PNGBLOGS

by PAUL L. KEBAIJA Prime Minister James Marape has carried out his threat. Following a National Executive Council decision last Wednesday, more than 70 heads of public sector institutions have been suspended with immediate effect for failing to submit their 2025 annual performance reports, a legal obligation under Section 22 of the PM&NEC Act 2020. The Chief Secretary has been directed to work with the Department of Personnel Management to appoint acting heads and open investigations into each suspended officer, under what Marape has branded the 2026 "Year of Reset". The compliance matrix published by the Department of Prime Minister & NEC makes for uncomfortable reading not least because of who is on it. Start with the institutions whose entire purpose is accountability. The Office of the Auditor General — the body that audits everyone else, filed nothing. Neither did the Ombudsman Commission, nor the Independent Commission Against Corruption, the flagship integri...

by PAUL L.KEBAIJA A set of parliamentary questions dated for the sitting of Tuesday 8 September 2020 still offers one of the clearer public windows into the unresolved financial questions that have followed Rainbo Paita into high office. The questions, directed to Prime Minister James Marape by the then-Opposition Leader Belden Namah, whose own standing as Opposition Leader was at that time under challenge in the Supreme Court, do not appear in any Hansard or news archive accessible today. They survive as a document and leaked to PNGBlogs, and the document is specific. In December 2013 the Treasury released a K3 million cheque to PC & M Limited, a consultancy engaged by the National Capital District Commission in 2002 to implement its Youth Employment Scheme. The company's original claim for unpaid invoices covering seven months was said to be K231,000. By 2013 the figure had swollen to K4.986 million, more than twenty times the starting amount, same tactics used by James ...

by PAUL L. KEBAIJA After more than fifty years of independence, Papua New Guinea remains a country without a settled direction. Instead of a steady march toward accountable governance, we have a Tarzan routine. One day Marape swings out on the international vine, calling on global superpowers to respect the Pacific as an “Ocean of Peace” after China’s ballistic missile test. The next moment he is in Brisbane signing a fifteen-year Memorandum of Understanding with Queensland University of Technology to bring artificial intelligence, digital identity systems and cybersecurity to the public service. He speaks passionately about eliminating bureaucracy, rewarding merit and cleaning up recruitment and procurement. Then, just as quickly, he swings toward the next photo opportunity, leaving the previous promises swaying in the breeze. Meanwhile, on the jungle floor, the real problems remain untouched. The K200 million SME funding programme continues to be dogged by allegations of political c...

By PAUL L. KEBAIJA When a government announces it is "preparing" for a disaster that climate agencies flagged months ago, the announcement itself becomes the evidence of how unprepared it is. Prime Minister James Marape's 21 June directive ordering every province and district to brace for an "extraordinary" dry season is being presented as decisive leadership. Read more carefully, it is a confession. A nation that genuinely planned for El Niño does not issue instructions to "be prepared" while the conditions are already developing across the tropical Pacific. It executes a plan that already exists. There is no plan. The release says so plainly: the Prime Minister has given the Central Government "the next two weeks" to come up with a national strategy. In late June 2026, with forecasters warning El Niño will persist through the second half of the year, the country's drought response is a fortnight from being drafted. That is not foresi...

by PAUL L. KEBAIJA The Marape-Rosso regime has reached a new low of pathetic weakness and the Papua LNG project exposes it for all to see. Once upon a time, James Marape stormed into power waving the fiery banner of “Take Back PNG,” vowing to rip up sweetheart deals, seize control of our resources, and make multinationals bow to Papua New Guineans. Six years later, that empty slogan has collapsed into a humiliating, cap-in-hand grovel. Instead of owning the Elk-Antelope gas fields, his government is now desperately preparing to hand over up to US$3 billion (K12 billion) in fresh tax concessions and “support packages” to TotalEnergies, ExxonMobil and Santos just to beg them to keep the project alive. This is not negotiation. This is national surrender. In 2019, FID was supposed to be months away. Marape’s arrogant grandstanding and endless renegotiations killed the momentum. Costs exploded from US$12 billion to nearly US$18 billion before being “optimised” to US$14–15 billion. A US...

  by M.J.PASSINGAN The Prime Minister and Minister responsible Hon Duma as trustees of our State Enterprises must come out clean on what is happening at the National Development Bank. Sources reveal that the NDB Board Chairman, Mr. Seeto is a beneficiary of a large contract from KCH involving one of NDB's subsidiaries, People's Micro Bank Limited (PMBL). The Marape Government through its Minister responsible, Hon. Duma recently announced the approval of a new banking entity which will be created from the commercialization of PMBL. What was not announced was Mr. Seeto will be featuring heavily in implementing this with a contract of 40-50 million kina. Mr. Darrell Seeto has been perfectly set up in a dream job.  He will oversee the commercialization of PMBL as Chairman of the NDB Board and a service provider in what is a clear example of blatant abuse of power and fiducial responsibility. Sources also indicate that the NDB Board is highly comprised, and its Chairman is "run...

by CYRIL GARE  Port Moresby,  Only 250,000 public servants (plus or minus) out of 8 million Papua New Guineans eat up 30 percent of our national-common wealth or K5.2 billion of the national budget every year through their pay packets. That’s a huge burden on the shoulder of a struggling developing nation where all socioeconomic indicators on the United Nation’s Human Development Index (HDI) scale speak low of PNG, even lower among the regional neighbors - Pacific Island Nations (PIN). This excludes the costs of public servants’ traveling allowances, office rentals, utilities, vehicle hire, and such other costs that leech on public funding. As if that’s not enough, departments and state agencies have developed a systemic tendency to ask for more and loot from the people’s share each time the pie is available. A case in point: - The Department of Agriculture and Livestock (DAL) is handling of 2022 K15 million price support/freight subsidy program funds. Originally, K20 million...

by   DAVID LEPI Rishi Sunak wins the Conservative Party leadership race and becomes United Kingdom's new prime minister. Sunak, a Briton of Indian ancestry and practicing Hundu rise to power in one of the world's most iconic democracies as been a telling journey on the back of certain peculiar political events that saw 3 leadership change in just 2 months.  Whilst India celebrates Diwali - Hindu festival of lights -  and Sunak's ascension to power in the Commonwealth's former empire there are two important lessons that Papua New Guinea must learn and learn earnestly.  1. Mass resignation of government members following Prime Minister Boris Johnson's unethical conduct.  2. Prime Minister Liz Truss voluntarily resigned because she couldn't deliver on her election promises.  Having said that let's have a quick look to the background to each of the above events.  In July 2022 when Papua New Guinea was in the middle of a stormy national election UK's P...

MARAPE ROSSO GOVERNMENT IGNORING THE MANAGEMENT AND BOARD ISSUE AT NATIONAL AIRPORTS CORPORATION (NAC) IS NOW COMPROMISING THE AVIATION SAFETY IN THE COUNTRY. by TONDE KAIMI The Government of the day, what many Papua New Guineans will say, has deliberately failed and ignored addressing the NAC management and Board saga that has now compromised aviation safety in the country. The closure of Nadzab, Kiunga and now Buka airports is just the tip of the iceberg, more airports to face a similar fate, and yet PM Marape is still allowing illegal non-qualified people in the management and the board of one of the biggest state entities in the country. The Government has failed to address the following significant NAC matters that have now reached critical stages of mass airport closures; • Mismanagement and abuse of office by former CA Minister Seki Agisa and Rex Kiponge. Misappropriation of K500,000 NAC money paid to the wife of Warner Shand Lawyers Dan Kakarya coincidently is currently the L...

  by PNGBlogs Special Correspondent In the 2017 Election Patilias, Gamato made an unpopular decision with regard to Section 175 1A)(b) which cost him numerous criticism and plunged his career into a downward spiral so rapidly that and eventually dumped Simon Sinai.  He made the first ever "special circumstances " declaration of William Powi as Governor of Southern Highlands due to the chaotic civil unrest, the burning down of the newly built million Kina National complex, and also the burning down of the Dash 8 aircraft. William Powi was then declared as the Governor based on his lead in the first preference counts. The matter was immediately filed and tried in the court of disputed returns by three candidates trailing behind  Joe Kobol, Pr. Bernard Kaku and another I cannot recall.  Joe Kobol lost his fight but Pastor Benard Kaku's petition was successful in that on 24th August 2021, Judge Cannings ruled that Powi's win and the declaration were wrong and therefore a...

  by MICHAEL PASSINGAN Pangu's long mission to Take Back PNG started with this catch cry borrowed from Oro Governor Garry Juffa. James Marape had to find something to resonate with the people of PNG, he until recently was in the inner sanctum of the PNC-led government covering up and doing the dirty deeds for Peter O'Neill. Seeing that the country was not going anywhere to his liking and having the financial backing of three provincial governments (Enga, Southern Highlands, and Hela) he wrestled the powers off Peter O'Neill.  Remember it was not smooth and easy at first for him, he had to prove his worth, in the secret ballot that took place that night, Patrick Pruaitch and William Duma were the eventual winners, he never came close, they say in politics there is no permanent friend or permanent enemy, what does the Igiri man do? He crawls back to Crown Plaza begging the support for PNC, the kingmaker here is Michael Buku Nali who has since lost his Mendi Open Seat, Nali is...

by CHARLES BILISING I don't support Peter O'Neil, any other political parties, and any elected individual to be the Prime Minister, let alone the people-mandated leaders choose. However, it is seriously disgusting and so frustrating every time to see this Prime Minister always making the sweetest cargo cult empty promises after promises that he can't even deliver at all to any extent. Oh, alas! How shameful..What a total disgrace should common sense should prevail in any God-created human being fell. Just this morning the Prime Minister tells the nation the prices of goods and services will be cheap in price reduction...For goodness sake, since when did that ever happen?.. When exactly will the government's announced plan just a few months before the election to reduce prices on basic goods and services ever be implemented? Literally, nothing to show for it. Are you out of your mind PMJM. Instead of any price drops, there were massive price increases on all goods and se...

by SAMSON KOMATI During the funeral of the Late Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare in Wewak in 2021 an emotional James Marape while consoling Lady Veronica promised that he would renovate her humble Kreer Heights home in Wewak she shared with her late husband.  Lady Veronica thankfully accepted the offer.   However, after 1 year and 6 months Lady Veronica is still waiting for James Marape to fulfill his promise.  She has literally given up reminding and chasing him up and has now resorted to living in the basement of the one of her daughter's NBC houses in  Wewak. James Marape has over the last 3 years gone all over the country making numerous promises which he has no means, intention or ability to fulfill.  He has a tendency to make promises to people to please them. But for him to make an empty promise to the grieving widow of the Father of the Nation is cardinal sin.  It goes against common decency. The Tari man publicly potrays himself as an humble and...

  by JACKSON KIAKARI Parliament today debated the amendment to create 7 new Districts in the country. And I must say the Opposition Leader raised some very important, serious and pragmatic concerns around the rationale behind such an amendment and its associated impacts. I will leave the post-parliamentary debate to constitutional law experts and others who know the technicalities better to dive deeper into the pros and cons of such an important change. What I could not help notice was that the majority of the debate was staged on a misconception and flawed understanding of the duties and responsibilities of a member of parliament. Parliament in the 3 arms of government is known as the Legislature or the Legislative Arm of Government. And a member of Parliament by that definition is a Legislator! In my layman understanding, A legislator’s role and responsibility is to introduce, debate and pass laws, amendments, reforms and other changes. Again, I will accept the correction of subj...

by  Andrew Arthur Amendments to the Central Banking Act facilitate Marape and Ling-Stuckey drawing down K6 BILLION from the Bank of PNG to fund the 2022 Budget deficit. Before the amendments, Section 55 of the Central Bank 2000 Act gave provision for the Central Bank to provide Temporary Advances (TAF) to Government for up to K100 million. Section 55(9) clearly states that this TAF should not be used to fund a Budget deficit of the National Government. The IAG recommended that the TAF limit and purpose be retained.  https://pngcentralbankactiag.org/report/... The advice of the IAG was just window dressing and was largely ignored and instead, Treasurer and his two advisers Misty Baloiloi & Paul Flanagan have made wholesale changes to Section 55. The amendments to the Central Bank Act allow for Temporary Advances to fund the shortfall of Government revenue paving the way to print money to fund the K6 billion budget deficit.  They have changed section 55 to increase the ...

by : Andrew Arthur Prime Minister James Marape had one of his worst performances in the last parliament session jumping from one place to the other over the Dominate Player Levy. One moment he pushed hard in NEC for the new tax on the advice of Ian Ling-Stuckey and Paul Flanagan and as is the case, he flips his decision when met with some resistance in Parliament. Everyone knows Marape has a real problem with being decisive- but his performance on the 2022 Budget has now left PNG with a k190 million hole by shelving the ‘Dominate Player Levy’ that his Treasury Ian Ling-Stuckey and highly paid failed Australian advisor Paul Flanagan had craftily written into the budget for additional taxes on banking and telecommunication. The budget preparation is a culmination of 12 months of planning and works for Politicians, Public Servants, and advisors that ended in a major failure and refusal by legislators in Parliament. An embarrassment to those who had worked hard to put together the 2022 Mon...

by MITCH RENAGI Budget week should be a triumph for any self-respecting Treasurer - it should cap all his efforts over the past 12 months and lay out a rosy future for the next 12. Unfortunately for Ian Ling-Stuckey and his team of highly-paid foreign advisers, this Budget week has been a disaster, lurching from one crisis to another. His disastrous performance has shredded the Marape Government’s economic reputation. He and his advisers should resign, and failing that Marape should sack them. Ling-Stuckey’s failures are inexcusable. First, he missed the Budget sitting day by 24 hours.  Then when he did get around to delivering the Budget a day late, he did not table the all important Volume 1, Economic and Development Policies. In effect, the Budget has not been tabled. Neither Vol 1 nor his Budget speech have been posted on the Treasury web site as of Monday morning, so the public does not have access to the information that will guide people’s lives and the nation for the next 1...