Career Oriented Police Personnel Can De-institutionalise Police Brutality

By Gilbert Waghuaio Hamambi in Sharp Talk (Files)

February 19, 2012

Reported incidents of citizens becoming victims of alleged police brutality have been on the rise in Papua New Guinea as citizens become more aware of our rights. The sad and tragic irony of this is when citizens end up dead in the custody of the very government institution that is task with the duty to PROTECT LIVES. In their lifetime some families may be lucky to pass through life without having to experience such tragic losses at the hands of the police. Most of us are probably waiting our turn by ‘expecting the worst and hoping for the best’. Given the current rising trend and in our self-consciousness, the chances of the worst happening to people we may know increases everyday as we hear more about police brutality. Coupled with the observed snail’s pase process of identifying and bringing their own members to justice, who perpetrate brutality in the force, it now seems that police brutality is well and truly entranced and institutionalised in the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary (RPNGC).

It must be frustrating for the Government and in particular the RPNGC’s hierarchy who have been talking tough on ill-discipline. Worst still it must be excruciatingly disheartening and demoralising for those very well discipline officers in the rank and file of the RPNGC who are committed, who comply and strive to uphold a fast diminishing disciplined outlook of the RPNGC…or what’s left of it. The public’s current general perception of our RPNGC’s constables can be akin to that of politicians and other public servants; corrupt, slack and not mission oriented. While victims of police brutality and the public may be non-sympathetic to neither the perpetrator(s) of police brutality, who have so far been identified to face the courts, nor the perceived struggles of the RPNGC’s hierarchy in maintaining discipline, we all agree that ill-discipline in the rank and file and police brutality must stop!

As one of the suggestions in the attempts to eradicate ill-discipline and police brutality I am thinking that 'Career Oriented Police Personnel Can De-institutionalise Police Brutality by the RPNGC’.

It is an honourable profession of those in the service of our armed forces, who have accepted the risk of dying on the job and have sworn an oath. The public’s concern, however, is how can the servicemen and women of the RPNGC be disciplined enough to know when to apply ‘reasonable force’ in situations that do not threaten their own lives in their line of duty? One long-term solution going forward is to rethink the whole police personnel recruitment process and strategically and stringently recruit only career minded police personnel for Police College training. Focus should now be shifted more toward reinforcing and nurturing discipline and less on instilling discipline.

For far too long now the constabulary has been treated as a second option profession by citizens as it catches those who fall out of the formal education system. The RPNGC is a professional government institution and should not be allowed to be continually viewed as a ‘last resort’ option by our citizens. New recruits applying should not be enticed to the police force for the opportunity to earn some easy money to make ends meet but rather fulfil an ambition of becoming a dedicated and professional career police officer. I do not doubt the dedication and commitment of the many constables who are already in the police force and working under trying times.But emphasis should now shift to strategically weeding out the ‘rogue cops’ perception in the long run by identifying the right constables at an early age, and providing an environment that nourishes and nurtures the growth of discipline.

These could be achieved by making available the professional constable career path as part of the normal yearly grade 12 school leaver options and providing an in-house mentoring program.

The entry requirements for grade 12 school leavers should be raised to ensure that those selected will be malleable, easily coachable and more disciplined in the execution of their duties in enforcing the law by following the fine traditions of professional policing by the RPNGC. Career path progressions onto the other more attractive professions such as lawyers, accountants and etc. after police training should be clearly mapped out by the Police College curriculum development and the college’s role should be ‘aggressively’ promoted and advertised to continually attract interested but dedicated citizens who understood well and will be committed to that vision and mission of the constabulary of 'PROTECTING LIVES'. Of course not every grade 12 school leaver is expected to choose this option but at least the public can take comfort in knowing that those who do so will be better disciplined, more committed and respect the role of policing and the part it plays in nation building. The RPNGC’s manning requirement will not be met immediately if few choose this path but recruitment of small high quality number of intakes on a yearly basis will gradually build up the manning level of the force.

In their initial postings their immediate supervisors may not necessarily and currently possess the ideals of a professional constable and this challenge of new ‘fresh face’ recruits succumbing to the existing prevalent ‘ill disciplined’ norms already in the force could be overcome by assigning them to pre-identified and known ‘well disciplined’ personnel already in the rank and file to act as immediate mentors.

Over time it is hoped that such approaches as these will enhance the RPNGC’s reputation as a better disciplined force and one the public will feel more deserving to cooperatively work with.

De-institutionalising police brutality and mitigating the loss and suffering it is bringing on its victims and their immediate families and friends and the related consequential costs to the nation starts with the ‘right minded’ police recruits. Furthermore, provide a career pathway that proactively enhances and reinforces discipline earlier on in a professional constable’s career. It cannot happen overnight but it can happen in our lifetime, if our government dedicates and commits resources to reviewing our police recruiting procedures and training curriculum, as well as strategically recruit and nurture discipline of our future professional constables.

It is time we start practically thinking long term, starting small but acting now to minimise ill-discipline and eradicate police brutality in our RPNGC.

TRAITORIOUS PUBLIC SERVANTS, FUTILE PARLIAMENTARY QUESTION TIME: An Angry Governor Speaks

Gary Juffa, Governor, Oro Province

By Gary Juffa
25^th March 2013

It is becoming apparent that questions on the floor of parliament are not producing results. It is becoming apparent that the packaging and sale of prime land in PNG is becoming a reality and is in fact becoming a frenzied effort by those who do not care for this nation and its future and their friends and cronies. It is becoming increasingly apparent that affirmative action is looking a more convincing effort if we are to save our land and our future. Land grabbing is a world-wide phenomenon perpetrated by corporate interests and ignored or facilitated by governments supposedly elected to protect the very people they are instead helping to marginalize.

MUST WE ALL WATCH AND DO NOTHING!?

If the news that Jack Pidik Park, a recreational portion of land has been sold is true, then we are seeing yet another example of the marginalization of our people and our future. I for one am tired of raising questions that go ignored, writing letters that are not acknowledged and holding meetings where rhetoric and false assurances flow forth seemingly endlessly like the open sewerage in some of our streets. Let us start naming the individuals involved. Which lands officers was responsible??

WHICH LANDS BOARD CHAIRMAN WAS RESPONSIBLE?? WHO AGREED TO THIS TERRIBLE ACT OF INCONSIDERATION TOWARDS OUR PEOPLE??? CAN WE IDENTIFY THEM AND TREAT THEM LIKE THE BETRAYERS AND TRAITORS THAT THEY ARE??!

THIS IS TANTAMOUNT TO TREASON!??!

IF WE SAY AND DO NOTHING THIS WILL GO ON AND ON!!

IN ORO TWO LANDS OFFICIALS ALMOST GOT AWAY WITH THIS UNTIL WE NAMED THEM, CONTACTED THEM AND ADVISED THEM THAT THEY ARE COMING TO ORO AT THEIR OWN RISK!! THE PROCESS WAS HALTED!!! WE ARE NOW GOING TO TAKE BACK OUR LAND WHETHER THEY PAID MONEY OR NOT, WHETHER THEY LIKE IT OR NOT!!

IT CAN BE DONE!! NAME THESE CHARACTERS AND DEAL WITH THEM!! TELL THEM DIRECTLY THAT THEY HAVE BETRAYED THE 7 MILLION SHAREHOLDERS OF PNG AND MUST THEREFORE FACE THE CONSEQUENCES!!

IN ORO I AM WARNING ALL PUBLIC SERVANTS FROM HEAD QUARTERS WHO TRAVEL TO ORO TO FACILITATE FRAUD AND CORRUPTION TO BE MINDFUL WHEN THEY COME THERE. IF THEY ARE CAUGHT, THEY WILL BE DEALT WITH BY THE PEOPLE AND I WILL BACK MY PEOPLE UP 100%!!!

EVERY PROVINCE MUST DO THE SAME!! DEMAND YOUR GOVERNORS TO DO SO!!! ENOUGH OF FLOWERY MEETINGS AND CONFERENCES AND COMMITTEES AND TASK FORCES THAT DO NOTHING WHILE OUR COUNTRY IS BEING PACKAGED AND SOLD!!

START BEING AFFIRMATIVE AND LET US TAKE BACK WHAT IS RIGHTFULLY OURS!!

Demystifying Law Enforcement in Melanesia

By Sam Koim, Chair of Task Force Sweep Team
March 20, 2013

My role has brought me to confront the mysteries of law enforcement in contemporary Melanesia. I have come to appreciate that we have adopted western laws that are individualist oriented, to be applied and enforced in our communal setting. Our communal existence imposes certain obligations that more often clashes with the demands of the law. For instance, you try to hold one person responsible for his/her own wrongdoings but more often you find yourself dragging the whole tribe/group.

The society is conditioned to protect even the worst criminal. In Western cultures, when someone commits a crime, everybody, including their immediate kinship, treat that person as undesirable for the society and readily have him handed over to be dealt with according to law. Whilst in our culture, we are prepared to protect the perpetrators, even to the extent of putting up a fight. Say in a case of a rape, we put compensation money and hide the perpetrator. If the victim’s people insist to go after the perpetrator, we are prepared to fight. In so doing, we pervert the course of justice. Yet we complain of lawlessness.

In electing leaders too, we vote according to our tribal/kinship lines even if we know that the person is not the right person. Even Christians pray hard for a right leader and blindly vote the wrong person in. Remember what Jesus said "Watch and Pray, lest you fall into temptation". Yet we complain of corruption. Shame on us.

And to a certain extent, when law is about to catch up with them, there is a general expectation for a level of tolerance by law enforcement agencies. That is because traditionally, we are supposed to respect, protect and be loyal to, our leaders even if they do something wrong.

Of course there are many other factors that contribute towards the breakdown of law and order, such as incidents of bribery and external influences that may temper with objective law enforcement. Those incidents have led our people also to be sceptical about law enforcement, which in turn diminishes the respect and legitimacy of the people it should otherwise deserve. People are inclined to build nexus to tribalism and rivalries as the first point of reason whenever law is enforced.

Notwithstanding all of that, our customary values and expectations also have some influence in law enforcement in Melanesia. Whilst the process of occidentalization had helped to develop our country in many respects, there is also an obvious disconnection, in that our people had not been fully acculturated to the Western Cultural values. Unless we take a paradigm shift, we will still have law and order problems.

Sorcery-Related Violence is Criminal

By Patrick Karabuspalau Kaiku in Sharp Talk (Files)
February 15, 2013

In the last fortnight, the horrific circumstances surrounding the death of Kepari Leniata in Mt. Hagen shocked the nation, indeed the world. Related news items made headlines in the major media outlets around the world. Accused of practicing sorcery, the late Kepari Leniata was tortured in broad daylight. Onlookers witnessed the last dehumanizing moments in the life of this young mother. Kepari’s murderers, in this apparent act of wilful murder are being rounded up to face the full force of the law.

Unfortunately, this is not the first of such incidences, and probably not the last. In February 2008, it was reported that a pregnant mother who was blamed for sorcery was hanged to die alongside her husband. She prematurely gave birth when struggling to free herself. This is just one of the many reported cases. The gruesome nature of pay-back killing relating to sorcery in PNG and the frequency of these incidences must be contained soon.

PNG’s history is one of trying to find consistency in the administration justice in relation to sorcery-related cases as a law and order issue. Earlier on the Administrator of the Territory of Papua, Sir Hubert Murray, stated that eliminating sorcery beliefs would minimise serious crimes. Pay-back killing was one of those serious crimes. In Sir Hubert’s time, the fear of sorcery was also blamed for inhibiting socio-economic progress in Papua.

Currently, media and witnesses have reported accounts of brutal punishments meted out on suspected sorcery practitioners. Family members or blood relatives of alleged sorcerers are unable to speak out against the violence in fear of their lives and safety. Anyone condemning anti-sorcery vigilantes may be branded as accomplices or knowing the agents of sorcery.

Unfortunate victims have no established venue where justice can be impartially administered. Faced with this dilemma, some policy makers have proposed that sorcery-related issues be dealt with under its own court administration.

In situations where defenceless victims are under duress to confess their roles in suspected cases of sorcery-related deaths, they will not have the opportunity in an impartial forum. In most cases, these horrendous pay-back killings are enforced by large groups of men whose immediate aim is to dehumanise the victims. This serves as a deterrent to aspiring sorcery practitioners. Given the geographical remoteness of some parts of PNG, information on sorcery-related killings and punishments does not reach the media or appropriate law-enforcement agencies quickly. Also, barbaric acts are not usually reported formally.

The frequency of the incidences of these “sorcery purges” has become a trend in some parts of PNG. Someone stated that every year, some 500 people are killed on suspicions of practising sorcery. And out of six victims, five are women.

Women who fall victim to accusations of practising sorcery are mercilessly punished. A former government minister stated that helpless women are burnt at the stake, stoned, raped, axed, buried alive, electrocuted, forced to drink petrol, or dragged behind vehicles.

What is sorcery?

Sorcery is used interchangeably with terms such as witchcraft, “black magic”, “sanguma” or “poisin”. The Sorcery Act 1976 provides a distinction between “white” magic as opposed to “black” magic. Black magic is the category that is associated with bad luck.

In the early colonial period, sorcery was classified as constituting part of the custom of the people of the colonial territories. Custom meant “the range of indigenous social behaviour considered to be significantly at variance with Anglo-Australian (and, for a while in New Guinea), German norms”.

The colonisers intended to control and “civilise” the “natives”, hence, custom was defined in political overtones rather than from an anthropological and legal-historical perspective. Under the British administration, Papuans were introduced to the Native Board Regulations in 1889, which included sorcery as forbidden behaviour.

After World War I, under the Australian Administration, the Native Regulations outlawed sorcery. The punishment for alleged sorcery practitioners was six months in jail. The Australian Administration made it official that traditional customs were allowed to continue unless they were “repugnant to the principles of humanity”. Schedule 2.1 of the Constitution of PNG qualifies custom in this manner.

However, custom has been used as a defence in pay-back killings. Therefore, we are faced with the dilemma that the courts may not recognise sorcery as a fact. This has implications for sentencing in the higher courts. In The State v Osborne Kwayawako and Five Others [1985] the issue was whether sentencing the convicted persons involved in a pay-back killing constituted wilful murder?

The court was to make a judgment taking into account the belief by the men that the deceased was responsible for an unspecified number of deaths. It was held that “customary belief in the power of sorcery” is not permitted or encouraged under the Sorcery Act.

The court was not able to sentence the accused because any belief in the power of sorcery by the court would be deemed contrary to the Sorcery Act. However, the Handbook for Village Court Officials states the various categories of sorcery, which include “making” or pretending to make sorcery, threatening sorcery, procuring sorcery, owning “things that can be used to make sorcery”, and paying for sorcery. Pay-back killing is a human rights issue that is “repugnant to the principles of humanity”, and is a wilful murder offence under the Criminal Code.

Clearing the ambiguity between the Criminal Code and the Sorcery Act is a step in the right direction for sentencing pay-back killers. The prominence of the Village Court in administering sorcery-related pay-back killings can be raised, where the higher courts tread precariously on matters of evidence and legal interpretation.

Some recommendations

Beliefs in sorcery cannot be easily erased. To intervene, a proper analysis of areas in PNG that have general occurrences of pay-back killings must be undertaken. Identifying the socio-cultural context of sorcery and the settings that tolerate extreme punishments of alleged practitioners of sorcery must be a national priority.

In 2003, Dame Carol Kidu appealed to foreign aid donors to fund research into sorcery in PNG. Time, energy and resources must target the places where pay-back killings are prominent. Creating a matrix of the most vulnerable areas where pay-back killing is prone to occur can be helpful.

The state agencies such as the police or village court officials could use this information for awareness and training of local councillors in the areas identified. Also, health services in the problem areas must be improved by adequately training health workers and staffing the health centres. Community health is multidisciplinary because it involves comprehensive delivery of primary health care services at the district level, which is the front line of the health care system.

Many health facilities in the districts have closed down or been destroyed in tribal wars, face drug shortages or are inadequately staffed. Without trained medical workers to provide conclusive diagnosis of causes of death, ill-informed people may blame sorcery practitioners for the deaths. In PNG, it is common that when a person dies, the relatives or members of the community seek the cause of the death. Combating misinformation among the mostly illiterate citizens is our challenge against pay-back killings.

Also, the National Government, as it did before the 1995 provincial government reforms, could dovetail the roles of faith-based organisations and other civil society entities that are providing health services and other socio-economic opportunities in the remote areas.  Taking human rights to the community or village level should be supported.

In 2005, a Human Rights Based Approach to Programming (HRBAP) was initiated with the assistance of UNICEF. This involved incorporating human rights into village courts training and was implemented within the Village Courts Services. Perhaps training officials to deal with sorcery-related issues could also be undertaken by such programs.

A 2008 study undertaken by the Melanesian Institute argued that legislating to criminalise the practice of sorcery can have the adverse effect of reinforcing “people’s beliefs that those evil powers are real and effective” – instead of discouraging the practice and the violence that is meted out to alleged practitioners of sorcery. To prevent associated violence, perhaps hearsay accusations against sorcery practitioners should be criminalised. This would compel accusers to “look for other explanations for misfortunes than simply to accuse other peoples”. It would therefore amount to defamatory allegations against peoples if unsubstantiated accusations are being made.

PNG should now collectively address the scourge of sorcery-related violence. Our national image and the security and welfare of the most marginalized and powerless sections of our community should be at the center of such initiatives.

Digital Politics in Papua New Guinea

[The Political Betelnut Speaks

Joelson Anere

Description:

“A social and political philosohy writer’s corner dedicated to inspiring our leaders be they in government, in the private sector, in business and most importantly among our young people especially students in our schools throughout our beautiful country, Papua New Guinea; in so doing it is the writers hope to germinate and infuse inspiration, a stronger belief in hope and the politics of change in which we are the main crafters because of your vote as a citizen of this beautiful land.]


Digital Politics in Papua New Guinea
By Joelson Anere

                                  1.         Introduction

 

This article discusses the new political phenomenon affecting Papua New Guinea politics today and beyond, that new phenomenon is the “PNG Spring” – the onslaught of Digital politics in PNG. You could say, that PNG politics just went digital. But to be fair, the initiative of this new phenomenon is the people of PNG themselves who are increasingly taking ownership of their country’s politics and also of how their country is governed or shaped.

                                 2.         Digital Politics in Papua New Guinea

The ‘PNG Spring’ is unlike its cousin the ‘Arab Spring’ and is becoming an increasingly forthright agent for change in all spheres of society in PNG. This spring first began on April 2012 when thousands of people gathered at Sir John Guise Stadium in Port Moresby to protest at the political crisis gripping the country; especially the tussle between Peter O’Neil and Sir Michael Somare. Social media and social internet sites such as Facebook played a pivotal and important role in making this significant event materialize.

The significance of this event has not gone unnoticed by political commentators in PNG and this has no doubt ushered in a new era in PNG Politics. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has largely opened the floodgates for Papua New Guineans to have a greater say and participate in the politics of their country and more so how their Democracy is being shaped on a daily basis. This means that Politics and Democracy in PNG are no longer the exclusive preserve of a few political and beaucratic elites. On the contrary, it has become the inclusive preserve of Papua New Guinean’s everywhere in this country. These have become evident following the liberalization of the telecommunications market in 2007.

There is strong evidence to suggest that PNG (despite there being little research on the impact of ICT on PNG politics) shows that the liberalization of the telecoms market in 2007 has led to a 0.7 per cent increase in GDP the following year, and the mushrooming of innovative project proposals for funding in microfinance and financial lending services which draw on the extensive experience elsewhere in the developing world.

The opportunity to utilize ICT gives rise to new reporting mechanisms such as the use of the internet and blog sites that become anti-corruption reporting sites and act as a check mechanism on how the Government of PNG is managing tax-payers money. It has also opened up new fronts and new centers of power; ICT in PNG has the ability and capacity to provide customers with the latest news and information on anything affecting PNG in real time. The increasing use and access to the internet via mobile phones means that on-line organization and coordination to off-line organization and protest gatherings are fast becoming a powerful medium that allows customers real time information. Customers can now make an informed choice about anything that directly affects them and their livelihoods. Furthermore, the introduction of new online anti-corruption measures and information about corruption highlights the National Government’s weak resolve to act on its own failures, especially during an election campaign. The immense power and privilege that online-social network sites such as Facebook and twitter pose is that they provide an unprecedented access to a broad range of information from so many sources that the customer is bombarded with new information on a constant and regular basis. This means he/she is able to make up their minds fairly quickly about something when given the facts. And Facebook does exactly that, provide facts and statistics, and an alternative avenue for people to take ownership of the ways in which their tax is spent and also the way in which the affairs of the country are managed.

The growing onslaught of on-line social network sites and their development provides citizens with the immense reach and opportunity to effectively formulate on-line corruption reporting systems. In fact, recent research now points to the link between the revelation of corruption, the creation of an expectation and citizen incentives to act against corrupt governments in PNG are now more feasible and are a growing new political culture that has the ability to dwarf previous political cultures of triple floor-crossing of parliament.

This sort of exposure of government corruption and corruption in any sector; which filters into the country print media only after it had first appeared on the internet, is a new and powerful center of power for local citizens and has the potential to ‘leap-frog’ many infrastructure deficiencies that PNG has faced for a long time. This new political phenomenon – digital politics - is creating two new political identities: (a) civil society identity and (b) political ‘protest’ identity. These two new identities show no sign of abating and are likely to increase exponentially to over fifty (50%) over the next five years. At the moment, young people and adults between the ages of 17-35 years of age are by far the most active and responsive to on-line social political participation and dully voice their concerns on a constant basis and have considerable influence on off-line political ‘protest’ activities throughout PNG.

3.          Conclusion

 

In conclusion, the Government of Papua New Guinea should not try to stamp-out this new political wave of change but rather that the National Government should welcome it as a greater opportunity to sharpen the edifices of our institutions of State and the entire public service apparatus and make them more open and external looking with a powerful ability to prosecute cyber-terrorist and or internet terrorists who would utilize such new changes to evoke a new type of crime, Cyber-crime or internet crime which is possible today given the advancing partnership between the mobile telecommunications industry and world of science.

Ends.

Buying Influence Using Honestly Attained Wealth Is Not Corruption

By Gilbert Waghuaio Hamambi


Gilbert Hamambi

March 8 2012

[ST note: This essay was released by Gilbert Hamambi as a file on Sharp Talk last year just prior to the National Elections. The admins consider it a noteworthy paper for publication in the blog. It can help us to look forward to addressing some issues come 2017. And looking forward to the 2017 elections is probably a good idea even this early in the term. Note the views expressed in the article do not necessarily reflect the views of the Sharp Talk admin team.]

In this coming national general election and for some future more elections to come, corruptible ‘kaikai man’ will flourish. Regardless, this write up is a consolation piece to our many intending candidates who are expected to have budgeted surplus assets to waste in the election. These aspiring leaders must be encouraged to mindfully share their wealth as election time in Papua New Guinea is the long awaited and highly anticipated ‘kaikai’ season.

A leader in the general PNG mindset is someone who is in a position of power and is well resourced to wield influence. Personal wealth is a popular power base from which influence emanates. Wealthy leaders can propagate positive influence by skillfully distributing their personal wealth. But there now seems to be an ironic perception of individuals who ascend to a position of influence by expending wealth. When personal wealth is openly used to buy influence the public keeps quiet about it. However, when public wealth is expended it readily draws audible skepticism and resentful condemnation with bribery being the habitual label for such acts. When then is influencing using redistribution of wealth not corruption? How sardonic is this when PNG is still largely a communal society where wealth amassed is meant to be reciprocally redistributed but this very act and opportunity for trickling wealth down is discouraged with negative branding and off-putting connotations.

We should not blindly follow the West. The practice in Melanesia, and that has been for thousands of years, is that wealth is accumulated to be redistributed to gain influence. We may be new to modern conventions and charters of good governance and leadership but we are not new to the art of influencing others to do our bidding. If we stop to reflect from a ‘balcony perspective’ I think Papua New Guineans generally accept and irresistibly participate openly in ‘buying of influence’ which, by now, should be an apparent and simple truth. Truth is something the West does not have monopoly over.

Expounding further on this hypocrisy is that we are quick to scrutinize the redistribution of public wealth but inattentively praiseful of private donations. When a private citizen acts to narrow the gap between the rich and the poor, the haves and the have nots, we do not seem to have a problem with such charitable acts. Rarely do we stop to probe the intent of the benefactors’ seemingly random acts of kindness when wealth is redistributed from private coffers to gain influence. Nevertheless, in most instances and in the minds of most beneficiaries, obligations are created. These, as often is the case, are expected to be discharged somehow and those who willfully avoid discharging such obligations are now commonly called ‘kaikai man’ in the Sepik region of the country.

This ‘kaikai man’ mentality when coupled to the sarcasm of having to spend private wealth to gain influence becomes precariously evident when applied to political campaigning for public office. Private citizens who ‘give freely’ from private funds to gain influence in order to secure votes and get elected into public offices are at a personal risk of vainly applying their resources when ‘kaikai man’ thrive in election periods. The consolation from labeling such charitable acts as corrupt would be the rendering of its negative overtone by contesting corruption in this context as an envious term maliciously used to smear a successful private citizen. For all fairness, and when the intent is clear, there should be no guilty conscience when redistributing honestly attained wealth to gain influence into public offices. Wealth, after all, is meant to be amassed and trickled down to the always welcoming ‘kaikai public’.

 

Wealth amassed through sheer hard work, entrepreneurship and business acumen and later masterfully shared to gain influence and access to public office or remain in public office is not bribery nor is it corruption but it is Our Way of redistributing wealth.

Intentional sharing of honestly attained personal wealth to gain and spread constructive influence is not wrong but intending candidates in this election are reminded to be mindful of the corruptible ‘kaikai man’ who abound.

 

Sharp Talk goes Blogging!

Welcome to Sharp Talk's (PNG) blog!

Took a long time coming but here it is. The Facebook page created by +Douveri Henao in 2011 has taken off as a major discussion page for Papua New Guineans who just need to vent their frustrations at state of affairs in their great State. ST has provided a forum where busy people can take few minutes off their schedules to get into a conversation about some event, issue or controversy that burns the headlines or the sidelines in PNG.

ST's growth as a leading talk group was largely due to the fact that it was the first real Facebook (fb) page that allowed PNG fb users to have online conversations. There were other groups at the time but they were either completely focused on specific areas of interest or simply belonged to groups that needed the exposure that fb provided.

Douveri knew there was a lack of real conversation about real important matters of State. Like mentioned elsewhere, rather than increasing the access to information, ST gives the us the much-craved access to conversation. So he created Sharp Talk, possibly not knowing where it would go.

Over the last two years Douveri has engaged a few people whom in his view would provide a good mix of people to administer the page. Rules and guidelines were put up to keep people in line in terms of their courtesy and respect towards each other. This hasn't been easy. But the admins have somehow managed to handle the massive number of "sharpies", but not as perfectly as some would like.

Anyway, so this blog will be used to keep the most valuable discussion. Some posts that get put up the fb page are of real good value, and it's a shame to have those discussions fade into oblivion. The blog might be able to help the admins keep track of some of the discussions and see them progress to some substantial output for the country.

We look forward to keeping the most valuable discussion alive through this blog.

Once again, on behalf of Douveri Henao and the Sharp Talk admin team,

WELCOME!

Heavenise day!

ST Admin