Kirriwom: Public offices belong to the people, not individuals

PUBLIC interest is paramount and must prevail over private and personal interest, a National and Supreme Court judge says.
Justice Nicholas Kirriwom on Tuesday clarified that any person appointed to be head of a public office or engaged in the public service employment should not claim ownership of the office he or she held.
While granting a stay order against the reinstatement of Joseph Lelang as national planning and monitoring secretary, Kirriwom said: “Public offices belong to the people and not for any organisation or individual”.
In his ruling, he said the constitution, under section 188, “establishes national public services as state services and gives to the Public Service Commission, a constitutional office, to recommend to the National Executive Council, those who it considers are fit and proper persons to hold positions in the national public service.”
He found that the struggle over the position of secretary in the planning department had kept the people of the country at ransom.
“In my view, to hold the people of Papua New Guinea at ransom, while a dispute rages on who is the proper person to hold the post of secretary of the Department of National Planning a very selfish and inconsiderate attitude to be entertained by any responsible person fighting for his survival,” Kirriwom said.
Referring to Lelang’s matter, Kirriwom said the National Planning Department must function and “cannot be allowed to fall into disarray when the head faces court battles over his suitability to hold that office”.