Polye’s win set aside

Source:The National, Tuesday May 3rd, 2016

 By DEMAS TIEN 

 THE National Court has set aside Kandep MP Don Polye’s victory during the 2012 general election ‒ pending the counting of votes in five ballot boxes initially rejected.

Justice Joseph Yagi in a ruling yesterday gave 30 days to the Electoral Commission to have the five ballot boxes counted.

Luke Alfred Manase, who was the runner-up in 2012 to Polye, the current Opposition Leader, in the Kandep Open seat, had sought four orders from the court including the recounting of votes in the five boxes.

Three were earlier in favour of Polye.

Yagi ordered yesterday that the candidate scoring the absolute majority after the counting of votes in the five boxes would be declared the Kandep MP.

The five boxes rejected were from the polling stations at Lungutenges No 1, Kombros No 1, Kambia No 1, Maru and Imipiaka in Kandep. 

Manase named Polye as the first respondent and the Electoral Commission as the second.

He disputed the election of Polye, questioning the conduct of election officials during the counting of votes.

The substance of the complaint by Manase in the petition was related to allegations of errors and omissions by the officers, servants and agents of the Electoral Commission. 

The court was satisfied with one of the grounds raised by Manase in his petition relating to the five boxes which were rejected. The votes in the five boxes were not scrutinised and counted. The other three grounds were dismissed because the court was not satisfied that the allegations stated in the grounds had been sufficiently proven.

Meanwhile, Polye said yesterday in response to the court ruling that he was the victim of an error made by the returning officer for the Kandep Open seat.

Polye said he had won the seat by a big margin but this had been set aside because of an error by the Electoral Commission and its agents.

“I am just a victim of an error by the Returning Officer,” Polye said.

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Poll officials to face probe

Source: The National, Thursday May 5th, 2016

 By MALUM NALU

THE election manager and returning officer for the Kandep Open seat in Enga during the 2012 general election will be referred to police to be investigated over alleged corruption, an official says.

Electoral Commissioner Patilias Gamato told The National that he wrote to Police Commissioner Gari Baki yesterday to have election manager Henry Kyakas and returning officer Naepet Keae investigated.

Kyakas is employed by the commission while Keae is employed by the Enga provincial administration.

The National Court on Monday set aside Kandep MP Don Polye’s victory during the 2012 general election pending the counting of five ballot boxes which were initially rejected by election officials. The five boxes rejected were from the polling stations at Lungutenges No. 1, Kombros No. 1, Kambia No. 1, Maru and Imipiaka in Kandep.

The substance of the complaint by petitioner Luke Alfred Manase was related to allegations of errors and omissions by the officers, servants and agents of the Electoral Commission.

Gamato said the electoral processes were not followed in the Kandep election.

He said it was important that election managers and returning officers avoid corrupt practices during the election process.

Gamato said the court on Monday concluded that there was a lot of “foul play” involved.

“What the judgement and the court order said was that there was a lot of foul play,” he said.

“The evidence the petitioner (Manase) and his supporters gave was strong and based on that the judge made a ruling. We at the Electoral Commission must be strong in upholding the Constitution and the laws that govern elections.”

Polye won the seat with 23,952 votes.

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Polye's Vote Sums Don't Add- June 2012

Councillors, presidents take oaths

Source:The National, Monday September 9th, 2013

MORE than 370 ward councillors and 18 presidents took their oaths of office last Friday in Wabag, Enga, following the local level government (LLG) elections.
Senior provincial magistrate Wialu Sakatao officiated at the ceremony for the councillors and presidents from the Wabag, Wapenamanda, Kompiam-Ambum and Lagaip-Porgera districts.
The Tsak LLG did not take part in the ceremony after the president’s seat was declared a failed election by Electoral Commissioner Andrew Trawen.
However, the LLG’s ward councillors were sworn in as polling and counting were completed without any problems.
Kandep district’s ward and Kandep local level governments also did not take part in the ceremony after they did not conduct polling because of widespread tribal conflict in the district.
Governor Peter Ipatas, who witnessed the ceremony, told the newly elected councillors and presidents at the Messiah Gutnius Lutheran Church in Wabag to put aside their political differences and work with him to provide leadership in the community.
“You have been given the mandate by the people to live with them and provide leadership.
“Don’t leave the people and go looking around for money in towns,” he said.
Ipatas also thanked provincial government and Electoral Commission officials who were involved in the successful elections.
“I am happy to acknowledge the work of the provincial election steering committee led by provincial administrator Dr Samson Amean, provincial police commander Supt Philip Welia, provincial election manager Henry Kiakas and all the election officials for a job well done,” he said.
According to Electoral Commission, supplementary elections would be held for the LLGs that had been failed

War-torn Kandep aim for peace

Source: Post Courier, Monday March 18, 2013

Feature

Monday 18th March 2013

By Daniel Kumbon in Wabag

Kandep people will now begin to see decent peace upon their beautiful valley because government authorities have taken positive steps to stop an ongoing election related tribal warfare that has claimed over sixty lives.
The fighting between the Akul and Kambrip tribes which started after the declaration of results of the Kandep Open seat in 2012 has affected the whole district, forcing people to flee to many parts of the country while property worth millions of kina was destroyed.
Two prominent figures in PNG and arch political rivals, Alfred Manase and Treasury Minister, Don Polye belong to these two tribes and their political allies took sides to engage in a prolonged guerrilla–type tribal warfare.
Now, there are positive signs that peace will be restored. New Provincial Police Commander, Supt Philip Weila went to Kandep on March 7 to assure people that police will come in full force to bring normalcy. Not many people were present to receive the good news because they were at funerals at Lagalap and Kambia after four young men were killed that same week – two on each side.
Then on Monday March 11, Provincial Administrator, Dr Samson Amean and Rural Police Commander, Senior Inspector Martin Kelly travelled to Kandep and told the people that 60 policemen will definitely come today, March 18, and will divide into two groups – one to be based among the Kambrip and the other to operate on the Akul side.
In addition, 15 regular policemen will be based permanently in Kandep under the command of Senior Sgt Jim Panao who had already moved there on Sunday March 10, with an advance party. The war-torn district has had no police presence in the last ten years.
Dr Amean told the people that as part of the government’s over-all peace initiative he had appointed a senior public servant, Mr Ben Besawe as acting District Administer to mobilise and restore the public service machinery in the district. And he will accord him full support to ensure essential services begin to flow to the people.
“Bougainville was destroyed due to problems that started like this. Twenty years of conflict there has seen a whole generation of people deprived of formal education. Many people were killed in that conflict and all services stopped,” Dr Amean said. “And Kandep people must be warned: the same thing can happen here. You must lay down your arms and think of your children’s future.”
He said he will travel to Port Moresby to plead with Don Polye and Alfred Manase to ask them to encourage their people to stop fighting and support government initiatives to bring peace and normalcy to their district.
Leaders from other tribes who actively fought in the fight assured the Provincial Administrator, police and senior public servants from key divisions who had accompanied Dr Samson Amean - that they will withdraw their support and leave it to the Akul and Kambrip tribes to carry on with fighting if they wished.
Mr Moe Yari, a Pao clansman of the major Ambarep tribe said his men had been supporting the Kambrip tribe mainly to take revenge after Apai Kelape Sapala, was gunned down at Alawaip village by Akul tribesmen for no apparent reason. But now he said, his people will withdraw and support the government.
All the people present appreciated steps the government was taking and thanked Dr Amean for appointing Mr Ben Besawe as acting District Administrator. As soon as taking office, Mr Besawe has engaged people to clean Kandep town overgrown with tall grass. He was also encouraging 35 public servants who fled to return to their posts.
But urgent maintenance is required on government houses after opportunists had completely dismantled six houses and left others in skeletons by removing doors, window frames, furniture, etc. Five public servants who had stayed behind during the conflict could do nothing to save the houses. Even the Ima and Alitip people, the original landowners on which Kandep town sits had escaped to other parts of the country.
In other positive developments, two schools in the vicinity of the fighting zone — Marient Primary School and Kandep Primary School have resumed classes. The only problem is that while enrolment increased, teaching staff was minimal. For instance, Kandep Primary School currently has over 400 students enrolled in all grades but only ten teachers are available when it should have fifteen.
Over at Kandep High School, Provincial Administrator, Dr Samson Amean ordered an immediate investigation into allegations that K750,000 may have been misused last year. Only K120,000 was left in the school account. And office equipment worth thousands of kina is believed to be held by former headmaster, Mr Iminj Kaipas in his village.
“I am giving priority to restore services back to the war-torn Kandep District and such allegations only jeopardise my team’s efforts,” Dr Amean said. “The school was closed mid-way last year amidst serious law and order problems when the lives of the students, teachers and their families were in danger.”
As such, all school funds should have been left untouched, he said and ordered internal auditors to find out how this huge amount was used and report to him within two weeks. Despite the financial drawbacks, the school is beginning to pick up with 10 teachers on active duty with about 300 students enrolled. And gradually government services will be restored as police begin operations and key government agencies begin work.
Official figures of the total number of people killed in the fight on both sides is 57 but unconfirmed reports indicate that over seventy people have perished. Many more sustained serious injuries and innocent women were subjected to sex attacks.
This fight has seen almost all schools including the only high school, health centres and other government services shut down or destroyed. The Murip High Altitude Rice project funded by the Chinese government was reduced to ashes.

 

Enga forms group to tackle tribal fights

News	Thursday 07th March 2013

By Paeope Ovasuru

THE tribal fights in Kandep District have been going on for too long
and the authorities have done nothing but watch innocent lives being lost.
Enga Governor Grand Chief Peter Ipatas raised this concern in a media conference yesterday where he announced that his provincial government was now taking actions to stop the tribal fighting.
Governor Ipatas said there was now a provincial law and order committee in place with him as the chairman to bring peace and normalcy back into the district.
“We are now taking steps to restore peace and normalcy back into the district, innocent lives have been lost and the majority of people are suffering because of the actions of a minority who are power hungry,” he said.
The actions that the committee has taken include the appointment of an acting district administrator Ben Pesawe and the directing of the Provincial Police Commander Philip Welia to visit Kandep
District and talk to the tribes involved.
“I want to assure the people of Kandep and Enga Province that the situation will be returned to normalcy and we are now moving in to address it, we have left it for so long,” he said.
However, he added that the provincial government needed the support of Kandep MP Don Polye.
He said that he had spoken to the member but had yet to get any feedback.
He praised the new provincial police commander for his efforts in addressing the tribal fight in Kandep.
Governor Ipatas said that the people were using high powered guns and money.
“If you carefully look at the situation, there are some people with money involved in these fights; they are the ones funding the high powered guns to be used in this fight,’’ he said.
“From reports that we have had, over 60 people have been killed in the fights already and I cannot go on letting this happen.’’
He stated that the fights had caused many people to miss out on basic services.
“The district administrator has abandoned his duties and the people have suffered for too long,” said Governor Ipatas.
Meanwhile, in some of the media reports, it has been said that women and children were not part of the tribal fights traditionally, but they were now among the innocent people being killed. 

Top cop vows to end Kandep tribal fights

Source: The National, Wednesday 06th March, 2013

By PHILIP KEPSON

NEW Enga police commander acting Supt Philip Welia has made a firm undertaking to put an end to the continuing tribal fighting in the Kandep district.
He told a police management meeting last Friday that urgent action was needed to bring peace and harmony to Kandep and other trouble-torn areas of the province.
Welia was instrumental in resolving a number of tribal and ethnic conflicts in Lae city and Wau-Bulolo recently in his capacity as a senior police officer in the two electorates.
He was recently appointed to the police command in Enga to replace Chief Supt Martin Lakari who had been transferred to Western Highlands.
Welia said it would require a wide consultation among parties involved in the conflict to ensure normalcy
in the district.
“My priority is to return peace to Kandep. To achieve this, it will require serious consultation among relevant parties including the provincial administration which will be represented by its law and order section, two local level governments in the district (Kandep and Wage LLGs), Kandep district administration, district education and health divisions, churches, women, the political leaders (of the district), educated elites from the district and the leaders of the warring tribes,”
he said.
Welia said a peace negotiating team comprising the various factions had been formed and he was ready to divide them into two groups and send them to the tribal zones to start negotiating for peace.
“However, before sending the two groups, I will send a police scout to the two main tribes to inform them about the work of the peace negotiating team,” he said.
The widespread conflict started when two tribes known as Kuporop and Kambirip of two political rivals, prominent lawyer Alfred Manase and Kandep MP Don Polye, started accusing each other of foulplay during a by-election in 2010.
The by-election was conducted after a successful petition by Manase against Polye in the Court of Disputed Return in Mt Hagen.
When Polye was re-elected in light of fierce fighting and killing of at least five people, the tension between the two tribes continued into the 2012 general election.
Kandep district administrator Ben Besawe said more than 80% of the people had fled to nearby Southern Highlands and other parts of Enga

Polye wins challenge

Source: The National, Tuesday 05th March, 2013

By ADRIAN MATHIAS

DEPUTY Chief Justice Gibbs Salika dismissed an election petition against the Treasurer and Kandep MP Don Pomb Polye yesterday for non-compliance of court directions by the petitioner.
The petition was brought before the court of disputed returns in Port Moresby by lawyer and losing candidate Alfred Luke Manase after the elections last year.

Manase and Polye were candidates for the Kandep open electorate in Enga. Manase, who was represented by Christine Copeland, said there were errors and omissions during the counting of votes at Wabag, Enga’s capital.He alleged that returning officer Naipet Keae and counting officials had manipulated figures polled during the counting which had resulted in Polye winning the Kandep seat.Manase also claimed that some ballot boxes were not counted.
However Polye, the founder and leader of the Triumph Heritage Empowerment (THE) Party, filed an objection to competency of the petition through his lawyer Palus Doa to dismiss the petition.
The case went into directions hearing twice in the court of disputed returns in Port Moresby, the first being on Nov 26 last year and then on Feb 7, when the court issued directions to the parties to file and serve affidavits on each other.
Salika, while dismissing the petition in its entity yesterday for non-compliance of court orders, on Feb 7 had directed the Electoral Commission’s lawyer Ray Williams to file affidavits by Feb 11 and Copeland by Feb 15.
When the matter came before him yesterday, he found that Williams had filed accordingly but Copeland had not as she was on on leave.
Salika refused her reason and said the non-compliance of court orders was three months since Nov 26, adding that it was not a day or two.
He told Copeland that she should have advised another lawyer from within the firm to step in for her while she was on leave.
Salika said court orders and directions were meant to be complied with and failure to do so, as in the case of election petition, resulted in dismissal.
He then upheld the objection to competency filed by the treasurer and dismissed the petition in its entirety. The petitioner will pay the costs

Stop the bloodshed in Kandep

Source: The National, Monday 18th February, 2013

TRIBAL fighting in Kandep has escalated since July last year with high-powered weapons now being used.
Some 50 lives have been lost, almost 20 villages destroyed and properties lost.
Children are being denied their right to schooling, health services have stopped and people are suffering from sickness.
All the schools in Kandep have been closed.
The fighting was sparked off by the killing of a man who was travelling from Kandep Station to his village.
The Enga police chief has remained quiet over this and the local leaders have chosen not to do anything about it. They act if as nothing is going on.
Kandep leaders appear unconcerned now that the general election is over.
While the elections may indeed be over, violence which stemmed from it is still going on.
The leaders should talk to their supporters and get them to surrender their weapons.

 

Richard Yakam
Port Moresby

Kandep tribal fight continues

yutok

Friday 08th February 2013

IT IS over seven months and the tribal fight in Kandep is still continuing.
The tribal fight in Kandep has escalated since it started in July 2012 right after the elections.
The men are using high-powered guns and countless lives have been lost, properties destroyed and almost 20 villages have been totally destroyed.
School children are denied their rights to education, health services have stopped, and mothers and children are dying from curable diseases.
The only high school in Kandep, five primary schools and several elementary schools are closed.
The fighting started right after election when a man travelling along from Kandep Station to his village was chopped to pieces. Hence, 15 council wards and some 20 villages are involved in the fights. Almost 50 lives have been lost so far and the fighting is still continuing.
It is not known why the Enga Police Commander is keeping quiet on this issues as well as the Enga Provincial Government and the leaders in Kandep are doing nothing about it.
They are pretending as if there is nothing going on while women and children are suffering.
The women and children have fled their homes and are seeking refuge in Mendi, Southern Highlands Province and the issue of food security has become a major concern.
The lack of appropriate action to stop this madness by people in authority and the leaders leaves much to be desired.
It seems that the leaders of Kandep are more concerned during elections and do not care once it’s over.
This is much more election related violence and I call on the leaders to talk to their respective supporters and disarm them.
Women and children are the victims in this tribal fight and immediate action is required including relief supplies to help them.
This is a man-made disaster where children are denied their right to education, health services and many people are dying of hunger.
I call on the Police Commander and the National Government to take appropriate action in the absence of Enga Police and the Provincial Government who seem to turn blind eye to the issue.
I urgently appeal to those in authority to take appropriate measures so that mothers and children can return to their normal lives.

Richard Yakam

LLG presidents’ election by popular vote will create problems, says former MP

Source:The National, Friday 18th of January, 2013

FORMER Kandep parliamentarian John Yakka has asked the government to review its decision on electing local level government presidents by popular vote.
Yakka, who is the Kandep LLG president and a member of the Enga provincial assembly, told a leaders gathering in Wabag town recently that Kandep would face the worst if the election of the presidents was held outside the chambers.
Prime Minister Peter O’Neill said last year that LLG presidents would be elected by the people when they vote in new ward councillors in May.
LLG presidents were previously elected in the chambers by ward councillors.
Yakka said his district had lost more than 400 people in election-related violence in the past 10 years and the death toll would double if the people were allowed to elect the presidents outside the chambers with “wild campaign programmes”.
“More than 400 people have already died in election-related problems in Kandep,” he said.
“Tribes are heavily engaged in tribal fighting with high-powered guns.
“Therefore, it’s advisable that the government changes its decision in order to prevent more people from dying,” he said.
He said the ongoing violence in Kandep started when the Court of Disputed Returns ruled in favour of a submission by runner-up and prominent lawyer Alfred Manase for a by-election against incumbent MP Don Polye’s election victory in the 2007 general election.
The by-election, which was held in 2009, did not end well as heavily armed supporters of the two candidates threatened free a election by chasing away voters and preventing officials from doing their duties in polling areas before Polye was declared winner in Goroka, Eastern Highlands, where counting took place.
He said the problems became worse last year with the daylight killing of a man near Wabag market when supporters of the two candidates clashed openly during the counting period.
Enga police said the trouble was continuing, with many deaths as innocent children, mothers and old people flee to the neighbouring Southern Highlands and other parts of Enga.
Enga Governor Peter Ipatas has appealed to leaders in Kandep, including Polye, to play a leading role to bring the conflicting tribes to a round-table discussion on restoring peace in the community.
He said the members of his Operation Mekim Save (OMS) were sent to the affected areas lately to negotiate peace but they could not do much with the help of local authorities on the ground.

80 Lives Lost In Kandep election related Fight

Will Kandep people learn from their actions for a better Kandep in future? Are the people at fault for taking law into their own hands pending the outcome of the election petition to declare the win of Don Polye null and void? Should there ever be a bye election, how safe will that be given the current situation. Will there ever be a better Kandep again after all these chaos? Have the people themselves lived in luxury to buy the weapons and ammunitions that they are using today and continuously for the last 5 months? The truth is....Innocent lives have been lost and there is NO WINNER in a fight and there is no special reward. We all have failed miserably in this area!!.

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80 lives lost in aftermath of poll violence

Source: The National, Monday 24th December, 2012

POLICE have urged political leaders from Enga to resolve the election-related violence in Kandep district, which has claimed 80 lives so far.
Provincial police commander Supt Martin Lakari said despite fighting between supporters of two rival candidates stopping four months ago, it continued in isolated areas.
He said extra policemen were deployed to the district to maintain order but killings continued in isolated areas that police could not reach.
Lakari and Highlands police divisional commander Teddy Tei said it would be best for Kandep MP Don Polye to return home and talk to his people.
They believe that the violence is between Polye’s (supporters) and those of losing candidate Alfred Manase.
Police could not confirm how many people had died so far but sources have put the number at 80

Time govt move in to end tribal war

Source: The National, Friday 07th December, 2012

I CALL on the government to conduct an investigation into the number of people killed in Kan­-dep district following the recent general election.
The National has published several letters with regard to the election-related tribal war.
What I cannot understand is the deafening si­lence from the Kandep MP.
As a senior minister, Don Polye could have stepped in and put an end to the on-going war.
The same goes with the so-called “action governor”.
Why is Peter Ipatas so quiet too? Do not tell me that Ipatas and Polye are not concerned with the on-going war or the number of people who have lost their lives?
The PPC needs to send his men to Mariant LLG
to put an end to this fight. The tribal fight is between the Okul and Kamprip tribes.
The cause of this tribal war is not because of pigs, money, land, forest, wo­men or anything relating to tribal values and beliefs but over power. This has disrupted the lives of the innocent people of Mariant LLG.
The number of deaths cannot be confirmed be­cause no one from the police, Electoral Commission, justice department or Engan government has taken the initia­-tive to go there.
Kandep High School was forced to close while the multi-million kina wheat project was burnt.
I agree with Jerry Songpen (Nov 30) that the go­vernment must declare a state of emergency in Kandep.
Yand Kaiman
Mariant

Relocate Kandep high school to Lower Wage

Source: The National, Wednesday 10th October, 2012

THE Kandep Provincial High School must be relocated from Kokas village to the Lower Wage.
It is the only high school in the district which students from other schools in Kandep go to continue their education.
But it is forced to close each time the country holds a gene­ral election or by-election.
The school becomes the main victim at every election without fail as supporters of candidates would damage the school trucks, classrooms and dormitories; chase students out of the school and assault teachers.
Each time this happen, the school board and administration have no choice but to suspend classes for five to six months in fear of more destruction.
The students are sent home and wait for the school to re-open.
When this happens, the students are denied their right to education, the lives of students and teachers are at risk while
the so-called leaders from Lai LLG and Mariand LLG in Kandep pretend as if nothing is happening.
Whenever this happens, the school’s investment in human resource is wasted.
I believe that since the tribal fight is still going on in the
Ma­riand LLG area and a possibility of the court of disputed returns declaring a by-election, classes will not resume anytime soon.
As such, I call on the Enga provincial education board, Go­vernor Peter Ipatas and other authorities to relocate the school to Lower Wage area as this area is the only reliable zone in the district where leaders such as former MP Jimson Sauk, pre­si­dent of Wage LLG Tum Akiala, Cr John Lakai, Kii Kaipas and former pre­sident Michael Marape are based.
This could be the only solution to solve the problems faced by our students as some of
them could become our future leaders.

Mangi Timrops
Kandep

Stop the Kandep Fight - UPNG Kandep Students

Source: Post Courier, September 13, 2012 

Students worry
By KOLOPU WAIMA

FORTY lives have so far been lost and the Murip wheat project worth more than K3 million was burnt down to ashes among many villages destroyed in the current tribal war in Kandep, Enga province.
Over 100 people have been wounded and thousands homeless. Women are being raped and the disabled are forced into burning fires, and children are being killed.
Kandep High School, the only high school in the district, and other primary and elementary education institutions and health services have been closed and are no longer in operation.
District service providers and business houses have fled in fear of losing their lives and businesses.
But no one is taking the initiative to stop the fight and the whole Kandep District is under serious threat.
Lives are not the same anymore.
Concerned Kandep students from the University of Papua New Guinea and working class living in Port Moresby in a joint media statement yesterday pleaded to responsible politicians and leaders to stop the bloodshed immediately.
The Kandep students gathered at UPNG yesterday and pledged they unity, stand united. They strongly called on the leaders in the province and the electorate to immediately do something about stopping the fight.
The students said that they are demanding the politicians because it is an election related tribal fight.
“We are demanding responsible politicians to go to the district and disarm their tribesmen without any further delay. This request is being put out not in favor of any person or to oppose any person. But to expose ignorance of responsible leaders and authorities upon hearing news of people being killed,” they said.
The student said that the Kandep District was made up of Lai, Waike and Marient Local Level Government (LLG) and these three (3) LLGs were under tribal warfare.
They said that the core of election related tribal fight was between Kamprip and Okul tribes in the Mariant LLG.
This has affected over 50 major tribal groups whose villages and houses have been destroyed.
“We had our villages burned to ashes and our relatives displaced in other parts of Enga or fled to the Southern Highlands Province. We are calling on the responsible persons behind the election related violence to immediately disarm their tribal groups, the Kamprip and Okul Tribes,” the students said.
They said that, this was a general notice to any responsible leader or politicians from the district to stop pretending as if nothing was wrong in the electorate.
“A seven day ultimatum is given after the publication of this news either in one or two daily papers to responsible leaders to take action or you will be named to take personal responsibility for causing conflict between your tribes which resulted in many deaths and destruction of villages,” They said.
“We are calling the National Government to Declare Kandep District a Tribal War Zone and impose District Emergency. We humbly appeal to Prime Minister, Peter O’Neil to take note of this plea to direct your Police Minister and relevant agencies to investigate the validity of this information for appropriate assistance,” the Kandep students said.

So Only 2 People Dead in Kandep Tribal fight??

The election related fighting in Kandep has claimed more lives than as reported in the National. Enga provincial police Commander Martin Lakari to report that only two people were dead is a slab in the face of the majority of Kandep people. This clearly shows how ignorant he has been together with the elected leaders of the province.

 

What grounds and which facts has he got to prove that only 2 people have died in the tribal fight. Confirmed cases that the public are aware of are, the following is the confirmed list for each tribe

Yuripaka rest house (Apais) - 4 confirmed including the killing during counting

Gini rest house - 3 confirmed including the one killed at Wabag during counting

Kolopa Rest house - 6 confirmed including 1 woman

Pura 2 rest house - 4 confirmed dead

Supi rest house - 3 confirmed dead

Imal rest house - 1 confirmed

 

The above list is excluding those that have spear and bullet wounds as well as those that have missed a hand or a leg with bullet. The confirmed figure is yet to received but this is based on confirmed cases received by the author. We expect more than this number in the finally tally of dead.

 

Destroying of properties is countless of up to 12 rest houses completely destroyed

 

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Polye, Manase called on to help restore peace

Source: The National, Wednesday 5th September, 2012

ENGA provincial police commander Martin Lakari is calling on Kandep parliamentarian Don Polye and his rival, Alfred Manase, to go back to the electorate and help police restore peace among their warring tribes.
“I call on all leaders of the district to help police restore peace,” Supt Lakari said.
The fight between the Akulya and Kambrip people of Kandep district started during the elections in July.
The fight reportedly started when suspects from Akulya, Manase’s tribe, allegedly hacked two Kambrips, Polye’s tribe, to death in Wabag town.
The fight was then taken to the village and surprise raids were conducted on the enemy tribes involved.
“During the fight they burnt down the million kina wheat factory in Murip village,” Lakari said.
He said thousands of kina worth of property that included permanent houses and vehicles were burnt.
He said women, children and other peace-loving people were displaced and now lived in fear.
“Only two deaths were officially recorded and not 30 or 40 deaths as reported in the media,” Lakari said.
“These are unnecessary speculations creating fear in people’s minds.”
Lakari said if people died or were injured they took them to the hospital and reported it police.
Lakari said he had sent 30 police task force officers from Wabag into the trouble zone on Aug 8.
“They (policemen) are negotiating peace. The fighting has slowed down,” Lakari said.
He warned the fighters to lay down their arms and make a commitment to peace, saying police would not be easy on them.
“I urge losing candidates to accept defeat and try the elections again in 2017,” Lakari said.

Court: Polye to pay cost

Source: The National, Friday 7th September, 2012

THE Waigani National Court has ordered Treasurer Don Polye to meet newspaper advertising costs for publishing the election petition summons filed against him by losing Kandep open candidate, Luke Alfred Manase.
The unexpected scenario stemmed from difficulty faced by Manase’s lawyers to serve court documents to Polye in person.
Justice Colin Makail said several affidavits confirmed there was difficulty in serving the court documents.
“I am satisfied that serious attempts have been made by the petitioner/applicant (Manase) on the first respondent (Polye) but have been unsuccessful,” he said.
Makail had ordered that the documents should be published in both the daily newspapers over the next two days.
The court was told that “it is unknown where the official residence” of Polye was, and failed attempts had been made by Manase’s lawyers to have an audience with Polye.
The court had been informed that there were phone messages left with staff from Polye’s Treasury Department to arrange for the summons to be served but it did not work out.
Under the election petition court rules, a losing candidate can file a petition against a win 40 days after the official declaration and summons are to be served within 14 days after filing it in the Court of Disputed Returns

Kandep chaotic

There is no time to point fingers....Act now!!

 

Fighting has started since the declaration of the election results which was on July 13, 2012 and or even before that when counting was going on at Wabag. What is very interesting is that, the so called Leaders have turned a blind eye on what was happening at home. Several attempts was made in writing to our daily papers to bring this to the public but this did not get published for some reason known to themselves, probably because of the fact that there was no publicity of no concrete evidence to substantiate.

 

Since then, total lives lost to date is more than 50 excluding those that have lost a leg or a arm and spear wounds.  The most interesting scenario is how the poor people at home have managed to get these high powered weapons given their background where Kandep has no cash crops to generate their income and pigs, the only source of income takes couple of years to grow up and mature.

 

The Eastern part of Mariant constituency is now all war zones with innocent families displaced from their homes and living in the bushes for cover but always in fear of attack every minute of their lives. the total number of villages completely destroyed accounts at 12 so far and might continue if nothing is done.

 

It is believed that everyone has played a part to be in this situation, the people themselves had they not started the fight, the leaders had they intervened early, the election official including the electoral commission had they heard the people's cry to remove the RO at the first place because of his record in the conduct of previous elections.

 

Now the damage has already been done so the best thing to do now is to find a solution to the problem rather than pointing fingers at each other in an aim to find the root cause. A better solution is required now or more lives will be lost. The rate at which lives are lost is alarming with more than 2 per day.

 

***********************************************************************

 

Source: The National, Friday 31st August 2012

By ELIAS LARI
MORE than 30 police personnel from Wabag have been deployed to Kandep, Enga, to prevent further killings and destruction caused to properties by supporters of election candidates.
The fights in Kandep were among the supporters who attacked each other straight after the declaration of Don Polye, according to provincial police commander Supt Martin Lakari.
Lakari said yesterday the policemen were deployed into the affected
area last week to protect lives and property.
“This fight between supporters has been going on since the declaration (of the winner of the electorate), but I cannot give the exact figure of those who have died and property damaged, including domestic animals which were killed.
“I need to receive a full report on the matter and decide on what is the next step to take to completely stop the fight.”
Lakari said police officers deployed a week ago were carrying out awareness and educating the people to lay
Lakari said peace negotiations were progressing well and hoped to see a change happen soon.
“Apart from property, food crops are also affected and I do not know what people are eating to survive.
“I condemn this fight as there are no good reasons for people to take on each other,” he said.
“Tribal fights do not bring anything good.
“I don’t know why they are taking this as a game to attack each other.”
He said the only way to live a peaceful life was to do away with tribal fights.
“No one can claim that his tribe or clan has
won.
“Both sides will suffer destruction and loss of lives,” Lakari said

War zones in Kandep, Porgera districts

Source: Home News, Post Courier, September 3, 2012

By ISAAC NICHOLAS

 

TWO districts of Kandep and Porgera in Enga province will be declared fighting zones, Enga Governor Peter Ipatas said last week.
Governor Ipatas also reignited the call for the ban of firearms in the country as he was very critical of police lack of action in the province in restoring peace.
The Enga Governor said he had asked the provincial peace and good order committee to convene an urgent meeting early next week to declare the two districts of Kandep and Porgera as fighting zones.
He said the use of guns is prevalent in most of the fights and asked from where the villagers are getting their guns and ammunition.
He alleged that the leaders are the ones behind the purchase of guns and ammunitions for their people.
“Most of the villagers are fully armed and because of that they are so powerful but the ultimate price is death.”
“A lot of killings are not by bows and arrows but with guns.”
Mr Ipatas said police can do the job in restoring law and order but there is no efficiency on the ground.
“Every time there is trouble police are needing money to move in - but why? Didn’t they take an oath to protect property and lives. Why should they always asked for money?”
Mr Ipatas said there was also no need for a state of emergency because it will be the same police who are going to be paid allowances to do the job that they can do now to restore normalcy.
“If the police are not doing their job then some heads must roll including that of the Police Commissioner, Provincial Police Commander and whoever is in charge over the police.”
Mr Ipatas said there is a big police presence in Porgera but they cannot contain the situation on the ground.
“This is not guerilla warfare. It is a tribal war that must be contained by police.”Mr Ipatas said he will be organising a trip with the police, Barrick and government officials to fly into Porgera next week to assess the situation.
“We leaders can be talking all day but at the end of the day it is the responsibility of police to restore law and order,” Mr Ipatas said.

Innocen Lives Lost In Kandep

Innocent Lives Lost In Kandep

With Frustration, I would like to post this comment on this blog regarding the fight in the Marient Constituency in Kandep, Enga Province.

So much damage has been done to properties with up to 30 plus lives lost and villages destroyed. food gardens all gone, families displaced from their dwelling place. The loss of lives is now becoming a daily thing since the election ballot papers for Kandep have reached Wabag for counting while the counting was going on. I can perfectly recall that up to 8 villages have been deserted for both rival clans. Fighter appears to be more related to the election and the ways counting was conducted and declaration done. While educated elites may like to take the more formal way of putting things to the court of disputed returns, local illiterate back at home though otherwise. 

I have been watching and to date, not even one report came out in the media regarding this killings and intense battling going on at Kandep. High powered guns are being used in this fight and i am wondering if there will ever be an end to that battle. The so called leaders from all levels have gone hiding, and are pretending as if nothing is happening. With is extend of damage done, the question is, who si going to corp all the blame. is it the electoral commission for re-appointing a RO that as demanded and petitioned by all candidates to remove him from getting involving? Is it the people themselves for not having to seek legal action and putting everything to court if they felt that the election process was unfair? Can the MP declare state of emergency and sent task force to Kandep? How and when will this intense gun fight stop if nothing is done.

Please help!!

Polye wants planning to go under new regime

Source: The Nationa, Monday July 16th, 2012

THE Department of National Planning will be abolished and its functions transferred to the prime minister if Don Polye heads the next government.
The transfer of responsibilities to the office of the country’s chief executive officer would include that of rural development, implementation and monitoring.
“That will mean managing the country as a corporate entity, not through the eye of a political institution,” Polye said yesterday.
The transfer was necessary because “the prime minister has to work and be actively involved in the planning, implementation and evaluation of policies to guide the country’s development framework,” he said.
“The prime minister cannot sit down and relax and expect these important development functions to be done by somebody else as is the case now.
“Papua New Guinea is not like Australia or any other developed nation for that matter. The prime minister has to work, and he has to work hard and do so with his heart.”
Polye was declared Kandep MP on primary counts last Friday at the Wabag Primary School, securing 23,678 votes after count 67. Nearest rival Alfred Manase scored about 12,000 votes behind on 11,318 while Sakias Yamalo Tomao was third, collecting 3,066.
The Kandep MP is the parliamentary leader of the Triumph Heritage Empowerment (T.H.E) Party. This will be his third term in parliament.
When thanking his Kandep people for having the confidence and allowing him to lead them for another term, Polye said he had the experience, skills and the knowledge to head the next government as prime minister.
“I have been on the job learning to become prime minister in the last 10 years with a
strong and quality leadership
that PNG so desires.”
With yesterday’s declaration of Douglas Tomuriesa as member for Kirriwina-Goodenough, and the lead held by eight other T.H.E Party candidates throughout the country, Polye said the progressive results were encouraging. And, he was confident of forming government after the numbers game begins at the end of this month.
He also appealed to all candidates not to disrupt the work of the Electoral Commission but to accept defeat.
“All political parties, their leaders, candidates and supporters must not interfere with the polling process.
“The integrity and credibility of the counting process must be upheld and the rule of law maintained,” Polye said.
He also called on all candidates to respect the constitutional functions of the Electoral Commission and the security forces.
Polye was declared by the district returning officer, Naipet Keae, after securing an absolute majority of 50%-plus-one vote with five ballot boxes yet to be counted.
Soon after signing his declaration papers at the Wabag Primary School, Polye reaffirmed his intention to be Enga’s first prime minister.
It is understood that legal opinions were being sought on Polye’s declaration.

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17th July 2012

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