Police to tackle tribal fights

By PHILIP KEPSON

New provincial police commander for Enga Province, acting Superintendent Philip Welia, has made an undertaking to tackle the continuing tribal fights head on in Kandep District to restore normalcy.
During a provincial management team meeting last Friday, Supt Welia said among a string of ongoing tribal conflicts in the province, Kandep fighting needed urgent attention as it affected the entire province with continuous unlawful killing of innocent people and destruction to properties.
 

Supt Welia, who has been instrumental in resolving a number of tribal and ethnic conflicts in Lae city and Wau-Bulolo recently in his capacity as a senior police officer in the two electorates, said it would require a wide ranging consultation among parties involved in the conflict to ensure normalcy in the district.
“My priority is to return peace in Kandep. To achieve this, it will require serious consultation among relevant parties including the provincial administration which will be represented by its law and order section, two Local Level Governments in the district (Kandep and Wage LLGs), Kandep district administration, district education and health divisions, churches, women, the political leaders (of the districts), educated elites from the district and the leaders of the warring tribes,” he said.
Supt Welia, who replaced Chief Superintendent Martin Lakarai, who has moved on to be chief of police in Western Highlands province three weeks ago, said a peace negotiating team comprising (the above factions) had been formed and he was ready to divide them into two groups and send them to the tribal zones to start negotiating for peace.
 

“However, before sending the two groups, I will send a police scout to the two main tribes to inform them about the work of the peace negotiating team,” he said.
The widespread conflict started when two tribes known as Kuporop and Kambirip of two political rivals Alfred Manase (a prominent lawyer) and Treasurer and Kandep MP Don Polye respectively took sides and started accusing each other of election foul plays during a by-election in 2010.
The by-election was conducted after a successful petition by Mr Manase against Mr Polye in the court of disputed returns in Mt Hagen. When Mr Polye was re-elected in light of fierce fighting and killing of at least five people, the tension between the two tribes continued onto 2012 national elections.
The District Health Officer for Kandep, who was reportedly from the Kuporop tribe was murdered in cold blood in front of armed security personnel including members of the PNG Defence Force in Wabag town where counting took place allegedly by a member of the Kambirip tribe.
 

The two warring tribes took it to their villages following the killing where many neighbouring tribes also became involved with hundreds of hired powered guns in the two LLGs.
Acting District Administrator for Kandep Ben Besawe said more than 80 percent of the people in the district had fled either to the closest Southern Highlands Province or other parts of Enga.