PNGBLOGS

by JOHN STEWARD In a remarkable turn of events, and right under the watchful eyes of all thinking Papua New Guineans, the Police Commissioner eliminates almost all potential risks at the National Fraud and Anti-Corruption Directorate, by suspending the Director Matthew Damaru, his Deputy Timothy Gitua, another senior office Joel Simitab and other officers who may have been seen solidly supporting their bosses to pursue the arrest of Prime Minister O’Neill in relation to Paul Paraka Lawyers fraudulent payments. Commissioner Baki, in a lengthy media statement attempts to justify his “weekend” actions but not many will be convinced in light of the chain of events leading up to Baki’s decisions. I have gone through the various events leading up to the actions of Baki and here is what I have compiled. (All these events are publicly reported in various media forums if you have been following), On the 5th of April 2016, the Supreme Court unanimously dismissed James Marape’s appeal to the S

PNGBLOGS Prime Minister and Ano Pala tried to use the Supreme Court Reference to stay other proceedings including the Sakora J orders in Supreme Court. The Supreme Court five men bench literally tore their application in pieces. THE Waigani National Court has refused an application filed by Prime Minister Peter O’Neill and the National Executive Council to adjourn the hearing of two notices of motion relating to the legal representation of the Task Force Sweep Team chairman Sam Koim. Lawyer representing O’Neill and NEC Desmond Kipa, from Twivey Lawyers, told the court that lawyer Tiffany Twivey was in charge of the two motions and she could not be available in court because of what happened to her on Monday. Twivey stated in her affidavit that she was locked up at the National Fraud and Anti-Corruption interview room on Monday for about 14 hours with no electricity and water, which affected her physically and psychologically. Her medical certificate was submitted to the cou

by GOVERNMENT INSIDER Isaac Lupari has recently become the Chairman of Public Debt Committee,(PDC), their core function is to manage the cashflow of the country. PDC is made up of Treasury Management(Chairman), Finance Management and Bank of PNG. PM's Dept is not suppose to interfere with the operation of Treasury management. The responsibilities to raise revenue and expenditure lies with the treasury IRC, Customs and Finance according to the constitutional functions of these institutions. Never in the history of this country a Chief Secretary becomes the Chairman and manipulate the cash flow management of the country, that means, Isaac Lupari is a superfluous who is hell bent on destroying  the core functions of these constitutional institutions and politically compromise the prudential fiscal management and governance of established government institutions. Does this show that the Governor of the Central Bank, Secretaries for Treasury and Finance and their Management t

by MICHAEL.J PASSINGAN Last month Prime Minister Peter O’Neill publicly stated that the nation’s annual GDP growth rate is 9.2 percent. He said Papua New Guinea’s growth rate is the envy of many world economies – “9.2% is miles better  than the global average, which is about 3 percent or less”. That was untrue when he said it, and the Prime Minister knew it to be untrue. The growth rate for the year, according to the 2016 Budget, was 4.2 percent. But in fact PNG’s GDP growth rate at the time Mr O’Neill lied to the people was less than 4.2 percent. Confirmation of that comes with the release yesterday of the IMF’s World Economic Outlook. That authoritative document estimates PNG’s annual growth rate this year is 3.1%. This is very bad news for Papua New Guineans. It puts PNG’s GDP growth amongst the lowest in the world. But the accompanying graph shows that the situation is even worse than that. Under the corrupt, reckless and wasteful PNC Regime of Peter O’Neill, national

by GOVERNMENT INSIDER The Swiss bank UBS struck a massively controversial deal to land the PNG government with a 10 per cent stake in ASX and PNG-listed company Oil Search.  The shares as you all know costed PNG A$1.2 billion, a staggering 8 per cent of our GDP. UBS insiders describe this deal as one of the "most amazing deals" the bank has ever done due to the staggering 12.3% interest they are earning from us.  This rate is well above an average commercial banks interest rate. Others, however, say the amazing part is that the bank was able to get away with it. This lucrative deal, the PM has coerced The National Petroleum Company Board to sign on an Irrevocable Escrow Agreement to keep our 19.4% LNG revenue in a Singapore Bank account as a collateral to the collar Loan, managed/Controlled by UBS According to the Clause 14.  Of the UBS Collar Loan Agreement dated 12 March 2014, UBS AG Australia Branch will appoint a Receiver Manager to sell the Oil Search Sha

by JOHN STEWARD At the very least, she unashamedly tried to paint that picture on the eve of her arrest. But what is really the case against Twivey? Off Course, Fraud Squad Officers cannot arrest a lawyer for “merely acting on her client’s instructions”. Was she in this case? You bet! Information available in the public domain reveal that when news broke out that a Warrant of Arrest was out for the arrest of Daire Vele, Tiffany wrote to Director of Fraud Squad and advised that her client (Vele) was out of the country and would be making himself available for question as soon as he returned. She deliberately diverted the attention of the Fraud Squad Officers to ensure that her client was not arrested whilst she worked on Court documents to set aside the warrant. My inquiries with well-placed sources reveal that Tiffany acted improperly and criminally when she filed an application to set aside a warrant of arrest issued by the District Court against Daire Vele, Secretary for Trea

JUSTICE SAKORA ABC Anti-corruption police in Papua New Guinea arrest one of the country's top judges and charge him with judicial corruption. Bernard Sakora being brought into Boroko Police Station in Port Moresby. (Credit: ABC) Anti-corruption police in Papua New Guinea have arrested one of the country's top judges and charged him with judicial corruption. Police said Supreme Court judge Bernard Sakora accepted a 100,000 kina ($45,000) payment in 2009 from a company linked to Paul Paraka Lawyers, a law firm accused of defrauding the PNG Government of millions of dollars via inflated legal bills. The director of PNG's National Fraud and Anti-Corruption Directorate, Matthew Damaru, said his officers came across the payment while investigating the complex and long-running case. "The arrest is a result of ongoing investigations to the payment of legal bills to Paul Paraka Lawyers where this payment to the judge was discovered and the investigation conducted

NO MORE EXCUSES FOR THE PRIME MINISTER On Tuesday April 5, 2016, Prime Minister Peter O’Neill said: “We all know who are the real financial beneficiaries of the Paraka transactions. “I look forward to the facts seeing the light of day on this issue.” He now has a duty to go to the police and submit to an interview on Parakagate to provide them with these facts. His failure to do opens the way for him to be charged with further very serious criminal offences (see below). It insults the Office of the Prime Minister and the people of Papua New Guinea. NO MORE LIES. NO MORE DELAYS. Opposition Leader Don Polye voluntarily went to the police to tell them what he knows about Parakagate. He has done his duty as a law-abiding citizen. Every other law-abiding citizen in the country would do the same. So should the Prime Minister. WHAT’S SO SPECIAL ABOUT THE PRIME MINISTER? There is nothing special about the Prime Minister. He has no more rights than any other citizen. He should behave like any

by MARKUS WAMBIA   Now that Grand Secret Keeper Manasupe Zurunuoc has left government (at least temporarily), secret papers are easier to leak.   It was important that we finished celebrating Grand Thief Michael Somare’s 80 th birthday and saluted him like he was the best founding father any country ever had.   Now it’s time to come back to Planet Earth and get a reality check on the Legacy of Michael Somare, whose main theme is that he was a liar liar well before Peter O'Neill came along and convincingly corrupt.  Where he didn't take initiative to dip his hands into the PNG Treasury or seek out 'hamamas payments' from Rimbunan Hijau (owner of Vision City and The National), his family, particularly Lady Veronica and Arthur, put pressure on him to direct more PNG public funds into the Somare family treasury. Let’s take a look at the bills for Somare’s 2011 hospital stay for heart bypass surgery.    What did it cost and what was the cost breakdo

WEWAK MP AND CORRECTIONAL SERVICE MINISTER JIM SIMATAB ANOTHER PUPPET WHO NEEDS TO BE VOTED OUT Wewak Open Electorate and the people of East Sepik Province are suffering from lack of development and delivery of basic services. Meanwhile, their MP, Jim Simatab, who is also Correctional Services Minister seems to be very busy having extra marital affairs with young Tolai girls who are young enough to be his child or grandchild. He is a typical puppet in the coalition of the corrupt who needs to be voted out in 2017. WARNING NUDITY AND SEX SCENE VIDEO LINK

by STEPHEN HOWES - DEVPOLICY BLOG There are widespread reports these days from Papua New Guinea of budgetary difficulties, from budget cuts to  church health services  to  government salary payment delays . Why? Total expenditure is budgeted in 2016 to be slightly below the 2015 level. But it is still 50 per cent above 2012 levels. (With the change in accounting rules, it is difficult to make comparisons going back before 2012.) That’s massive growth. So what is the problem? There are three. The first is a big shift in allocations. Since 2012, there have been big increases in interest payments (due to increased borrowing), payments to MPs through district and provincial funds, payments to schools (in lieu of school fees), and compensation to employees. Deduct these and there is an 18 per cent increase in spending compared to 2012 to fund everything else, which includes critical things like maintenance and church health spending. That’s the “discretionary spending” shown in Tab

WEWAK MP AND CORRECTIONAL SERVICE MINISTER JIM SIMATAB ANOTHER PUPPET WHO NEEDS TO BE VOTED OUT Wewak Open Electorate and the people of East Sepik Province are suffering from lack of development and delivery of basic services. Meanwhile, their MP, Jim Simatab, who is also Correctional Services Minister seems to be very busy having extra marital affairs with young Tolai girls who are young enough to be his child or grandchild. He is a typical puppet in the coalition of the corrupt who needs to be voted out in 2017. People of Wewak, please do yourself and PNG a huge favor and vote out this puppet and child molester in 2017.  

PNGBLOGS EXCLUSIVE PNG IS GONE AS A SOVEREIGN NATION IN JUNE IF NOTHING IS DONE TO REVERSE THE LOAN TAKEN BY O'NEILL GOVERNMENT TO BUY OSL SHARES. If the PNG Government does not find USD 1.5 Billion by 13th June, 2016, UBS will ask the government to Appoint a Receiver Manager for the Oil Search shares, the Receiver Manager will manager the Escrow account in Singapore. by June UBS will declare PNG bankrupt. This frightening revelation was revealed to PNGBLOGS by Government Insider working with the Department of Prime Minister and NEC who has sighted the original deed. The Principal Maturity date for the UBS loan was 13th March 2016.The Papua New Guinea Government has now K3.2 billion to pay UBS. We are in the grace period but that ends on the 13th June, 2016. Peter O'Neil signed with JP Morgan for refinancing turnaround time two weeks has lapsed. The World Bank, IMF, ADB and AusAid have already started painting bad picture about Peter O'Neil. He is an economi

by BRYAN KRAMER This morning the Supreme Court three man bench (3 judges) handed down a unanimous (all in agreement) ruling dismissing Appeal proceedings SC87 of 2014 filed by Minister of Finance James Marape. Marape filed the SC87 Appeal challenging an earlier ruling of the National Court that refused the Prime Minister Peter O'Neill and Marape's application (request) preventing Police from arresting them in relation to the illegal payments of K71.8 million to Paraka Lawyers. So what does it all actually mean? In short, the Supreme Court in the course of the above proceedings issued an interim stay (temporary stop order) preventing Police from arresting Marape and O'Neill including his lawyers and staff until it made a final ruling. Now that the Supreme Court has ruled against them dismissing the case it means the interim stay order issued in those proceedings have also been discharged (no longer in force). So can the Prime Minister or Marape f

by UPNG ACADEMIC Court documents registered at the Waigani Court (OS NO.715 of 2015 (JR) reveals a fishy land deal involving the UPNG Vice Chancellor, Mellam, NCD officials, some high ranking government officials and the developer Phoenix Construction Company. The developer is the same company who could not complete the Gerehu roads adequately on time and within budget. What is most absurd about this fishy deal is that it was all reached and settled verbally, though a gentlemen’s agreement. Affidavits submitted by NCD and the company involved plus other documents reveals that Mellam consented to this deal VERBALLY. There is no documentation at the University, either through the Senior Management, the Planning Committee or most importantly the University Council of any university land deal. If due diligence and proper processes were followed, records at the university would have shown the University Council’s decision and university management’s consideration of any submission fr

Breaking News: Supreme Court Discharges Orders Preventing the Arrest of Peter O'Neill and James Marape. In a unanimous decision of the Supreme Court this morning, the Supreme Court dismissed the Appeal by James Marape and further discharged restraining orders preventing the arrest of O'Neill and Marape in relation to payments made to Paraka Lawyers. In this Appeal, James Marape filed taxation proceedings and used it to prevent the arrest of himself and O'Neill. The Supreme Court earlier issued blanket restraining orders against Police from arresting O'Neill, Marape and their lawyers/agents etc. This morning, the Supreme Court unanimously (all three members :- Hartshorne, Makail and Sawong) ruled that the Originating Summons does not raise any allegation that Police and members of Task-Force Sweep had abused the process or compromised their position in effecting the arrest. There is no claim that the Police are seeking to prevent the taxation proceeedings either

by Paul Flanagan   PNG Treasury released last Thursday an update on what may really have happened with the 2015 budget. Like the mid-year Treasury MYEFO update, this is a frightening document that points to a collapse in government revenues of 20 per cent in 2015 relative to the budget, and reveals 2015 expenditure reductions of 37% in health, 36% in infrastructure and 30% in education, areas the government said would be protected. The combined budget deficits over the last three years of 24% of GDP are the largest for a three year period in PNG’s history. The Final Budget Outcome ( FBO ) is one of four key budget documents each year and must be released by 31 March. The 2015 FBO is a comprehensive document that fills in many of the gaps of the 2016 budget, including finally providing detail on where cuts were made in the Supplementary Budget. Key aggregates are shown below. Table 1: Fiscal aggregates from the 2015 Final Budget Outcome (FBO) Note: These fi