The member elect for Nuku Open and Pangu Party Member, Joseph Sungi, has expressed concerns about certain issues the country had to face in this year’s National General Elections and wants to see that these problems a fixed before the next election in 2027. Speaking at the Press Conference held at the APEC Terminal at Jacksons Airport in Port Moresby on Saturday 30th July, Sungi highlighted some of the main issues on how the election was conducted, such as the update of the Common Roll, was the biggest problem in terms of getting the right population figure of the country. “In this year’s election we seemed to have rushed the process. Organization of the election was not something we expected compared to past elections. At this point, we don’t know the exact population figure of the country and that is a main concern.” Sungi said that though we have government agencies such as National Planning, PNG Civil and Identity Registry and NID offices located throughout the country, there seems to be questions and confusion raised regarding their job divisions. He also ensured that one of the main agendas that Pangu Pati in coalition with the National Alliance Party will do moving forward, is to make sure that the population of the country is sorted out and that they will provide the exact figure come election time. “We don’t have to wait for the next Electoral Commission to update the Electoral Roll; the population figure should be automatically given to us from the updated records.” “It would make the Electoral Commission’s job a lot easier so that they are able to know exactly how many eligible voters per ward, LLG, district and electorate. This is the plan for us the coalition government to do.” Speaking on behalf of his people in Nuku district in West Sepik province, Sungi said that 20% of his people did not get the chance to vote and was certain that this was the same issues faced in other parts of the country as well. He added that moving forward, the population of the country must be updated annually as well as the database.

Counting for the Madang Open Seat was suspended on Sunday 24th of July but later resumed on Tuesday the 26th after polling officials were not paid their allowance. Returning Officer of Madang Open Mr. Joe Sakipa, said that the polling officials that took part in polling are an automatic inclusion in the counting, therefore must be paid for the tasks they perform during polling and counting. He said this issue was raised to the Election Manager of Madang and assured the officials that everything has been sent to the Electoral Commission in Port Moresby to process their payments accordingly after they have confirmed all their details. Once the issue was sorted out, an agreement was made and counting resumed. “Since the resumption of counting on Tuesday, no major disturbances occurred, however, we did face a few more issues from the officials as well as from candidates and scrutineers in which we had to sort out quickly to avoid any more disruptions.” Sakipa stated as for the officials, their allowance was not only the issue they faced but meals and accommodation were also two other factors hindering them from their work performance. He stressed that the officials must have decent meals provided for them in order for counting to run smoothly and that they have accommodation provided for them after counting is done for the day. “Again, I had to bring this to the attention of the Election Manager and the steering committee in which they responded saying that they will assist in providing meals. We must understand that the officials begin counting as early as 6.30am, therefore breakfast, lunch and dinner must be provided for them.” “As for accommodation, many of the officials reside outside of town which is quite far from the counting venue that is situated in town, I had to bring this to the attention of the Electoral Commission, through the Election Manager and to a success, accommodation was finally paid for with our officials now residing in town.” Issues during counting did not stop there for the Returning Officer, as he had to deal with more issues but this time from scrutineers and candidates. Sakipa stated that the scrutineers had issues with the counting records claiming that the records they had did not match the ones of his and the officials. He explained to them that the records they took note of was exact and correct and that if there was an error made, then the scrutineers should be the ones to double check their records. Apart from this, there were some grievances from one of the candidates who said that the polling teams did not follow the gazette polling schedule. Sakipa explained that from the start of the Issue of Writs, the nomination and polling had to be done quickly and finish on time since the Issue of Writs occurred around the same time as passing of the Deputy Prime Minister, Sam Basil’s. He explained that during that time, another polling schedule had to be done quickly as well increase the number of polling teams so that the nominations and polling could be completed on time. “We sent the schedule to the Electoral Commission in Port Moresby in which the gazette was late, therefore was seen as something the candidates did not agree with.” Sakipa further explained to the candidates that if they have such issues like this, there is a normal process they can follow and that rightful process to follow is through the court. “There is only one avenue that they must follow and that is getting a court order if they want me stop counting and if they wish, can always take note and after the declaration has been done, they can bring it up to the court of dispute of returns. Otherwise, candidates do not have the power or the order to stop counting." In addition to this, Sakipa added that end of the day there can only be one winner and that he and his officials are not responsible for the outcome of the counting on whether a candidate wins or loses because that is in the hands of the voters and how you present yourself during campaigning. Madang Open covers three LLGs, Ambenob, Transgogol and Madang Urban and have a total of sixty-seven ballot boxes; twenty boxes for Ambenob, thirty-six for Madang Urban and eleven for Transgogol.

Kimbe Secondary School in West New Britain Province, had its administration block up in flames early Thursday morning at around 3am. The cause of the fire is still unknown at this time as to what might have caused this incident to transpire. Provincial Police Commander, Chief Inspector John Iara, said that his officers are currently investigating the cause of the incident on whether it was election related or not. According to Iara, this is the second incident that has occurred in the province where another school building was burnt down. He said just last week, a classroom at Kimbe Primary School got burnt down as well with the reason still unknown to this day. Iara however believes this is the work of arsonists who are well taking advantage of the situation by instigating more law and order problems. “This is a hectic time for us and with the counting currently going on in the province, our police manpower is tied up.” Iara has appealed to surrounding communities of both schools to come forward and provide any possible information they can relating to the burning down of the two buildings belonging to both schools. Iara has also expressed disappointment at what has happened and has described the unfortunate occurrence of both events as something terrible especially towards the students. He further stated that at this time also, police are trying to mount up both incidents and to get to the bottom of it. Meanwhile, the WNB Education Provincial Board has issued a circular to all school Board of Managements to have all schools close down up until the end of the declaration.

Counting for Moresby South and Regional Seat is expected to continue today at Rita Flynn according to Moresby South Returning Officer, Mr. Tau Toea. He said so far fifty-six boxes have been counted with sixty-nine more to go, which is a total of 125 boxes. He added that so far three counts were suspended due to the dispute of ballot boxes but has assured that the counting will definitely proceed to avoid any more delays and that the declaration should be announced well before the Return of Writs on the 29th. Mr. Toea stated that a formal petition was handed to them by the candidates of Moresby South to suspend counting due to certain discrepancies pertaining to the three disputed boxes. “The petition has been brought forward to the Electoral Commission and the matter addressed.” He said despite the issue at hand, his team is now in the process of moving forward and has stressed that he will do everything in his power now to make sure that the counting continues and is completed. “The only reason we will face any more delays is if the candidates continue to come up with petitions, otherwise we are well equipped to move forward.” In terms of disputing ballot boxes, Toea stated that this should have been done during the polling period, and counting to just continue without any disruptions. Toea has warned all counting officials and scrutineers not to give a hard time and to allow the process to go through smoothly and if so, will be removed from the counting center.

Porgera Secondary School in Enga Province came under attack on Friday morning where a duplex teachers’ house was burnt down as well as the destruction of all twenty seven teachers’ houses. Many of the teachers’ properties were stolen during the destruction causing teachers and staff to flee. Deputy Principal of Porgera Secondary, Mr. Amos Amail, says the attack had nothing to do with the National General Elections, but as an opportunity for culprits to cause havoc. He stated that whilst police personnel are busy with elections, the culprits have taken the opportunity to do just that. He said most of the teachers from the Province travelled to their respective districts and villagers to cast their vote when the incident occurred whilst those from other provinces fled the campus elsewhere. “The culprits come from the nearby villages who had supposedly planned to rob the school and cause destruction. These are also the very same people involved in the continuous tribal fights that usually takes place near our school.” “Prior to the destruction of our school, the opportunists have affected the students’ studies with their never ending tribal fights, causing students to miss classes. And now with the elections going on, is the perfect time for them to cause trouble.” Students are scheduled to resume classes this week, however with the situation now, the students will be away from school for a while, according to Amail. He further stated that he has reached out to the Education Director of Enga to look into this in the hope that a solution is found in regards to the teachers and staff place of residence. He said that nothing can be done at this time except wait on the Education Director as to what steps can be taken next.” Amail expressed his disappointment on what the situation has put them through and with matters worse that no police personnel is around to assist has made the situation worse for them. “The teachers and staff have been displaced for now with no properties or belongings with them, except the clothes on their backs.”

Counting for Markham Open Seat in the Morobe Province was disrupted on Saturday the 17th of July when supporters of a particular candidate, alleging foul play during counting, stormed the counting venue and damaged ballot boxes and papers. Morobe Election Manager, Mr. Simon Soheke, said this candidate claimed that he was expecting more votes to be for him from a certain area which he said was his strong hold; however, while counting the votes were more for other candidates instead of him. This then led to him being suspicious and then he took matters into his own hands and then, followed by his supporters, burned all the ballot boxes and papers for Markham Open as well as for Regional. The Provincial Election Manager said that prior to this, counting started on Tuesday, however a few issues popped up where he had to step in the next day to correct them so that counting could continue. He said misreporting of the tallies and allegations of the Returning Officer being bribed by the candidates were the main issues raised at that time in which he had to step in and sort out quickly. “As soon as these issues were sorted out, we then continued counting on Thursday up until just yesterday (Saturday 16th July) where the issue of the burning of ballot boxes escalated.” However, Soheke gave assurance that nothing went wrong during the counting and that no foul play was done. He added that the officials were very transparent in their tasks that they were given, and the scrutineers were also very cooperative at the counting centers. “Fortunately none of the officials were targeted and attacked except for the ballot boxes and papers. The record of votes that we have collected, are here with us, except for the actual ballot papers that we have to reconcile with, has all been destroyed." He also stated that the security personnel were present during the time to protect the ballot boxes and papers; however, they were outnumbered by the disgruntled supporters and couldn’t do anything to stop them. Soheke further said that the Electoral Commissioner Mr. Simon Sinai, had been briefed this morning on the situation and he is now waiting on the Commissioners’ decision regarding the fate of the Markham Open counting. Mr. Soheke is also currently working on a report of the incident and will send it through to the Commissioner by the end of the day. “We will now leave it in the hands of the Electoral Commissioner who will take note of what happened and make a decision since we have two more weeks left before the Return of Writs. “As per my report to the Commissioner, I will also include my recommendations as well as to how we can work together to fix this issue and come up with possible solutions. These recommendations will be sent to both the Electoral and the Police Commissioner.” Meanwhile, Mr. Soheke as the Provincial Returning Officer as well, has taken control of counting for Markham Open Seat after the Returning Officer was stood down due to complaints from candidates on allegations of foul play. Markham Open and Morobe Regional both have a total of thirty-seven candidates each contesting for both seats.

Family planning services provided at the clinics in the city of Port Moresby will be boosted with the recent graduation of 12 new frontline health workers made possible through the partnership between the National Department of Health (NDoH), the National Capital District Provincial Health Authority (NCD PHA) and Marie Stopes PNG. According to Marie Stopes Service Delivery Director, Dr. Andrew Kirima, the 12 trainees were among 41 health workers who successfully completed the Family Planning training program provided by Marie Stopes. He said this program was initiated to educate and train healthcare workers situated in different clinics across the city, who specialize and are passionate about providing family planning services to the people. “NCD is the first province in which Marie Stopes has carried out this program since its establishment in 2018, and since then over 500 frontline Health Workers have benefited from this program.” “Our aim for this program is to educate the health workers so that they can go back to their respective clinics in which they operate and deliver the best family planning service they can to the families,” said Dr. Kirima He also stated that the program would not have been made possible if it wasn’t for the NDoH and the PHA. He said that without the help of these two organizations Marie Stopes PNG wouldn’t be able to train the health workers. “We implement the program for the trainees, but NDoH and the PHAs are the ones who bring them forth to us. That is why this partnership is very important to us all because in a way we are helping each other.” He said the trainees are assessed and certified based on how well they performed during the period of time they undergo the training. “The program usually takes up to one year of training and is divided into two part, starting with the theory part of training followed by the practical part or on job training.” However, he said not many of the trainees make it to the end of the program due to obstacles that they may face along the way and if there is a need to extend the program, then they can do so. Otherwise, Marie Stopes will continue with the training with the remaining trainees left in the program. Dr. Kirima concluded by thanking all partners in making this program a successful one and hopes that this will continue for the benefit of the families nationwide. He said remote areas in the country are their main areas of concern and Marie Stopes will do its best in delivering better services to them, through these trainings. Meanwhile, the graduation of the 12 frontline health workers took place last week on Thursday 07th of July in Port Moresby.

All ballot boxes containing votes from the Moresby South electorate are now being kept at the counting venue at the Rita Flynn courts in East Boroko, Port Moresby, awaiting counting to commence on Monday 11th July. Returning officer for Moresby South, Mr. Tau Toea said that at this point, a total of thirty boxes have already been registered and stored away in the containers. They are now waiting for two more containers to arrive in order to store the remaining ones, so to make sure all 250 boxes; 125 boxes for Open and 125 for Regional seat, are kept safe. He said all ballot boxes were brought in safely late last night between 11pm and 12am under the watchful eyes of the officials and proceeded straight to registering the boxes. “After registrations are completed, the officials will now have one day to prepare themselves for counting come next Monday where they will be divided into two counting shifts; ten hours of counting during the day and ten hours at night.” Prior to the counting, he said that a short and brief training will be conducted tomorrow for the officials to prepare themselves well for the counting period. Toea said that the Moresby South Electorate has less candidates compared to Moresby North west and Moresby North East so things should be expected to run smoothly for his team.

A number of schools in Morobe Province recently took part in the Morobe Inter- School Exhibition that was held  this month. A total of fifteen schools took part under the leadership of the Governor, Mr. Ginson Saonu. According to Event’s coordinator and Principal of Busu Secondary School, Mr. George Noble, the schools that took part were both from rural and urban schools including Busu Secondary itself, Menyama Secondary, Boana Lutheran High and others. “This exhibition first began in 2019 and has been a success ever since. Last year we were given a funding of k100, 000 to fund the exhibition but due to Covid 19, the money was used for this year’s event plus this year’s k100, 000, totaling up to k200, 000.” “The aim for this event, is to involve more students to take part in such activities that would limit them from getting involved in school fights and peer pressure related trouble.” The 2 days event was held at Sir Ignatius Kilage Stadium where a total of 15, 000 people turned up for the event. Noble said this was so far a good turnout for the students where as many in the province got to attend and see what they had in store to show case. He further stated that the winning prizes were awarded to the rural schools. Noble challenged his school, Busu Secondary to do their best come next year’s exhibition. A funding of K500, 000 was given for next year’s exhibition by the Governor himself. Apart from the Inter- School exhibition, Noble has stated that a K1.5 million that was given by Digicel Foundation to Busu Secondary recently will go towards a new double classroom as well as two new offices. He said that a ground breaking ceremony took place last week to officially start off ground work. This funding given by Digicel Foundation is part of their investment for the school and will be given up to six months to complete.” Apart from the funding given by Digicel Foundation, the Morobe Government under the initiative of the Governor has also allocated a certain amount of funding to schools in the Province with Busu Secondary being one of them. Noble said that the school received K530, 000 and with the funding given, will be used for a number of projects including Head of Department offices for teachers, a Science Lab, a library as well as an e-library. He said that these projects should be completed and officially opened by Term 3. “These projects are so far what we want to accomplish this year for the school so that they can perform well in their studies and achieve academic excellence both in theory and practical.” Noble added that in terms of practical studies, the school has a small habitat in which the students and staff are currently taking care of in the school premises. He said animals such as cassowary, tree kangaroos, cows, sheep's, goats and other animals are being taken care of. “The purpose of having a habitat in the school is to look after the wildlife in which is part of the students’ agriculture projects. The reason for doing this is because we don’t want them to go through the theory way of learning but to explore their minds into what they are learning in the classroom and that’s to learn things practically.”

A voice for the voiceless, that is the slogan of a candidate who knows a lot about using his voice. He is none other than local and international reggae artist Anslom Nakikus, and he is contesting the Moresby North West seat in the 2022 National General Election. Nakikus, who comes from Matupit in East New Britain Province, always had an interest in people’s rights which he channels through his music and now he has decided to take it the next level by trying his hand at politics, so that he could be able to help the people from Waigani. “My songs have always been about addressing social issues in the country. Politics, fighting corruption and many others are real life issues as it hurts me to see our people suffering.” Nakikus aims to bring about social change to the community starting with the main issues and that’s to create more job opportunities, generating more small businesses for a sustainable economy and to create more housing schemes that is affordable. “These are some of my main goals in which I wish to achieve. As for job opportunities, there are a lot of people out there, especially those degree holders, that are still unemployed because there is nothing for them out there.” In addition to this, Nakikus also expressed his concerns for housing problems in the city. He said that it is quite hard for people to find affordable homes to rent and purchase these days with most of the working class ending up renting accommodation in settlements.   “These are real life issues that have always been here for many years now and this is why places like the North West electorate needs serious leadership.” Nakikus, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science, also majored in Language and Literature and has a Postgraduate Diploma in Education added to his academic achievements, and knows he has enough experience and qualifications to carry on such a role if he wins this year’s election. “If voted, I will make sure as part of my duty that I work closely with the NCD Governor in making sure that the people’s cries are being heard and that social change is brought to them. I believe it is now time we all work together to bring about change.” Nakikus will be contesting as an independent candidate and is amongst twenty-seven other candidates running for the Moresby Northwest seat. He encouraged every voter to make the right choice and to know the candidates well before voting them. He also urged voters to respect the candidates including their posters and other properties.

A boy’s dormitory at Porgera Secondary School in Enga Province, got burnt down last Tuesday by students as a result of been denied food supplies. Deputy Principal, Mr. Amos Amail, said that the boarding students had no food provided for them on Monday and Tuesday which led them to burning down the dormitory out of frustration. Mr. Amail said that there was no valid reason nor an explanation to why the school mess had no food supplies to feed the students, but blamed it on the school principal for failing to provide the food rations. “A week before the incident occurred, the students were sent home by our Principal due to on-going tribal fights advising them to stay home for a week. When the students returned back, they saw that there was no food provided for them for two days causing them to burn down the dorm.” He said the students responsible were arrested that day by the police but were later released an hour after whilst two students are still locked up. He added that the dormitory which caters for thirty two students will now be an issue in terms of accommodation. “For now, most of the students have fled and are currently away from school due to the tribal fights so most of them are not attending classes at the moment.” Amail however expressed his concern as to how these particular students will be accommodated once they return back to school. He added that despite the tribal fights, classes are still on- going with only a few students attending. He said this issue is out of their hands and cannot force students to attend classes. He hopes the situation can be slowed down so that it doesn’t affect the students’ studies. Photo credit: Sherii Wembii FB account

The National Souths Basketball League (NSBL) are now preparing for next year’s championship after completing their 2022 Championship last month at the Taurama Aquatic Centre in Port Moresby. President of the NSBL, Mr. Silas Nicky said that a total of twenty four teams, both women and men's teams have taken part in the Championship. The teams include Kutubu Lakers, Mendi Menjals, EMK City Rangers, Usano Sura Souths, Kondo East Souths, Sumale Souths, Mayawala Souths- Pom, Yasuku Hela Souths, Giru Souths, Enso Souths, POMBIS Souths and Mix Mates Hagen. “The winner from this year’s championship was the Kutubu Lakers where both the men and women’s team came first, walking away with K25, 000 each.” According to Mr Nicky, this is an annual event with now more teams expressing their interest to take part. He said that six more teams have shown interest to take part next year. “We are now planning on hosting provincial games to select the best squads who will take part in next year’s championship.” Mr Nicky advised that the program for next year’s event will be announced once all details have been confirmed. The NSBL president further added that they are now looking forward for next year which looks to be a bigger event compared to this year’s championship.