Retired Judge, Don Sawong is now the Acting Commissioner of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), following an official Hand-Over-Take-Over Ceremony today at the Sheraton Hotel in Port Moresby.
Outgoing Acting Commissioner, Thomas Eluh officially handed over the roles and responsibilities of the commissioner to Sawong, with dignity and sincerity and pledged his utmost support to work closely with him, to ensure organizational stability.
In his remarks as the outgoing acting Commissioner, Mr. Eluh congratulated Sawong on his appointment as the acting commissioner, while he pledges his full loyalty and undivided support to him.
“Let me remind each and every one of us that, we can have the best laws, we can have the best systems, we can have the best policies, but it is the human beings that are mandated to drive those systems, that will only make the difference. Either we fail or we succeed,” said Eluh.
While he was happy to serve his time as the acting Commissioner, it is by law that the ICAC Commissioner’s position is only reserved for people who are qualified as Judge and are familiar with the Judicial System. It is not the case for Mr. Eluh, as he has over 43 years of experience in the Police Force but never a judge, as per the constitutional requirement of the Commissioner position.
“The position is only for a person with that type of qualification as required by the law. We’re an institution with integrity and we have to make sure we comply with the laws. Without doing that, then we cannot be seen as an institution with integrity,” explained Eluh.
He further emphasized that, his appointment as the acting commissioner over a year ago despite not having the required qualification, was to restore leadership and confidence back into an Organization that was been criticized and question by many at different levels.
“My appointment as the acting ICAC commissioner, comes at a time when ICAC was facing leadership challenges that almost brought the entire organization to its knees. I was selected with two retired Judges (Sawong and Batari) to quickly restore stability to the organization and I believe we have done that,” said Eluh.
Before handing the leadership of ICAC over the Mr. Sawong, he appealed to the senior management team and the staff of ICAC that, despite the leadership changes, it’s business as usual for the organization, to continue to learn and improve in their mandated responsibilities.
“I want to emphasize that fighting corruption is everyone’s business. I would like to call out to all Papua New Guineans, men, women and children to put your hand up and assist ICAC in the fight against corruption. Without your support, we may not win the fight against corruption,” concluded Eluh.
Mr. Eluh and former Judge Batari, both will continue to serve under Sawong in their capacity as acting deputy commissioners within ICAC as part of ensuring leadership stability.
In accepting the position of Acting Commissioner, Mr. Sawong thanked Mr. Eluh for his leadership in holding a constitutional office regardless of qualifications.
“That alone is not just an achievement, but a significant achievement by anyone. A person who has no law degree, no accounting degree or no other degrees, yet God has blessed him and made it possible for him to occupy a constitutional office at the very time when a lot of political leaders were not interested in pushing for the establishment of ICAC,” said Sawong.
He said, with the leadership change, not everything will be smooth sailing, as there will be challenges as they go through as a young organization. And despite the leadership challenges, ICAC’s mandated responsibilities remain.
“Today’s hand over take over ceremony, marks an important moment in that transition. It is not simply a change of leadership; it is simply a real affirmation of continuity of the work that we do at ICAC.”
“To serve as acting commissioner from July 2025 to July 2026, Mr. Eluh has provided leadership, stability, direction and commitment during a critical period. We are still in a transitional phase and have not stabilized leadership as yet. At the moment, myself, Mr. Eluh and Mr. Batari are on acting positions until we get through the transitional period,” said Sawong.
Mr. Sawong furthermore said that, when the three of them (Sawong, Eluh & Batari) received leadership in July 2025 their immediate priority was to restore leadership stability and provide the direction necessary to raise the standard of ICAC. And also, to identify key areas that needed improvement.
“One of the key areas as ensuring our organizational structure, priorities, programs, functions are in accordance of the provisions of the organic law. The organic law clearly sets out our functions and priorities,” said Sawong.
The first task for the new acting commissioner is to ensure organizational structure is sorted out, ensure corporate governance in ICAC, while also focused on the three main pillars, which are, Enforcement, Prevention and Education & Awareness.
