Three deaths, several injured in election-related violence

By JOHN SUPA and ZACHERY PER
THREE deaths, dozens of seriously injured people, invasion of two secondary schools and attacks on students may just be part of the election-related violence in Eastern Highlands this week.
Students were living in fear and the area was tense – almost anticipating more violence to erupt.
The declaration of winners for the Daulo and Goroka open seats saw supporters of the two losing candidates from the two electorates unleashing their anger and fury at students and other tribes who they thought were responsible for their candidates’ loss in the election.
Soon after former Goroka MP Bire Kimisopa was declared winner, Moses Venapo, a businessman and one of the top three candidates who had held onto the lead for the Goroka open seat during the crucial stages of the elimination processes, allegedly led an invasion of  the Kabiufa Secondary School by his tribesmen. The students were assaulted and their accommodation ransacked.
A male student sustained an arrow wound to his leg while many others’ injuries ranged from minor to serious and were rushed to the Goroka hospital.
Venapo’s men then turned on their neighbouring Akameku tribesmen and attacked them, resulting in the deaths of two men and a third in critical condition in hospital.
He was arrested and detained by Goroka police on the same day but was released later in the day pending investigations.
In the Daulo, Asaro police reported that supporters of another losing candidate (named) attacked declared winner Ron Ganarafo and a man was killed. Villages were expecting more trouble.
Dormitories at the Asaroka Lutheran Secondary School were ransacked and looted by people living around the school. Students attending the mission-owned school were living in fear. The Asaroka schools are owned by the Seventh Day Adventist Mission and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of PNG.