Lupari explains hiring, firing
CHIEF Secretary Isaac Lupari has spoken out about cases he has instituted against the State which the Finance Department Inquiry proposes to look into.
Mr Lupari said there was nothing illegal or unlawful about the four cases.
He said he instituted the court actions for breach of contract after he was appointed and terminated on four different occasions.
Lupari was appointed secretary for Finance on Sept 17, 1997. Five months into a four-year contract, he was sacked on Jan 15, 1998. He was appointed secretary for Defence on Jan 15, 1998, and was terminated by the Skate government on Dec 9, 1998.
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Lupari explains
On March 17, 2000, he was appointed secretary for the Department of Personnel Management by the Morauta government. He was sacked on June 29, 2000, four months into his contract.
He was appointed secretary for the Department of Transport and Civil Aviation on June 29, 2000, but lasted only 10 months. He was sacked on April 12, 2001.
On each occasion, State lawyers failed to defend the cases, and he won judgments in default on Aug 14, 2002.
When the Somare Government was formed in 2002, he directed his lawyers to discontinue the proceedings following an understanding reached with the new government.
But on Jan 13, 2003, he reinstituted the proceedings to preserve his rights as the statutory time limitation was approaching. In Feb 2004, one of the cases was settled and paid out by the Finance department. He declared this to the Ombudsman Commission.
Three other cases remain pending and, even after being appointed Chief Secretary, he decided not to pursue them to avoid any perception that he was using his position to enrich himself.
He said the suggestion that he had influenced the Prime Minister to abandon the inquiry to safeguard himself from any adverse findings relating to his cases was absurd and incorrect.
“I am not afraid to face the commission and tell the truth about my cases,” he said.
He said he would instruct his lawyers to provide all the necessary facts regarding his cases to the Commission of Inquiry.
He also said he had directed auditors KPMG to audit the accounts of the commission and detail the expenditure of K11 million before any more funds can be released.
He said the audit was necessary to verify allegations of misappropriation and overspending.
He said the inquiry has an outstanding claim of K3 million for salaries and emoluments, and is seeking an additional K10 million.
He said no funds would be released to the Ccommission until the audit has been completed.
After K11 million in expenditure, the commission provided an eight-page interim report to the Prime Minister early this month.
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