PNGBLOGS

by BRYAN KRAMER A hot political issue right now is the looming vote of no confidence against the O'Neill Government. It's an issue I have been tracking for some time and carried out a degree of research into. So will the Opposition succeed? Well it may not succeed in changing the Government but it may initiate a course of action that just succeed in removing Peter O'Neill as the head of the Government. On October 12, Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare dropped a political bombshell announcing he had tendered his resignation from the National Alliance Party. It was reported Somare was concerned about how the economy was being mismanaged. He could not remain in the Party that supported the O'Neill Government and what he termed as the habitual illegal and negligent actions of Peter O'Neill as the Prime Minister. Somare's decision fuelled speculations that a vote of no confidence against O'Neill was imminent. Peter O'Neill was quick to res

by JAMES SEMA - NIUGINI OUTLOOK   Please spread this story as much as you can throughout the social media in the hopes that some witnesses or people who have relevant details will come forward, share what they know, and let us either put this rumor to rest or develop it into a full allegation. Few of you reading this will know how good investigative journalists go about their work. It may surprise you to know that the very best ones who crack the biggest stories use many anonymous sources of information. You may think that such information carries no power, but in fact it does when you combine all the stories of the witnesses and look for common themes in what they're saying. Prophets of defeat will say that none of this is evidence. Ah but you're wrong. Witnesses without hard evidence are in fact powerful evidence. Scattered facts and details here and there can be puzzle parts put together to make up a story. That is what we're doing to further investigate a

by NEMO YALO*  The National (19.10.15) in its editorial labelled the Opposition’s move to bring a motion of no confidence against the Government as “premature”. Referring to the speculated motion of no confidence it opened with the line: “Has Papua New Guinea gone to the dogs?” This is a seriously preposterous and bias characterization of a healthy process of democracy. Whether a motion of no confidence in the Prime Minister is tabled or not and what the outcome will be if it is voted is a matter for Parliament. What must not go unchallenged is The National’s lopsided and politically biased editorial. The editorial attempted to demonstrate balance by quoting what the Opposition and its members said in a recent press conference and then quoted the Prime Minister’s response to the Supreme Court ruling on 4 September 2015 which nullified the so-called “grace period” Constitutional amendment. The invalidated constitutional amendment granted a government 30 months i

FRANCIS AWESA SUING O’NEILL AND MALADINA OVER FRAUDULENT TRANSFER OF OWNERSHIP OF COMPANY by MICHAEL J. PASSINGAN As things get heated up in Waigani for the looming Vote of No Confidence, one of Prime Minister O’Neill’s close confidante and Minister for Works, Hon Francis Awesa is having a bitter split with his Prime Minister and close associate Jimmy Maladina,  The tales of fraud involving O’Neill and Jimmy as main characters never ceases to end. In this new drama, Works Minister Francis Awesa is taking the duo to court for illegally and fraudulently transferring his interests in one of the biggest construction companies in PNG –Global Construction Ltd. Global Construction was started in 1994 and the registered shareholder then was Kandy No. 7 Limited owned by Derek Michael Jepson, who is casually referred to as Mick Jepson.  On 1st August 1996, Mr Awesa, through his family company called Allestree No. 10 Ltd purchased about 24,999 shares from Kandy No. 7 to be a part own

by BRYAN KRAMER On October 15 Post Courier reported "the Government has now come hard on improper users of Information Communication and Technology (ICT) Services and warns that a K20,000 fine or three months jail will apply under section 266 of the NICTA Act." The report stated "NICTA chief Charles Punaha said that the authority will charge or punish anyone who lies, spreads false information or sends any content or communication that the person knows is offensive or of an indecent nature on social media, emails, blogs, forums including Facebook So the question is what would have provoked the NICTA Chief to come out of his slumber and issue such a bold statement? Up until now the most vocal critic of Social Media has been the Prime Minister Peter O'Neil. Well 10 days earlier the Minister of Communications Jimmy Miringtoro announced Mr Punaha re-appointment to the CEO position together with two members to the NICTA Board. Surprising enoug

By Nemo Yalo: Principal of Nemo Lawyers   former Acting National Court Judge former Chief Legal Counsel for Ombudsman Commission There is in an ongoing public debate between the Government and the Opposition in Parliament regarding the receipt and application of the proceeds from the sale of the LNG. In its 2015 first half Environmental and Social Report, Exxon Mobil states that its US$19billion project loaded the 100th LNG shipment on LNG carrier Methane Spirit on 15 June 2015. The first LNG cargo was shipped on 25 May 2014 destined for Tokyo Electric Power Co. Inc. (TEPCO) in Japan delivered on 2 June 2014. The LNG Project is expected to produce nine (9) trillion cubic feet of gas over 30 years. It has the capacity to produce 6.9 million tonnes per year. The report reads in part: “The Papua, the first custom-built LNG carrier for EMPNG, arrived at the LNG Plant Marine Terminal on 22 February 2014 to begin loading its first cargo. The 172,000-cubic metre, 290-metre-long

BRYAN KRAMER BREAKS DOWN THE HISTORY BEHIND THE DECISION TO TERMINATE TWO SENIOR OFFICERS INVOLVED IN THE ARREST OF PRIME MINISTER O'NIELL by BRYAN KRAMER   While many were jubilant and surprised by the news of National Court's ruling to stay (stop) Commissioner of Police Gary Baki's decision to terminate Assistant Commissioner of Police Thomas Eluh and Deputy Director of National Fraud & Anti-Corruption Directorate Timothy Gitua, for me the ruling was expected. The Judiciary operates under strict guidelines, rules, procedures and principles all based on several hundred years of precedent (previous court rulings). The judiciary is the branch of government which administers justice according to law. The two other branches are Parliament and the National Executive Council (NEC) made up of Government Ministers and chaired by Prime Minister , also referred to as the Executive Government or Cabinet. The role of Parliament is to make the laws, while N