Count ballots in Enga, not Goroka

AS a concerned Eastern Highlander, I wish to express my views on behalf of the silent majority in the province.
We would like to know the reason for moving the counting of Kandep by-election from Kandep to Mt Hagen and then to Goroka.
If Electoral Commission does not want trouble, neither do the people of Mt Hagen or Goroka.
The counting should be conducted in Enga.
Like our elected leaders, we do not agree with the Electoral Commission’s decision.
Can Andrew Trawen and the Electoral Commission guarantee the safety of innocent Eastern Highlanders and that we can move around our town without fear?
We have seen how the Kandepians behave before and during the by-election.
Kandepians are not like Eastern Highlanders who are peace-loving people who accept defeats gracefully.
We do not want our peaceful town and its inhabitants and properties to be terrorised and destroyed.
If the Kandepians cannot elect their leader peacefully through the normal democratic process but by using force, then let the counting be in Kandep and how they elect their leader is their business.
We strongly oppose the counting to take place in Goroka.

Kaleno Rolu
Via email