Country needs strong leadership

PAPUA New Guinea is still settling itself in its domestic affairs, in socio- economic issues, in its petro- chemical, LNG, oil, minerals boom and its export of its resources to the international market and weaving its way into meeting various international standards and complying to various niche markets like the export of tuna to European Union countries and the export of taro, coffee and other agriculture commodities to New Zealand and Australia our close neighbours and other world markets.
PNG is still hellbent on exporting round logs from our virgin forest!
PNG needs strong leadership in addressing climate change, utilising proven clean green technology power to power rural industries, manufacturing and down- streaming our raw commodities for export and to create more employment.
We need strong leadership to enable most sectors in government and private sector to utilise electric propulsion in transportation i.e in electric cars, electric tractors, electric trucks, electric outboard motors and electric ships etc.
PNG has high level of debt in billions of Kinas!
It seems our great, grandchildren will be still paying for the loans we have taken if the country does not change its leadership in the 2022 election. Many ethnic groups have not benefited from these humongous loans year after year and why should our people pay for loans that they have not benefited from?
We have high level of corruption according to the Transparency International and have our share of evil, law and order problems, gender-based violence, women accused of sorcery, women torture over sorcery allegations and killings.
In many sorcery cases, there are so called “glassman”, “glass meri” who are assisted by some so called pastors who talk to their counterfeit spirits and claim to be men and women of God.
PNG has a lot of natural resources yet we are poor and have high level of poverty, lack modern infrastructure in rural areas throughout the country.
PNG has over the years talked of women equality and participation in all aspects of development and in politics, yet numerous suggestions and reports to various agencies to dramatically change that have fallen on deaf ears.
We cannot continue to use women issues as a bargaining tool to win political votes in the elections.
PNG is coming of age in women politics and it is beginning to see a trickle of changes for the better but not as much as we have anticipated.
Papua New Guineans need to be serious in women issues and vote women leaders in your electorates for gender balance on the floor of the Parliament and combat corruption at all levels and advocate for developing PNG.
We need to give women opportunities to be prime ministers as in other civilised democratic countries that have adopted the Westminster system of government.
We need to be man enough, we need to be leader enough to swallow our bride and allow women to take the lead for a better change in our lives.

Luimack Johnson
Community leader in Bogia and
Angoram and Green Technology
Advocate