A family’s four-year battle ends

JUSTICE

By MELYNE BAROI
MUCH of the population in Papua New Guinea is marginalised due to limited or no access to basic services including getting justice through the court system.
There is little to no proof of real progress as government reforms to crack down on corruption fall short in attempts to correct the reality of issues that many are faced with.
Many tend to lose belief in the court system as seeking redress through the national laws continue to be hindered by factors surrounding money and effort.
“Effort” is the key word in this story of a public servant who became answerable to the three different levels of courts and spent close to a million kina in search of true justice.
Father of five and grandfather to 15 Gabriel Kaupa, 62, from Chimbu has finally had his hard work and efforts paid off when he was granted justice from the Supreme Court in May this year after four years of court hearings.
Going through the different levels of court starting from district court through to a three-men bench Supreme Court, Kaupa exhausted all personal resources to claim justice.
It all began on the evening of Oct 11, 2017 when Gabriel and wife Linet received surprising news their newly bought bus had run head-on into another vehicle on the Bruce Jephcott (Madang-Lae) Highway.
“We heard that our driver had broken both of his legs and the bus crew had badly injured part of his genetalia,” Kaupa said.
“It was both a fortunate and unfortunate event for my newly established business, both the bus crews were injured but all the passengers had sustained only minor injuries.
“The worst part was the crash had permanently damaged the engine, putting the whole bus into a ‘comma,’” he said.
Kaupa told The National that the brand new bus was brought through a loan from Mi-Bank for the purpose of starting a PMV business along the highway between Mt Hagen-Madang.
“The bus was registered under my wife’s name as the business owner,.
“She was devastated because the 25-seater bus had only been on the road for eight months after being shipped in from Japan,” he said.
“We were worried about the bus but most importantly we were worried about the passengers and bus crew,” he added.
“Fortunately enough some willing bystanders quickly responded to the injured and took them to the Modilon General Hospital in Madang,”
Gabriel and Linet gathered all resources available and arrived in Madang to check on the hospitalised people and their bus.
“We had decided to go into Madang after two weeks because we needed to prepare for anything that would happen following the crash, whether it would be an ambush attack by angry relatives of the injured or a law suit by the other vehicle owner,” Kaupa said.
“After making sure that hospital fees were paid for the injured passengers and bus crew we set off to the Madang traffic police station.
“The police had already arrested the driver of the other vehicle and charged and the district court fined him K2,000. When we came outside of the court house I told the other party that because they were a church mission I would appreciate if they just replaced my bus and we would reconcile then,” he said
“To my surprise they had refused and wanted me to plead my case in court.”
Kaupa was left to play by the laws so he obtained and issued a National Court summons to the church mission in Chimbu in the same year.
“I had to look at my small hauskai businesses to get funding to pay for the court services that I intended to use.
“I even sacrificed my fortnight salary all because I trusted that the rule of law would offer me the justice I deserved,’ he added.
On Feb 19, 2019 the Chimbu National Court made a ruling on the case in Kaupa’s favour as the church had failed to attend court hearings.
“The case was adjourned and ruled in my favour by default and we were issued K550,000 for the damage done to my bus to be paid by the church mission.
“I was so happy and thankful that the court system actually worked, although I had my doubts about it,” he said.
As Kaupa prepared to celebrate his justice and victory he was once again asked to answer to the court.
“The church mission had issued a stay order to appeal to the Supreme Court in Waigani, National Capital District,” he said.
Gabriel and Linet arrived in Port Moresby on in November 2021 for their first hearing at the high court.
“My wife and I appeared before a three-man Supreme Court bench where we presented our case all over again for a review of the National court decision.
“Upon assessment the court decided that the case was out-dated and dismissed it immediately.”
Gabriel paused for a moment and took a deep breath as the memories of joy and celebration of his effort ran through his mind.
He then continued on his story with tears welling in his eyes,
“They had just recently filed another stay on March 25 for the Supreme Court to review the cases again,” he said
“As I heard about this while at work in Kundiawa, I was heavy-hearted as I thought all the hassles were over,”
“All the spending for anything from plane tickets to phone cards to accommodation rentals, I could not believe I would go through that again,” he said.
The hearing was conducted on May 16 and then adjourned to June 16 this year.
“Upon review the judge ordered that we sort the matter out of court and so both parties agreed,” Kaupa said.
Gariel Kaupa has never stopped believing in the court system and even when he felt discouraged by the orders against him.
He made sure to work steadily with his lawyers to make sure that all requirements were met for him to obtain justice through a court of law.
“Society expectations can be ugly; some people will see you fall and not worry as they have been harbouringbad thoughts towards you.
“My wife and I went through this five-year case alone not because we did not want help but because we did not want to force people to believe we could win
“Our hard work and faith finally paid off and we will be expecting our payment as directed by the Supreme Court soon,” he said.
Kaupa extends his appreciation to lawyers Misil Yawip from Yawip and Company lawyers as well as Donol Kints from Jema lawyers.