Cops blamed for woman’s death at abandoned ATS polling centre in Port Moresby
News that matter in Papua New Guinea
Cops blamed for woman’s
death at abandoned ATS polling centre in Port Moresby
PORT MORESBY: National Capital District (NCD) police
have launched investigations into the case of a woman in her 20s who was
believed to have been killed by a stray bullet fired during a ruckus at the ATS
first block in Moresby North-East on Monday (July 11, 2022).
The ruckus was sparked
by the late arrival of election officials and materials for polling which had
to be called off.
The woman is the 43rd
General Election 2022 (GE22)-related death reported by the nationwide to date.
Many other GE22-related violence and death may have gone unreported nationwide.
PNG Cyber Monitor reproduces below the news break and a few GE22 news updates as published by The National:
Police blamed for
death
July 14, 2022The
NationalMain Stories
The ruckus was sparked by the late arrival of election officials and materials
for polling which had to be called off.
The woman is the 43rd General Election 2022 (GE22)-related death reported by
the media nationwide to date. Many other GE22-related violence and death may
have gone unreported nationwide.
NCD Metropolitan Superintendent Gideon Ikumu said a video of the woman went
viral on social media with commentators blaming police for the killing.
He said in a media statement yesterday that police were present at ATS first
block on Monday when they went to restore order after a rowdy crowd threatened
Papua New Guinea (PNG) Electoral Commission (EC) officials that disrupted
General Election 2022 polling.
“We had rocks thrown at police and gunshots were fired to clear the crowd,”
Ikumu said.
“I was in the settlement after the incident and assured the community that
police would conduct a thorough investigation into the shooting.
“It is through investigations that facts of the shooting will be revealed.
“At the moment the police homicide detectives are collecting evidence on the
shooting,” he said.
“The evidence will include video footages and statements from potential
witnesses in the community,” he added.
Meanwhile, polling in the area was called off and the ballot boxes for the ATS
polling were taken back to Waigani on Monday.
Attempts by The National to confirm whether a polling day was
scheduled for the area were unsuccessful.
N’dranou appeals to public for order during
polling in Manus
WITH Manus heading
into the seventh day of polling, Asst Comm/ACP of Police New Guinea Islands
(NGI) Perou N’dranou has urged the people to maintain order and not to disrupt
the process of General Election 2022 (GE22).
He reminded them that the GE22 was theirs while the security forces were only
there to ensure the process of the election.
“The desired outcome of the GE22 to progress without any
form of violence would be to let the people take full ownership,” he said.
N’dranou urged people to follow the law despite having issues with the common
roll not being updated.
Provincial Police Commander Chief Insp Kiweri Kesambi said out of the 12 local
level governments in Manus, only five had completed polling and the ballot
boxes were sealed and locked away at the police headquarters.
He said Manus had only two electorates with no major issues encountered so far.
“Polling has been quiet and peaceful with no reports of General Election
2022-related violence,” he said.
“The people have cooperated.”
Police check on counting, polling in NIP
NEW Ireland police are
working closely with the provincial electoral office to ensure counting for the
General Election 2022 (GE22) is progressing well, a senior police officer says.
Provincial police commander Chief Inspector Felix Nebanat said this after he
made a highway trip to Namatanai to check on counting and polling yesterday.
“I arrived in time to give support to my team to control the situation of
dealing with disgruntled scrutineers,” he said.
Nebanat said the scrutineers ire was raised by claims that ballot papers had
been placed into the wrong candidate trays.
“The situation has been mitigated, a petition was given to the Namatanai Open
returning officer Tifi Taylor and has been swiftly dealt with under heavy
security,” he said.
“An understanding has been reached between the returning officers and the
scrutineers to call for a recount of the four boxes from Tabar in the Sentral
Niu Ailan local level government.
“The sorter responsible has been exempted from the counting room until further
notice.
“If upon interrogation she is found to have breached the electoral law, she
will be dealt with by the police.”
Port Moresby candidate lobbies for biometric
voting
BIOMETRIC voting has
to be a priority for the new government, says National Capital Districts (NCD)
Moresby North-West candidate Des Yaninen.
Speaking to The National after casting his vote in Port
Moresby’s Ensisi Valley on Friday, Yaninen said biometric voting would
eliminate some of the challenges faced in this general election.
Prime Minister James Marape had admitted that the common roll “was not
adequately prepared” for General Election 2022 (GE22), and apologised to those
unable to cast their votes because their names were “missing”.
“The election process has been disappointing,” Yaninen told The
National.
“We had five years to prepare for this but even in 2022, we see the same level
of disorganisation, the same challenges that we have seen in previous election.
“Maybe the way to address this ones and for all is to introduce biometric
voting.
“We have been talking about this and successive governments have been talking
about biometric voting but it’s never happened.
“This has to be a priority of the new government and it needs to be delivered
once and for all.
“If we were able to do that, we would be able to really ensure free and fair
elections for the whole country.
“Right now there have been videos circulating about people voting in houses and
private homes and that would really be done away with if we had biometric
voting.
“That’s one of the biggest concerns going forward and this year we are
47-years-old, we have run something like eight elections so far and still we
have not got the basics right.
“Biometric voting is going forward.”
Yaninen said on a personal note, he was just relieved that it was over.
Prioritise improvement of common roll,
national census: Officer
By JAMIE HARO in Kerema
GULF police commander
Chief Inspector Jeffery Lemb has raised concern on the use of the current
common roll after receiving numerous complaints over missing names during
polling last week in Kerema.
Lemb said many eligible voters throughout the province and nationwide did not
vote in this election as their names were not in the 2022 common roll.
“As a constitutional office holder and a citizen, I am saddened to see this
happen, as this issue can be easily rectified by any concerned government using
updated data,” he said.
Lemb said such problems could be avoided if recommendations were made to
improve and resolve such issues using proper National Identification (NID)
registrations and national census updates.
“NID registration is very important.
“So long as everyone in the country is registered, the creation of the
electoral roll using the NID data base could be used easily as it can
complement the national census,” he added. In addition, he said, the common
roll needed to be a derivative of the national census and the Government
prioritising the two important events – general elections every five years and
national census every 10 years.
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