Husband called to testify against MP

THE leadership tribunal hearing allegations of misconduct in office against Kikori MP Mark Maipakai has allowed the state prosecutor to summon a second witness to give evidence.
The summon was requested by state pro­secutor Pondros Kaluwin after the witness failed to turn up in court yesterday.
The witness is understood to be the husband of the woman Maipakai is alleged to have had a relationship with.
Maipakai’s lawyer Paul Paraka argued that the absence of the witness showed that he was not interested in the matter and the allegation should be dismissed.
Paraka said the matter, if true, was a private domestic matter and had nothing to do with Maipakai’s official duties.
In a reference submitted to the tribunal, the prosecution said: “By having an adulterous affair with a woman when he was himself married, the leader created disharmony within a family unit, ending in a break up of that family, thereby being guilty of misconduct in office under section 27 (5) (b) of the constitution.”
The hearing continues.