The first woman Governor of the country and Eastern Highlands Province has been fined K15,000 for contempt by the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision today, ordered Governor Julie Soso to pay K15,000 before Aug 31 or serve a default sentence of six months in prison.
The court also ordered that Soso pay the penalty fine out of her own pocket and not from public funds.
On June 28, the court found that the actions of Governor Soso, in signing a letter dated Feb 16, 2016, was contemptuous. It was contemptuous as it breached the Supreme Court’s order the previous day reinstating Solomon Tato as the Provincial Administrator of Eastern Highlands.
The letter instructed Tato to step down as provincial administrator and later recommended the appointment of Alvin Inammoi as acting provincial administrator.
The court however, accepted Soso’s explanation that it was not her intention to disobey the orders. She was not made aware of the court orders of Feb 15 when she signed the letter at the airport in Goroka before boarding a flight to Port Moresby.
Justice David Cannings, in reading the decision of the three-man Supreme Court bench this morning, said contempt of court is a serious matter taking into consideration aggravating factor that Soso was found guilty of disobeying orders of the high court and the most senior judicial officer, the Chief Justice.
Governor Soso, in accepting the decision of the court, said she will pay the court fine tomorrow.
(EHP Governor Julie Soso outside the courthouse today with her supporters.)
