Directorate receives complaint against Basil over party leadership

By CLIFFORD FAIPARIK
THE National Fraud and Anti-Corruption Directorate has received a complaint against Bulolo MP Sam Basil, alleging that he took over the leadership of the Melanesian Alliances Party illegally, fraud director Chief Supt Mathew Damaru said.
“We have also received a complaint from MA Party president James Jamilou to investigate Basil for allegedly distorting MA’s logo,” he said.
Damaru said yesterday that normal police investigations would be conducted in due course to establish facts surrounding the alleged fraudulent activities. Availability of evidences will determine the appropriate cause of action, he said.
Jamilou also confirmed in a letter dated May 23 that they had referred Basil to the Police Fraud Squad for investigation. He said that they had expelled MA general secretary Nick Klapat for allegedly facilitating an illegal party leadership takeover by Basil. Earlier, the Office of Political Parties and Candidates Registrar Dr Alphonse Gelu said that Wosera-Gawi MP Joseph Yopyyopy was the first to rejoin MA Party to claim the party’s leadership before Basil.
“There is now an issue with the party leadership between Yopyyopy and Basil. When Yopyyopy rejoined the party, only the party executives were aware of it. However, when Basil and the rest of his team joined the party, only the general secretary (Nick Klapat) was aware of it and not the rest of the executives. In fact, he also facilitated their process to join the party.