The Rapist at the Helm: Papua New Guinea's Royal Constabulary in Total Collapse

by PAUL L. KEBAIJA

The Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary (RPNGC) is not a police force. It is a criminal enterprise wearing a badge. And sitting at its rotting apex is Commissioner David Manning a man credibly accused of rape, who refuses to step aside while the very institution he leads spirals into lawless chaos.

Since Manning took command in December 2019, the RPNGC has become a national disgrace. His appointment was contested from the start he lacked the required tertiary qualifications, and a National Court judge ruled his appointment unlawful in January 2021. Rather than replace him, the government abolished the qualification requirement entirely. Manning's legitimacy was not earned. It was engineered.

Then came the rape allegations. In 2024, a woman publicly accused Manning of sexual assault linked to a police operation in Ganiboku village, West New Britain. Her video testimony went viral. Reports indicate the complaint was formally lodged at Kimbe and Boroko Police Stations and involves a minor. The opposition demanded his immediate suspension. The National Court reportedly ordered action. Yet as of April 2026, Manning remains Commissioner, issuing press releases about modernisation while the investigation has been described by police insiders as suppressed. The detective who pursued the case was allegedly hounded and sidelined. Manning controls the very institution responsible for investigating him a conflict of interest so grotesque it defies belief.

This is not an isolated failing. The RPNGC's record of violence against women is a documented, systemic catastrophe. Human Rights Watch's 2005 report recorded police raping women and girls in stations, vehicles, and barracks sometimes using objects, sometimes in front of witnesses. Amnesty International documented officers demanding sexual favours from female complainants before acting on their cases. A policewoman in Port Moresby admitted candidly that sexual harassment by colleagues was habitual. Women across PNG avoid reporting crimes not out of apathy, but because the police themselves are dangerous.

The numbers are staggering. According to the PNG National Statistics Office, 65 percent of women aged 15 to 49 have experienced gender-based violence. In 2020, 15,444 domestic violence cases were reported producing fewer than 100 convictions. When Manning appeared before a parliamentary inquiry in 2021, he admitted the police force could not keep women and children safe. He confessed to institutional failure while continuing to occupy the office responsible for it.

The January 2024 riots laid bare the RPNGC's collapse. When officers protested sudden pay cuts of up to 50 percent, Port Moresby descended into chaos. At least 22 people died. Businesses suffered an estimated 1.27 billion Kina in losses. Marape suspended Manning and declared a state of emergency. Within two weeks, Manning was reinstated. No structural reform followed.

The government's silence is complicit. Prime Minister Marape has allowed this cancer to fester. Manning's continued presence tells every rape survivor that the system is not designed for them. It tells every honest officer that integrity is a career-ending liability. It tells every predator in uniform that the only consequence for violence is promotion.

Manning must be removed immediately. An independent external investigation not the internal whitewash the RPNGC specialises in must examine the allegations against him. The senior command must be purged. The Family Protection Act must be resourced and enforced. Australia, PNG's largest development partner, must use its leverage to demand real reform rather than accepting the performative modernisation that Manning and successive governments peddle.

Until the accused commissioner is gone, the RPNGC remains what it is: a protection racket for the powerful and a terror squad for everyone else. Papua New Guinea's people have suffered long enough.