CAREERS

True blue cop

Four decades have flown by for Kerema Police Station commander Senior Inspector Michael Pakyei

By JAMIE HARO
SENIOR Inspector Michael Pakyei, 65, is a long serving Policeman who hails from Gawanga Village in the Ambunti-Dreikikier district of East Sepik.
His education journey began in 1966 to 1972 in Ambunti where he got to complete preparatory to Grade six (grades were known as standards at the time) at the St Joseph Primary School.
“I was fortunate to have passed the primary school examination and advanced to high school,” he said.
By years 1973-76 he attended St Xavier’s High School on Karuru Island just off the coast of Wewak town, and spent the next four years there. After completing high school, he was accepted to continue his education at the University of Papua New Guinea in 1977.
“I completed my first year at UPNG but unfortunately by 1978, I decided not to continue, because I was the only breadwinner in my family. So I decided to get a job.”
Recalling his journey so far, Snr Inspector Pakyei amusingly said he got inspirations from watching movies before joining the police force.
“Back then I was always watching all these American cowboy movies on TV and O January 17, 1978, he walked into the gates of the Bomana Police College as a new recruit, and spent the next six months in training. By July 7 of that same year he graduated with a basic probationary training.
“After passing out, most of the cadets were transferred out. About 20 cadet police personnel were transferred to the Boroko Police Station and I was one of them.”
He said back then the station was called “Didi Office” of which worked as a Public Safety officer.
As he recalls, while serving in Port Moresby, he was privileged to have worked with former Madang Governor Peter Yama, who then took care of the Shift D team as the non-compliance ifficer.
By then when he got transferred, his team was placed under the care of Late Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare’s brother.
“I worked under him until I got transferred to the Police Intelligence Unit down at the headquarters at Konedobu.” He said.
By 1980, he was transferred with six other police officers to Kerema to continue their duties.
“We flew into Kerema on Aug 7, 1980 and since then I remained in the province and served for more than 40 years. I have served under different provincial police commanders (PPCs) who have come and gone.
“I went there since my mid-20s, and have lived and worked my entire life and I am still serving in the province,” he added.
In addition, while serving in the province, Sepik man met a local woman and they got married in 1992 and have two sons who are now adults.
One thing that he loves about being in the province, is that although he is from ESP, a lot of locals who he has crossed paths in all corners of the province tend to treat him as family.
On the road to becoming a senior inspector Michael spent the last 24 years as a criminal investigations officer.
Through refresher courses, he managed to work as a CIO and as the officer in charge (OIC) for the Criminal Investigation Division in in the province.
“While serving under that title, I attended a lot of workshop that regarding investigations on fraud, human trafficking and all that stuff.”
He said, before been transferred to the CID section, he was working on numerous occasions as OIC Traffic, OIC firearms, OIC communications covering most of the units during his service.
“I’ve gained a lot of experience during working in operations, supervisory and administration with PPCs that have come and gone. On a number of occasions, I’ve worked as an acting PPC.”
In 2015, he was promoted from a station commander to inspector, for which he held the rank to date until last year (2021) when he was promoted to Senior Inspector which he currently holds and is still the Police Station Commander in Kerema.
He adds that of the seven officers who first went to Kerema in 1980, six transferred out. Up to date, five of his colleagues have passed on while he and another in Goroka are still actively serving.
“I was listed for retirement last year (2021), unfortunately due to this year’s elections, I have been recalled to serve an additional 2-3 years.”
“Although I have breached my age to serve or years of active service, I have decided to remain and service in active duty.” He added. He said, after retirement he is planning to go back to his village in Ambunti and do vanilla farming. In his term, he refers to his retirement after service as “Go Green”.
“My message to the younger generation who have joined the force is that discipline has brought me this far. I have taken care of myself, though I had ups and downs but those moments have never put me down, they have brought to where I am.
“You won’t get what you want quickly. But through hard work and dedication. Patience is virtue.
“It may take some time but patience is all you require, while discipline will carry you over as life is not always the same. Today will not always be the same as tomorrow. Sacrifice and commit, and let nature take its course,” he said.

Academic coaching that works

By DIANDRA PAINE
WE were all born with God-given gifts and talents.
With the right mentor and mentoring, you can fully develop into your full potential and succeed in whatever it is that you set your mind to. Young girls with big dreams become educated women who break barriers and cause change within their families, communities and nations.
I was only four years old when I developed a passion for airplanes. Both my parents had worked in the airline industry so I grew up being surrounded by aviation stories and at times, trips to the airport with my dad for work when I was younger, just so I could watch airplanes take-off and land.
At age 22, in July of 2020 during the pandemic lockdown, I finally graduated with my bachelor’s degree in aeronautical engineering with an academic excellence award – a dream come true and a huge milestone for my family and I.
This wouldn’t have been possible if it wasn’t for Education Pacific Agency (EPA), another wonderful platform created by another Papua New Guinea which helps young Papua New Guineans like myself achieve their dreams through securing places abroad for them to study.
However, I would be selfish to pursue my dreams without giving back to my people, especially the many young PNG Girls out there with big dreams.
It has always been a desire of mine to encourage and motivate young girls to pursue their callings, dreams and to make a difference in their spheres of influence.
I was once a young PNG girl with a big dream who by God’s Grace has seen my dreams being made manifest, and I desire for every other young PNG girl to also succeed in life.
That said and with some spare time on hand, I’ve created a one-one-one (1 on 1) academic coaching programme for young PNG girls in Port Moresby between the ages of seven and 15 years.
If a young girl is able to realise her passion/interests at an early age and nurture them as she grows, there’s no stopping to who she will become and what she can achieve over time.
When you educate a girl, you educate a nation. My vision for the programme is “creating a fearless future for young PNG girls.” It is a four-week programme which will run only on Saturdays.
I’ve always desired change for our nation, so this is my way of trying to bring change by coaching and mentoring young PNG girls so they can grow up with the right mindset and become educated leaders, trailblazers, develop into their full potential and fulfill their destinies.
Train up your child in the way they should go and they won’t depart from it when they’re older. If you are interested in signing your daughter up for the programme, kindly email [email protected] for booking schedules, fees and other information.
The best investment any parent can make is to invest in their child’s future.