Detective Bina on an anti-corruption mission

By CLIFFORD FAIPARIK
DETECTIVE Senior Constable Bina Gigiba hates corruption and people who advertently abuse the public service system to enrich themselves.
It may have to do with his strong Christian upbringing as a member of the United Church, as well as having lived in remote areas where his parents, both primary school teachers, were sent to teach.
“I know the hardship of the people in the remote areas around the country, and that motivates me to fight corruption, where Government funds budgeted to improve their lives are misused by officers living in luxury in towns and cities.”
He is a senior detective in the police fraud and anti-corruption squad.
He comes from a family of 12 who hail from Mabadauan village in Western.
He is married to policewoman Florence Wakon who is a drug and vice squad detective. They have six children.
“My parents taught in primary schools in the rural areas of Gulf and Western. They raised the 12 of us. I am the sixth eldest.”
Four of his siblings have followed the footsteps of their parents to become teachers.
“My father passed away in 2013 and my mother is retired and lives in Daru. Because life was hard, my parents made food gardens at the schools they were teaching to supplement their pay to look after the 12 of us.
“It was hard serving in remote areas such as Daru, Kiunga and Balimo which are so far away. For example, the Drimdamasuk Primary School (where he started schooling) is six hours by dinghy along the Fly River to Kiunga.”
Bina was born in Kikori, Gulf on Dec 17, 1969 when his parents were teaching there.
“My parents were then transferred back to Western and taught at Morehead, Kidoror Teapopo in South Fly District, Lake Murray in Middle Fly, Ningerum and Drimdamasuk in North Fly.”
He began Grade One at Drimdamasuk, ending up as dux in Grade Six in 1981.
“I then attended Daru High School in Daru to be close to my parent. I completed high school in 1985 and was selected to do a one-year Business Studies course at the Mt Hagen Technical College in Western Highlands in 1986.
He worked for a while with Westpac in Mt Hagen.
“But my parents didn’t like me working there because of tribal fights. So I went back to Daru.”

“ And that motivates me to fight corruption, where Government funds budgeted to improve their lives are misused by officers living in luxury in towns and cities.”

In January 1987, a police recruitment team came to Daru. Bina passed the entry test and attended the Bomana Police College in Port Moresby.
“After six months basic police training, I passed out as the dux of squad five in the 1987 intake.”
He joined the mobile squad and further underwent a six-month specialist training at the McGregor Police Barracks where the headquarters of the Special Service Division is.
In 1989, he was on an operation in the Highlands region when the Bougainville crisis broke out.
From 1990 to 1997, he was based at the Tomaringa mobile squad barracks in East New Britain and was deployed seven times to Bougainville.
In 1998, he returned to McGregor Barracks underwent further training before joining the National Security Unit.
In 1999, he was attached to then Opposition Leader Bernard Narokobi who later became Speaker when Sir Mekere Morauta became the PM.
Bina visited Wewak District in East Sepik a lot as it was Narokobi’s electorate.
“I was close to late Narokobi, his late wife, his children and his relatives.”
In 1999, he joined the National Fraud and Anti-Corruption Directorate and since then has been involved in major fraud and anti-corruption investigations.
His Business Studies course and banking background have come in handy in his current investigative work.
“I thank the Lord Almighty that the course is now helpful to me in investigating fraud cases that deal with money trails, bank accounts, forged cheques – basically financial crime.”
At 52, Detective Bina knows his Christian upbringing is what is driving him on to achieve his anti-corruption mission.