Highlanders meet Kramer

THE majority of leagues in the Highlands zone say they will attend the Jan 30 PNGRFL AGM as announced by chief of operations Joe Tokam last month.
In a meeting on Tuesday in Mt Hagen in which Bryan Kramer, a claimant of the PNGRFL chairmanship, was present, 11 league representitives said they acknowledged the July court order that stated that an AGM was to be held no later than Nov 30.
However, the executives said they were unaware of the details  of that court order and were also not prepared for last month’s meeting.
Furthermore, Wabag RFL president Sandis Tsaka said the Highlands leagues would not recognise Kramer as chairman.
“We don’t recognise Bryan as the chairman because what happened in Lae (Nov 28) was unlawful and there is a lot of confusion as to what constitution is being followed to come up with these actions,” he said.
Tsaka was also critical of Kramer whom he claimed did not explain his position well enough to the assembled league representatives.
“The Highlands bloc do not recognise Kramer and will still attend the AGM next month even if we are threatened with contempt of court!”
Tari league vice-president Victor Kaiyambu said although they respected the court order, they would still attend the AGM in Lae.
However, Porgera president  Jack Pakon said his league did not care who was chairman but would support anyone so long as credibility and stability were restored to the PNGRFL.
He said Kramer, as far as he was concerned, was within his rights to be chairman.
But he added that he would also attend the AGM next month to witness the tabling of the 2010 financial reports from the interim committee as well as other PNGRFL business.
Samuel Kaman (Fatima) and Jack Kitoi (Pangia) chose not to comment on the court order but also confirmed they would attend the January AGM.
The Highlands leagues that attended the meeting were Porgera, Pangia, Dei, Nondugl, Kindeng, Baining, Kurumul, Tari, Jimi, Wabag and Mt Hagen while Kundiawa, Kondopina, Banz, Minj and Mendi sent their apologies.
Goroka did not attend.
Meanwhile, Kramer maintained his position as newly elected chairman of the PNGRFL in an email saying the court order plus the constitution were adhered to in his election last month.
“Any attempts to convene another AGM is in breach of the court order.”
Kramer also pointed out that as of Nov 28, only nine leagues (from Northern and Islands zones) were fully compliant with PNGRFL affiliation requirements and formed a quorum (according to section 14 of the PNGRFL constitution), therefore, they were within their rights to elect him into office.