Investigate corruption

I THANK the Ombudsman Commission (OC) for investigating the misuse of funds by Eastern Highlands provincial government and administration Province (EHP) as reported in one of our dailies last week.
It will be interesting to know who the signatories to the new trust account are.
Why establish a new trust account when the province already operated several trust accounts complying with and conforming to the Public Finance Management Act (1995).
Section 32 officers and financial delegates were deliberately non-compliant so as to conceal their motives.
There were rumours floating in Goroka that funds from provincial divisions and sectors had been withdrawn and directed into this new trust account.
The rumour is confirmed, as revealed from Ombudsman Commission investigations.
The act of diverting funds into trust accounts and misusing them was rampant during the last term of Parliament and administration.
This money is meant for development of Eastern Highlands.
Some smart people, however, have seen fit to misuse funds such as the K7.3 million and deprived the 700,000 people of Eastern Highlands of goods and services.
Those responsible need to be brought to justice and made answerable for their deeds.
If found guilty, they must face the full force of the law.
Because of such misuse of funds, Airport Road has never been completed. The contractor made two attempts to seal the road but could not do so due to no funding.
Money budgeted for the road had been squandered by public servants, hence, the work stopped.
Potholes in the town area are never patched.
Casual staff gather outside the Yanepa Building in anticipation of their wages but to no avail.
Basic social services are declining, population is increasing, traffic congestion is a daily occurrence, districts still waiting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, and the list goes on.
These issues could be addressed with the misused funds.
Ombudsman Commission can now use its vested powers to direct the Fraud Squad to follow up its investigation.
Apprehend those responsible and haul them before the courts.
No one is above the law.

Norm Sakete
Concerned Nokondi
Okapa 2CUPS Land