Violence

Deputy President of Ambum LLG, Lomean Tonde flanked by three other Counsellors, Theodore Yole, Lucas Imindi and Mathew Mulex today provided facts on the situation on the ground. 

The leaders said the Kompiam Ambum MP, Sir John Pundari has done everything he can to prevent violence and has left it to Police to conduct independent investigations into the destruction of public and private properties at Kaipores and Meriamanda. 

Supporters of both teams, mostly drunkards invaded the field of play and confronted each other. The post-match incident was captured on video and shared on the Oceania Football official page.

The melee went on for a good 10 minutes before police arrived to contain the situation. 

A very disappointed president, who was there to witness the final, said PNGFA has zero tolerance on violence of any form in the game thus has ordered for an immediate investigation and those found to have instigated the confrontation will be dealt with by the law.

Transparency International PNG’s (TIPNG) Domestic Election Observation Report 2022 stated that causes of violence included citizens’ dissatisfaction on their ability to vote.

The media also reported an estimated 50-200 people died through election related violence in the country.

A notable incident was the shooting allegedly by security personnel of a woman trying to vote in NCD.

TIPNG says the persistent level of violence calls into question the state’s strategy relating to election security.

Frustration started mounting when voters found out that their names were not on the electoral roll.

Hundreds of residents turned on the counting officials, who ran away for fear of their safety.

The crowd then grabbed the election materials, smashed ballot boxes and burnt the ballot papers.

An eyewitness told this newsroom that a tractor was also burnt while the Electoral Commission container was ransacked.

They joined thousands of advocates across the country who have been campaigning for the government to impose tougher penalties as justice for perpetrators of violence.

Minister John Rosso, who joined his staff, said: “We cannot stand and watch as violence unfolds in front of our eyes; we have to speak up and stop it.”

The local MP for Lae, who is the Morobe Family and Sexual Violence Action Committee (FSVAC) Patron, reiterated the government’s stance against all forms of violence, urging staff to speak out and report to police and authorities.

Played at the Murray Barracks Oval on Sunday, the competition had to be called off after supporters ran onto the field and attacked players.

The first match flowed smoothly as the Koiari team went against Aroma Coast in the Under 20 divisions, where the Koiari side lost hope when Team Aroma claimed the title with a 10-8 scoreline.

However, in the A Grade Match between the Koiaris and the Goilalas, the match had to be cut short when disgruntled rival supporters took to the field and attacked the other team’s players.

Police used water cannon, tear gas and truncheons, reportedly removing masks from demonstrators they arrested, and a number of people were injured.

Tens of thousands of protesters had turned out in the rain, spurred to act by a ban on wearing masks at rallies.

The controversial ban was upheld by the High Court on Sunday.

It was introduced by chief executive Carrie Lam who invoked powers dating back to colonial rule by the British.

Launched locally at a high-profile event in Port Moresby, the ‘Unseen and Unsafe: Underinvestment in Ending Violence Against Children in the Pacific and Timor-Leste’ report shows that over 70 percent or 4 million children across eight countries experience violent discipline at home, including 2.8 million (75 percent of the child population) in Papua New Guinea.

Melissa Alvarado, Regional representative of UN Women, said Papua New Guinea becomes the 10^th country to hold a multi-sectoral meeting to discuss multi-sectoral services in responding to violence against women and girls in Papua New Guinea.

She said statistics has it that at least one in three girls in PNG experience violence of some form daily.

To take the workshop forward, important objectives were presented as follows:

Leader of the church in Papua New Guinea, Pastor Kepsie Elodo, made the call in light of increasing media reports of violence against women and children, especially girls.

“We, the Seventh-Day Adventist church, speak up and join with others to bring an end to violence against women and girls,” Pr Elodo said.

He added that global statistics indicated that in all societies, women and girls were more frequently the victims of violence.