David Manning

Manning said his COVID-19 results including those of the two members of his family were confirmed on Saturday, February 20, 2021.

The notice of motion was filed on Tuesday 26 January before His Honour, Justice Derek Hartshorn, who set the case for 3.30pm on Wednesday 27 January, and directed that the first and second respondent (Sylvester Kalaut and Fred Yakasa) be served before 12 noon on Tuesday.

At 3.30pm on Wednesday, lawyer for the first and second respondents, David Datona of Datona Lawyers, argued that his clients were only served at 11.30am yesterday and therefore required more time to prepare.

Justice Hartshorn deferred the case to 9.30am today (Thursday 28 January, 2021).

Minister Onglo said this in a statement following the National Court ruling nullifying the appointment of David Manning as Commissioner of Police and Secretary to the Department of Police.

The appointment of Manning was ruled unlawful by Justice David Canning’s on January 22nd.

In a statement Police Minister, William Onglo, said the Marape-led Government respected the decision of the National Court and will do its utmost best to comply with all and any orders issued. 

This event culminated from an administrative oversight in the handling of a District Court warrant on an ongoing high-level case currently subjected to the constitutional process of investigation.

“Our constitutional duty is to protect life and property and to enforce the law fairly, without fear or favour. And I am now appealing to all members of the Constabulary to remain neutral. We are the people’s police force and therefore our people’s interest will be our main focus and priority,” stated David Manning.

“Following my appeal and direction, I will not hesitate to discipline members who continue to ‘play politics’.”

Manning said the next couple of weeks will be a very challenging and critical period for Papua New Guinea as a nation.

This brings the total number of cases in NCD to 262 and 424 for the country. The death toll remains at four.

This case is among 1,887 samples that were collected in NCD between 31 July to August 26.

In a statement National Pandemic Controller, David Manning, said of the people that have tested positive to COVID-19 so far, 53.8 per cent are asymptomatic (no symptoms).

Manning said  out of the 27 health facilities and sites expected to collect samples for COVID-19 in NCD, only seven are conducting tests with the Rita Flynn Isolation Facility leading the way.

This brings the country’s total confirmed positive cases to 419.

The death toll for the country remains at four, all from the National Capital District.

The 18 new cases reported are all from the Western Province bringing its total confirmed cases to 143, the majority being 140, are from the Ok Tedi Mine.

The mine shut down its operations two weeks ago when seven of its employees tested positive to COVID-19, and the mine township of Tabubil went into a 14-day lockdown.

Manning said these are important construction managers and workers of major Chinese state owned enterprises engaged on major government infrastructures, including a hydro power station, major provincial airport redevelopments, major highway constructions as well as the construction of the new National and Supreme Court building.

He said these workers were stranded since the outbreak of COVID-19 and need to get back to complete these projects, which are funded by various international finance institutions, including the Asian Development Bank.

Manning was responding to comments by Namah claiming that the announcement on the first COVID-19 case in Vanimo is fake.

Manning said the patient in Vanimo was tested at the Sandaun Provincial Hospital through the geneXpert machine and the results were formally transmitted to the National Control Centre health technical team for announcement.

Dr Stella Jimmy, Director of Curative Health at the Sandaun Provincial Health Authority, confirmed that the patient was tested positive for COVID-19. She said the patient is being moved into an isolation facility.

The Controller of the National Pandemic Response, David Manning, said of those 39 new cases, two tested positive in Western Province, one in West Sepik Province and 37 in the National Capital District.

The Sandaun case is the first recorded in the province while Western Province has recorded its sixth and seventh case.

The West Sepik Provincial Health Authority yesterday confirmed that an adult male who had returned last fortnight from a training in Port Moresby was sick and tested positive in Vanimo on GeneXpert on Tuesday night.