Watch those people, work pressures

WE received with sadness news that Education Minister Jimmy Uguro suddenly died in his sleep in Wewak, East Sepik, on Monday night.
The Minister was everywhere last week and, this week, it is impossible to think that he is now dead.
The previous week, Uguro was in Goroka conferring academic awards upon graduating students of the University of Goroka.
He told the 800 students: “You must teach with your hearts as you impart quality education for the future generation to have mindset changes as per the motto of graduation.”
Last Friday, Uguro was officiating at the launch of the dedication ceremony of the Education Transformation Vision 2075 in Port Moresby.
He said: “With the vision, ‘transforming teaching and learning to achieve quality education through effective service delivery’, we should reflect on our education system in the last 50 years and shift our focus.
“Since Independence, we have produced many drug and alcohol addicts from tertiary institutions who have no respect for one another.
“Vision 2075 will ensure from next year onwards, individuals must not only be educated but be smart in their way of thinking.”
He said education for education’s sake was not enough.
He wanted transformational learning.
He wanted individuals to be imbued with the character and mindset that promoted respect for one another.
“Next year going forward will be a transformational period,” Uguro said.
“All officers must be on time. We must no seek bribes to offer service and must serve with our hearts and not for the love of money.”
He was never to know that these will be some of the last words he would utter publicly.
He told our journalist he was not feeling well.
Yet, he flew off to Wewak on Monday to launch a school project in colleague Minister Richard Maru’s Yangoru-Saussia electorate.
At the school, he met a friend of his from Madang Teachers College and shared some personal reflections on their time at the institution.
It was raining heavily so Minister Uguro had to fly back to Wewak in a chopper, still complaining about not feeling well.
He went to bed early at his hotel and was discovered the next day, dead.
The cause of death at this stage is undetermined.
The people of Usino-Bundi and his family will miss him deeply, and our condolences are with them.
Uguro becomes the fourth politician to die in office in this 11th Parliament.
Then Wewak MP, Kevin Isifu, was one of the first to die in June last year. A by-election had since been held for that seat and Isifu has been replaced by Stanley Samban.
Maprik MP Gabriel Kapris followed, then Dei MP Steven Pim and Porgera-Paiela MP Maso Kaipe. These seats are still vacant pending by-elections.
The 10th Parliament produced no less than 10 deaths of MPs in office.
The number of these deaths are unprecedented.
By and large, Members of Parliament are well looked after. They have close protection officers who drive them around.
These deaths must then arise from work pressure, electorate pressure, from personal lifestyle, prevailing or hereditary conditions or from accidents.
We can rule out the last reason (accidents) as we know none of the deaths so far have been caused by some accident. Hereditary conditions are hard to prevent and really there is very little that can be done about them as the malignancy is present in the genetic makeup.
But pressure from work or from the electorate and lifestyle diseases can be prevented if people work at them.
We have often mentioned in this space that increasing the member’s workload through the district development authority is not necessarily a good thing.
An MP must now perform his primary role as a legislator in Parliament, as a policy-maker and driver in Cabinet, and then as a goods and services deliverer at the DDA or at the provincial government in the case of a governor. Often times, all of these roles are undertaken by one person.
These are high-pressured jobs. The people pour pressure upon the Member at each of these levels – as an MP, as a Minister and through the DSIP or PSIP.
These can exert so much pressure so as to be detrimental to health.
Lifestyle disease is a condition so well-known but with perks and privileges and connections that come easily with the territory, the impulse to indulge can be tempting.
And that can lead to health issues.