Fr Czuba cleared of charges
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Fr Czuba cleared of charges
PORT MORESBY: Suspended Higher Education, Research Science and
Technology secretary Fr Jan Czuba was cleared of all charges by the National
Court in Waigani yesterday (Jan 19, 2022).
Saying the state had run the trial in an unusual manner”,
Acting judge Laura Kuvi acquitted Czuba and remarked: “State had failed to
establish the elements of the three charges, one for abuse of office for the
purpose gain,
“It was obvious the state prosecutors did not
understand their own case before proceeding with the trial.
“The state di not provide any evidence to prove that
Czuba’s act was for personal gain or was not serving the interest of the State,”
she added.
Details of the court proceedings were published by The National:
January 20, 2022The
NationalMain Stories
By BEVERLY PETER
THE Waigani National Court has cleared all criminal charges against
suspended secretary of the Department of Higher Education, Research, Science
and Technology (DHERST) Fr Jan Czuba.
Acting judge Laura Kuvi, who acquitted Czuba yesterday, said the state had run
the trial in an unusual manner.
“State had failed to establish the elements of the charge of three counts of
abuse of office and one count of abuse of office for the purpose of gain
against Czuba,” she said. “It was obvious that the state prosecutors did not
understand their own case before proceeding with the trial.
“The State did not provide any evidence to prove that Czuba’s act was for
personal gain or was not serving the interest of the State.”
Justice Kuvi discharged all four charges against Czuba and ordered for his bail
money to be refunded.
“State allegations against Czuba for entering into agreement with Global Travel
Service in 2015 was made clear by the State witnesses during the trial that it
was the department that had entered into the agreement and not Czuba,” she
said.
“The witness said we decided to engage the travel agent as we were having
issues with Air Niugini with purchasing tickets for the students.
“The deputy secretary operations of Department of Finance Steven Nukutui and
other witness confirmed that it was within Czuba’s power to sign any payments
under K500,000. They have also confirmed that all the payments made were under
K500,000.
“The state’s crucial witness established that there was no abuse of office in
the matter and did not breach any National Procurement Commission procedures.
“There was no formal investigation commission by DHERST to look into allegations
of malpractice or corruption in the office.
“The former executive finance manager and now deputy secretary, operation, Ruth
Philip provided all the relevant documents and it had showed no evidence of
wrong practice in any of the payment.
“State allegations against Czuba for entering into agreement with the PCG
Academia in purchasing software licensing and maintenance as unlawful against
the state was not proven.”
Justice Kuvi said Czuba had acted on a National Executive Council decision to
digitise the country’s education system.
“The evidences before the court showed that there were nine separate contracts
in purchasing of the software licence and maintenance, the state only
identified two.
“The state decided to put all the agreements as one and lump sum the amounts
which makes it looks like Czuba had signed a payment which was way over his
approved limit.
“State, in this case, does not appreciate the areas of information,
communication, technology and computing.”
Justice Kuvi said the software licence was purchased to run new applications
when maintenance was for maintaining what was already there.
“The different software purchased were used to create the online application,
online selection, online selection for students under scholarships, online
application for non-school leavers and private school and platform that allowed
other colleges and technical schools to be part in the education system.
“From the evidence, state had saved K6 million annually from this online system
as it reduces the cost to travel and accommodation fees for teachers flying
into Port Moresby for selection.”
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