole think and reason is a simple reflection of the bad education they receive.   How Bad Is the Education That PNG’s University Students Now Receive? PNG’s colleges and universities deliver a horribly low quality of education to the future leaders of this country.  Because students are ignorant of what an excellent learning environment would display, they usually say nothing and quietly take what’s thrown at them in the pretence of education.   Professors don’t bother to show up to class.  University academics lead by example by teaching in tok pisin, writing down as little as possible, and plagiarising the writings and ideas of foreign academics as if these came from their own brains.  Stud

Announcing the voluntary surrender of ACP Thomas Eluh and Sam Koim at Boroko Police station at 2:00pm this afternoon to be charged for whatever offence(s) certain members of the Police deem fit. Information being circulated s ince this morning is that certain policemen want to arrest Messrs Gitua, Damaru, Eluh and Koim for certain charges (unbeknown to all of us). Despite court restraining orders in place, it seems these people will not stop at nothing. The only way to show them true observance of the rule of law is for both of us to voluntarily make ourselves surrender to whatever it's worth

BY STEVEN ANDRE Just like all the Queens Counsels lining up and exploiting all legal loopholes to defend Peter O’Neill’s personal criminal case at the expense of the PNG tax payers, this foreign once esteemed judge is running Peter O’Neill’s conspiracy theory. After repeated calls by reputable persons in the legal profession for him not to take up the offer in difficult times when the rule of law is clearly being tested by Peter O’Neill, the once esteemed retired judge Graham Ellis seem undeterred. He came to PNG to take up his newly appointed role as the head of an interim office created by Prime Minister O’Neill to replace Task-Force Sweep immediately after the appointment. Nobody knows, he must be still camping at a popular hotel in Port Moresby or running his office out of the Prime Minister’s own office where his new office would be conveniently placed at the height of serious allegations of corruption implicating the Prime Minister himself. Another retired judge, Warric

By BRYAN KRAMER Former Police Commissioner Sir Thomas Kulunga has filed an application for leave for Judicial Review against the decision of the PM & National Executive Council (NEC) that terminated/retired him from office. Kulunga's lawyer filed an urgent application in the National Court last week, but was only listed this morning (24/7/14) after short service on the State. Kulunga is seeking to be reinstated as Commissioner of Police. The central grounds of his case is that his termination/forced retirement by NEC was without proper cause nor was he given the right to be heard. Judge Gava-Nanu adjourned the matter to 7th August 2014 after the State failed to appear in Court. This recent development may chuck a spanner in the works in the PM's efforts preventing police from arresting him. If leave is granted and stay on Vaki's appointment then Kulunga may re-assume office and consolidate the force. It was Kulunga who wrote to the PM on 16

In what seems a relentless cycle of resource companies lining up to take a bite out of Bougainville, on Monday Nevis Capital Corporation purchased a 50% stake in Tall J (PNG) Ltd (see the announcement below). Tall J, is currently owned by Stephen Strauss, whose was the subject of a expose published via the MicroKhan blog in 2011, which includes a detailed response from Strauss himself (see below). According to the company press release Tall J has rights to pristine Bougainville forest with timber valued at $1.3 billion, in addition to mineral exploration rights over 255,000 acres of land. So what do we know about this company who has evidently purchased a large chunk of Bougainville? Not much. It has one subsidiary, registered in, gulp, Costa Rica, which focuses on the online gaming industry. From one swindling industry to another, it would seem. And the company’s website hardly inspires confidence, either. http://www.neviscapcorp.com/ But as long as government economic policy hinges

NATIONAL COURT ISSUES INTERIM STAY ON PM'S ARREST UNTIL SUPREME COURT RULES ON CONSTITUTIONAL REFERENCE AND  NATIONAL COURT REVIEWS DISTRICT COURT'S DECISION. On Friday 18 July 2014, the National Court Judge Gavara-Nanu granted leave (gave permission) to the PM for Judicial Review of the District Court decision refusing the Police Commissioner Geoffrey Vaki's request to set aside or withdraw the arrest warrants against him (O’Neill). In the handing down his decision Judge Gavara-Nanu issued the following orders (summarized). 1) The PM is be allowed to join Vaki's application for leave as 2nd Plaintiff seeking Judicial Review of the District Court decision. 2) Leave is granted to the PM for Judicial Review of the decision of the District Court on 12 June 2014 issuing a warrant of arrest compelling Fraud Squad Members to arrest the PM for allegedly committing the criminal offence of Official Corruption. 3) Constitutional question be referred to the Supreme Cou

The Students Representative Council of the University of Papua New Guinea has clarified on the recent student impasse at the Campus. The focus of the clarification is based on the event occurred on Tuesday July 8th where the SRC President Bobby Yupi clears his position, the UPNG Southern Highlands and Hela students positions during the student impasse. SRC president Bobby Yupi stated on a press release that since my swearing into SRC office, I have to the best of my able judgment and wisdom placed above all else prioritizing of my fellow student’s academic welfare. Bobby stated that under my leadership, we approached two inter-twining controversial issues (UBS Loan and the State’s acquisition of 10.1% share in the Oil Search Limited) of national significance without the academic semester (semester 1) being interrupted in any single way. It is stated that in the same manner the SRC was trying to address the Paraka Saga issue but few students instigated and turned everything around and

By Steven Mark  Over the last few months, there have been at least 2 protest gatherings advertised on the internet where hardly anyone came.  It is unclear who announced these marches or what organising they did behind the scenes.   But the damage is done and the O’Neill government is now confident that the anticorruption movement is weak, disorganised and of no threat.   The public that supports the anticorruption protest movement were demoralised by the protests that never materialised.   Those involved in coming up with these ghost protests placed too much false hope and made too little organisational effort to make the protests successful.  They seemed to think that advertising alone would bring out participants.   This is yet another example of the lazy, short-cutting, excessively optimistic, blind chance taking, triam tasol without any planning kind of attitude that has held our country back time and time again. “Hope without strategic planning is meaningless, strategic pl

By A Renegade Against Corruption UPNG’s students have been thrown into a state of confusion over last Friday’s full page advertisement in The National, in which the supposedly “deposed” UPNG SRC President Bobby Yupi defended his actions during UPNG saga 2014.   That advert cost a mountain of kina coins, which begs the questions:    Who paid for it?     Did Bobby Yupi pay for this advert out of SRC funds, or was the advert bought by some unnamed donor? If from SRC funds, who approved it?   Wasn’t there an SRC officer’s vote of no confidence against Bobby Yupi?  Hasn’t he been kicked out as SRC president for his despicable stone age tribal attack behaviour last week?  Are there no SRC checks and balances in place to stop SRC money from being spent so wastefully?   Is the UPNG SRC Presidency a dictatorship where the occupant can do whatever he or she wants?  And what happened to interim SRC president Diddley Aheng?  Is Diddley proving to be an ineffective whimp a