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Showing posts with the label Salamo Injia

IF HE IS CORRUPT WHY IS HE STILL THERE? CJ'S IMPARTIALITY QUESTIONED

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by MARK TOKUNAI One of the top brains of this country, Sir Mekere Morauta once described the scale of corruption in this country as “Systemic and Systematic”. Many others have labelled it as having permeated throughout the fabrics of the society. Corruption is said to have widespread in Government and is prevalent in how businesses are conducted both in private and public sectors.  We are experiencing unprecedented number of prosecutions of leaders both by police and the Ombudsman Commission. These are leaders mandated by our people but the law is keeping a check on their exercise of powers. Eventually, their fate will be ultimately determined by the judiciary. Thanks to the Deputy Chief Justice Sir Gibbs Salika, who is an unapologetic member of the bench and sending a strong message with the number of people he is sending to jail. Sir Salika seems to be motivated to send wrong doers to jail and has no time hunting escape routes for criminals.  The judiciary, though

RATTLES AT SUPREME COURT- CHIEF JUSTICE PERSONAL STAFF REFERRED TO FRAUD SQUAD

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by PAUL IROKON The Chief Justice of the National and Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea, Sir Salamo Injia from Tsak Valley, Wapemananda, Enga Province is certainly no stranger to controversy. In the past, Sir Salamo Injia has been accused of killing a pedestrian (a young child) in a motor vehicle accident. He was accused of mismanaging money entrusted to the Court and charged, but his case ended up being dismissed. He was accused and charged with sedition, however the charge was later withdrawn. He was suspended as Chief Justice on the 9th of November 2011, however his suspension was later lifted. He stands accused of turning a blind eye to certain allegedly Gay expatriate Judges when sodomy in PNG is a criminal offence under the Criminal Code Act, and he also stands accused of playing politics and not performing his constitutional duties as required under the Constitution. It is common knowledge among legal circles that Rachel Tony from Central Province, the private secretary (

LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES HIJACKED, CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS OF PEOPLE DENIED

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ALL INSTITUTIONS OF STATE COLLUDE IN INSTITUTIONALISATION OF CORRUPTION. by LEKEM LAKI Intriguingly it is becoming very scary with the psychopath and pathological liar Peter O’Neil at the helm as Prime Minister remotely in control of the country. A lot has come undone by this ruthless regime whilst he and cronies make a good killing. He has cleverly strategized to make all institutions of state become powerless or virtually being paralysed evident by prolonging of milestone court cases against PO and those of his close associates and others getting suspended sentence. Every institutions of state are manipulated or intimidated in a way to remain mute or collude to leverage Peter O’Neil and his political cronies to hugely prosper at the expense of the naïve people of PNG. My heart is pained to envisage people power is not rising to the occasion. The civil society appears paranoid and pessimistic but for what and why? Students alone can’t fight the monster. The students hav

Proliferation of Corruption Unhindered has Raised its Ugly Head in the Courtroom Resulting in Impaired Judgments and Normalization of Corruption by Venerate Judges

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by LEKEM LAKI The Deputy Chief Justice his Honour Gibs Salika rightly said in the national paper dated 14th March 2016 titled “Graft a disease” and he referred to the level of corruption rampant in the country cutting across every sector of PNG society. In that he meant to say, corruption isn’t “growing but is overgrown”. The concern raised is alarming in nature but it doesn’t become a cause of concern or raises goose bumps. The corruption is entrenched and deeply embedded in every stratum of government bureaucracy and agencies. The practice is normalised and given the longevity in continued practice, it has become a norm or second nature if you like to people who practice. With the proliferation of corruption, people aren’t remorseful or let alone raise goose bumps. The Department of Justice and Attorney General Secretary Dr. Lawrence Kalinoe refused Damarua’s request to engage private law firm. Damarua and the entire Fraud Squad team aren’t fighting tooth an

POLITICAL INTERFERENCE SEES CONTRACT OF NEW COURT HOUSE TO PM'S "WIFE" COMPANY

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PNGBLOGS The awarding of contract of the construction of the new Supreme and National Court Complex in Waigani worth K430 million is being heavily politicised and the awarding of the contract by NEC for unknown reasons has been delayed for two months now. Although It has been budgeted in the 2016 budget and planned to be completed before the APEC Conference in Port Moresby in 2018. The awarding of the contract went through the the bureaucratic process by going through the Central Supply and Tenders Board before being submitted to the National Executive Council (NEC) it's recommendation. The NEC submission in awarding a contract of the construction of the Supreme and National Court complex in Waigani is based on Supply and Tender Boards submission while in turn is based on careful and professional technical and financial assessment. CSTB have shortlisted 3 very qualified and experienced bidders that we're recommended to NEC. And they are in preference from 1- 3; 1.China Rail

SUPREME COURT RULES AGAINST O’NEILL GOVERNMENT

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by BRYAN KRAMER Full bench (5 Judges) of the Supreme Court chaired by the Chief Justice Salamo Injia has upheld former Ombudsman Commission Ila Geno and former Opposition Leader Belden Namah applications challenging the O’Neill Government’s amendments to Section 145 of Constitution relating to a motion of no confidence. Section 145 of the Constitution provides Parliament the power to move a motion of no confidence to remove the Prime Minister; his entire Cabinet (Ministers) or any individual Government Minister. The provision or section sets out the strict procedure or criteria to invoke these powers; which includes the grace period to which a motion of no confidence is prohibited (restricted), notice period required and number of MP’s needed to endorse or sign the notice of motion before Parliament can consider it. Before reporting the specific findings of the Supreme Court ruling I thought it appropriate to first provide some background context and history to help understand the i

SOMARE SEEKING TO BLOCK LEADERSHIP TRIBUNAL

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AAP Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Michael Somare hopes a last minute court challenge can stop a leadership tribunal probing allegations he failed to lodge yearly financial statements. Sir Michael, 74, who has been PNG's prime minister four times in a political career spanning more than 40 years, is due to face a three-member bench on Thursday, where charges dating back 20 years will be heard. This week, Sir Michael's lawyers filed a new Supreme Court challenge against the tribunal's proceedings, claiming the original Ombudsman Commission investigation into the prime minister was biased and had protocol and procedural flaws. Sir Michael's lawyers lodged the submission in an effort to either delay or derail the tribunal in what a senior legal source told AAP was "a very PNG situation", with the two proceedings running concurrently. Since 2008, Sir Michael has used the courts to fight the Ombudsman Commission - PNG's corruption watchdog - but his efforts fa

SOMARE SEEKING TO BLOCK LEADERSHIP TRIBUNAL

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AAP Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Michael Somare hopes a last minute court challenge can stop a leadership tribunal probing allegations he failed to lodge yearly financial statements. Sir Michael, 74, who has been PNG's prime minister four times in a political career spanning more than 40 years, is due to face a three-member bench on Thursday, where charges dating back 20 years will be heard. This week, Sir Michael's lawyers filed a new Supreme Court challenge against the tribunal's proceedings, claiming the original Ombudsman Commission investigation into the prime minister was biased and had protocol and procedural flaws. Sir Michael's lawyers lodged the submission in an effort to either delay or derail the tribunal in what a senior legal source told AAP was "a very PNG situation", with the two proceedings running concurrently. Since 2008, Sir Michael has used the courts to fight the Ombudsman Commission - PNG's corruption watchdog - but his effort