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INSIGHT INTO STATE vs TIENSTEN, KAVO and POTAPE

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By BRYAN KRAMER Part 4 - Process of Appeal This article is the last of a four part series providing insight into the recent criminal conviction sentencing and appeal process of three Members of Parliament, Paul Tiensten, Havilo Kavo and Francis Potape. Part 1-2 covered conviction process. Part 3 explained the process of sentencing and this final part will cover the process of appeal.  Following this post I will start publishing articles dealing with the business end of corruption that's crippling our great country. 1) How to get away with Corruption in PNG 2) How to rig an election in PNG 3) How to circumvent the Judicial System  Each article will expose how it's done and how to end it. So what is an Appeal? Under our judiciary system every decision made by a Court of Law is subject to appeal or review. This process of appeal or review involves a higher court reviewing the decision of a lower court to ensure it was fair and just in the circumstances

Micah and Kouza Double Dipping on Accommodation Allowances

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  PNGBlogs Contributor Network According to the 2007 SRC Determinations (2013 Revision), each State Minister is entitled to K110,760 annually in accommodation allowances while ordinary Members of Parliament (MPs) are entitled to K64,636 annually. Does Ben Micah and Loujaya Kouza have separate remuneration contracts from rest of the Members of Parliament? IPBC pays around K900,000 per annum in accommodation expenses for Micah to be residing at the Grand Papua Hotel in Port Moresby, while Kouza is living in a Hotel in Lae with her accommodation expenses fully paid for by the Lae District’s public funds. Can Sam Basil, Deputy Opposition Leader lay a complaint with the Ombudsman Commission to investigate these two leaders? While the efforts of Basil can be acknowledge in publishing information relating to what Parliamentarians are entitled to in accommodation allowances, it seems he is barking too much and not biting enough. Basil has the Parliamentary privilege

JUDGEMENT DELAYED IS JUSTICE DENIAL

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By SAUWAN KOMPE Puzzled and in bewilderment as to why high profile court cases of important significance, judgements kept delayed or cases being prolonged! Time is of essence that judgements should be delivered when expected instead of keeping the public in limbo. Continued procrastination of judgement is justice in denial in totality. Public would not accept purported explanations as a means to justify the delay. Public revere all levels of courts and out of respect, public is mute, however, public is denied of speedy proceedings frustrating aggrieved parties. Shouldn't this be corruption in a subtle form? I reckon it is! Public is entitled to form an opinion of otherwise. Delayed judgements and prolonging trial periods largely assist in institutionalising and nurturing corruption. No wonder corruption has permeated through every strata of governing system and is thriving. Technically, when judgement is delayed or trials prolonged, it absolutely does not assist the judiciary in

LEGISLATING LIMITS ON COMPENSATION IS A SUSPICIOUS MOVE BY ONEILL.

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By KILA GAMOGA ANARE The Governments recent announcement to regulate customary compensation by legislation is a knee jerk reaction and not a well thought out policy decision. It is an indication of lack of intellectual leadership of this nation, a leadership that is not guided by a body of knowledge translated into policy garnered through research and wider consultation that is absolutely necessary for a growing country, and a democratic one. The autocratic style decisions of the O'Neill government (like the ill-advised UBS Loan) is a style that will continue to hurt this nation, like a life sentence. The government has failed to address its own failures in housekeeping, and is rushing to legislation as a solution that may end up hurting this nation more than do any good. No one disputes the fact that unreasonable road compensation demands is hurting this country. To set a statutory limit on how much can be claimed, can easily be legislated on the basis of a maximum valu

DID THE ATTORNEY GENERAL GET IT WRONG?

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By BRYAN KRAMER Minister of Justice & Attorney General Ano Pala published a press statement on 10th February 2015 in both daily newspapers in the form of a letter addressed to Governor of Gulf, Havilo Kavo. Attorney General (AG) press statement was in response to Mr. Kavo's published media statement on 9th January 2015 and his letter to Gulf Provincial Assembly members stating that since he filed an appeal in the Supreme Court challenging his conviction by National Court by operation of Section 103(4) of Constitution he (Kavo) remains a Member of Parliament until his appeal is determined (decided). AG noted in his letter to Kavo that having read various numerous legal opinions and advice from his own lawyers including Kavo's lawyers he was of the considered view that given Kavo's current criminal conviction, sentencing and ensuring status as a prisoner of the state, although he remains a Member of Parliament by operation of Section 103(4) of Constitution he is

TIME TO REVIEW OUR OIL & GAS ACT AND THE MINING ACT

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By CHARLES KERUA Background I am prompted to write this after reading an article on the Australia’s Financial Review on a court battle between Oil Search Ltd & Inter Oil Ltd over the development rights (or pre-emptive rights) of the Elk-Antelope oil fields in the Gulf Province; a ruling which is expected to be handed down this March 2015 in London, UK. Many intelligent people will agree that our State & its people have “thrown away” so much of our natural resources so cheaply in the name of foreign investment and foreign capital injection. (Let us keep our discussion within the mineral & petroleum sector, and leave for a while other equally important sectors like forestry and fisheries). Proponents of foreign direct investments (FDIs) in our extractive industry have meticulously “seasoned” the spin offs, or so called “economic benefits”, of FDIs such as job creation, substantial foreign reserve base/cover, and tax revenue as a rosy cover to lure the State

PNG SOEs teetering and are on the brink of crashing

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  By PAUL J. REINBARA The bankruptcy of PNG Power Ltd under Prime Minister Peter O’Neill and State Enterprises Minister Ben Micah should not surprise anybody. It has been shipwrecked by typical PNC political interference, corruption and greed. All the other SOEs are in the same boat for the same reasons. Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare was right to call on the Prime Minister this week to come clean on the collapse of the entire SOE system and the harm it will cause to the nation. Action needs to be undertaken immediately to try to save something from the Prime Minister’s wreckage, starting with police investigations into the activities of SOEs and Ombudsman Commission investigations into their directors and senior management. New States of Emergencies in other sectors are not the answer because all they do is allow more corruption and more mismanagement. When the illegal and unnecessary State of Emergency in the power sector was announced, it handed personal control of PPL ove

Australian scheme to boost governance in Papua New Guinea

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THE first stage has been completed of an Australian program to improve governance in Papua New Guinea. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop signed a memorandum two months ago to establish a Pacific Leadership and Governance Precinct in Port Moresby’s public service and university hub of Waigani valley. The program also aims to help build partnerships between Australian and PNG institutions. As an initial step, 27 senior PNG public servants partici­pated in an executive course run by the universities of Queensland and PNG. The Australian Institute of Company Directors, the Australia and New Zealand School of Government, the Australian Public Service Commission, Canberra Institute of Technology Solutions and the Australian National University are also involved, planning leadership courses and developing university, certificate and diploma-level qualifications. The new precinct in Waigani will include a School of Business and Public Policy at the University of PNG and the adjacent Institute of

Oro Governor & Leader of PMC party Gary Juffa moves to Opposition

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PNGBLOGS  After a unanimous resolution today from the ruling party PNC, Oro Governor & Leader of the Peoples Movement for Change (PMC) Party Gary Juffa will move from middle bench to opposition. Governor Juffa was in the middle bench. The middle bench in PNG’s parliament has always been a place where individual MP’s not aligned with the parliament’s ruling party(s) or its leader(s) sit. Oro Governor & PMC party leader Gary Juffa not wishing to get entangled in corrupt practices or MP’s has always purposefully selected to sit in the middle bench since 2012 when he was first voted in. Today however after a unanimous decision by the PNC party, Governor Juffa must move from middle bench to opposition. It is also less than a year since leader of PNC party and Prime Minister Peter O’Neill sought to oust member for Kandep Don Poyle from government to opposition as ABC reported on 7th May 2014 “Don Poyle…was sacked by Mr O'Neill in March for refusing to sign a $AUD1.2 billi