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The matter is not, in most part, due to training, neither the lack of disciplinary actions. Police brutality boils down to leadership and confidence-building in the force - lack of C4 compliance and interoperable synergy amongst the relevant institutional apparatus of the State. Hence, its calls for a collective approach from all key actors. For instance, there must be checks/balances on the leaders in terms of compliance with O.L.D.R.L. The O.L.D.R.L. establishes the specific duties and responsibilities of leaders which the OC as a quasi-judicial/non-judicial body mandated to investigate/ascertain facts and draw conclusions from them as the foundation for official actions against any particular leader, as specified under Section 26 of the Constitution.

`Such comparisons are interesting. Countries naturally want to know why others have done better than them. I look forward to reading your more penetrating analysis'. `Interesting' maybe for economists who delight in making them, in the hope that they will be policy influencers. As for `countries naturally' you presumably mean economists trained to be a-, even anti-,historical `naturally': serious analysis is usually undertaken by people trained in other disciplines, including history and philosophy. One of the funniest, yet saddest books I have ever read in this comparative policy prescriptions genre is by Acemoglu and Robinson Why Nations Fail. Of the USA, American Indians `sidelined' to make an egalitarian paradise possible? Sheltered in their ivory towers, it may be possible to describe the colonial treatment of indigenous Americans as just an act of `sidelining' but few others would agree except other white supremacists and apologists. As for US and other European imperialism's continuing effects on why people are poor world-wide, the word doesn't even appear in the book's index. Colonialism, only appears as `the end of'. (My point applies to accounts of Mauritius and Fiji which either deliberately or out of ignorance ignore imperial and colonial history and the continuing effect on national political economies.) Whether my analysis is penetrating will leave to others to decide, though doubt most economists will read anything I write. For others, I have an essay on labour mobility schemes accepted for publication and another on land tenure in PNG out for review. Comments always welcomed.

Hi Scott, Your mention of the PNG-Botswana comparison reminds me of the PNG national plan from a decade or so ago that early on compared PNG's growth with Malaysia's and Botswana's. Such comparisons are interesting. Countries naturally want to know why others have done better than them. I look forward to reading your more penetrating analysis. Regards, Stephen

Military coups, racism, corruption and mismanagement of resources and under utilisation of land drives the country in reverse gear!!!

I had never imagined my career as university executive would have brought me into contact with some many criminals, small and large. Here it the article in the Guardian about Rex Paki, who was undoubtedly the biggest thief and crook https://bit.ly/rexpaki

Let's hope so and we continue to believe in miracles.

Hi Terence and Okole, Thank you for writing these comments. As to the shooting of the UPNG students on 8 June 2016 with live ammunition, this was an outrage. It is a miracle nobody died, though many students were wounded by ricochet bullets. At the time I was Vice Chancellor at the PNG University of Technology, where the students were very hard to control. Thanks to the courageous visit to the campus of MetSup Wagambi Jr., we were able to contain the unrest and assure the students stayed on campus. I personally made sure the MetSup would not be attacked by the most hot headed students http://bit.ly/laetensedralbert. This is not normally part of a Vice-Chancellor's duties. In the aftermath, PM Peter O'Neill shamelessly demanded an inquiry into the student movement, while the real question of course was who had ordered the special police down to Waigani and ordered them to shoot live ammunition. Later on 25 October 2018, I was interviewed by ABC and again demanded justice for the students though an independent inquiry https://ab.co/3f3bSxB. In any normal democracy this would not be ignored. I am happy I am no longer a lonely voice in the desert. What a pity that I never received as much as a thank you for putting up with all this nonsense.

What a hoary old, facile comparison and no better than the Biman Prasad and Satish Chand efforts. A bit like Helen Hughes comparing PNG with Botswana and South Korea.

Hi Michael, Thank you for those comments. Yes I agree with you, though NEC have the prerogative to appoint Police Commissioner (and the Departmental heads). However, most of the appointees as you have pointed out in those cases clearly portray that the appointments are purposely to serve political interests and yes Political interference begins at the top.

Thank you Dr. Anouk Ride and others for the insights into the issue of GBV. I like to comment on the concept of payment of bride price vis-a-vis GBV made by Dr. Ride. I like to stress that in the traditional cultural context of Lengo society on Guadalcanal, in Solomon Islands, the payment of bride wealth by a groom's party to a bride's party not only symbolizes a bond between the groom's and bride's parties per se but also extends to assert and exert a bond between a couple requiring fidelity and obedience by wives to the authority of the husband. That is exactly the culture in Lengo society of Guadalcanal where I am from. So it's not ownership of wives as such but it's based on gendered role expecting wives to be obedient to instructions by husbands for carrying out daily activities or chores aimed at sustaining the nuclear and extended family network. The point I am making here is that, payment of bride wealth does not bind 2 parties per se but the couple for mutual understanding and support for sustainable livelihoods. Communal culture of caring and sharing (wantok system) is complimented through this practice. And I believe there is similarity across the Solomon of this cultural practice. Wives are expected to fend for extended family members of both the wife and the husband. For instance, there was a couple I know, who are not from Guadalcanal who got separated due to disobedience by the wife of this gendered expected role of caring for extended family members of the husband. As Tom (pseudo name) puts it: "My wife Anna (pseudo name) did not accept members of my family to our Honiara home claiming they are dirty and uncivilized in using modern facilities like showers and toilets." They are now separated.

An update since this article was published: Parliament was adjourned from April to August 2021, so there was no vote of no confidence. However, the opposition’s case against the adjournment, which, if ruled in their favour would cause parliament to meet again to deal with the vote of no confidence, is set for May 11. But that seems unlikely now. The Electoral Commission set the date for the issue of writs for the 2022 election as 21 April 2022. This makes April 2021 the beginning of the last 12 months before elections. The original date for the issue of writs was expected to be in July 2022, making July 2021 the first month of the last 12 months. A vote of no confidence is not possible within the last 12 months. Implication: The opposition has a case before the courts, hoping for the courts to rule the parliament adjournment in December 2020 to avoid a vote of no confidence as unconstitutional (parliament was adjourned from December 2020 to April 2021 to avoid a VONC, and again adjourned to August 2021 to avoid a VONC). The hearing for this case was set for 12 May 2021. IF the court rules in favour of the opposition, the opposition would then have moved a VONC before July 2021. But now that April 2021 is the first of last 12 months, we are already into the last 12 months, making a VONC impractical. The Electoral Commission should have left the expected schedule as it was. It does give the impression that this was done to avoid a vote of no confidence (even if that is not what triggered the change of dates). The last thing we want is for the people to lose trust in our institutions.

Congratulations to you both. Apart from police alleged to be acting on politicians’ directives, appointments to police hierarchy has been political as well: O’Neill removed Tom Kulunga for signing the warrant for his arrest. O’Neill then put Geoffrey Vaki in Kulunga’s place. Vaki prevented O’Neill’s arrest. When Vaki was embroiled in a contempt of court order (for preventing O’Neill’s arrest), O’Neill replaced him with Gary Baki. Baki then started vetting high profile cases, including warrant for O’Neill’s arrest. When O’Neill was replaced in 2019, Baki’s contract was not renewed (he was notified via WhatsApp). Manning’s appointment has been challenged in court. Police Commissioner is equivalent to Secretary for government departments. Up until this week, the requirement for such position was a tertiary qualification, which Manning didn’t have. This was successfully challenged by candidates who met the requirements but were not given the position. The government responded by abolishing the Department of Police, and the position for the Secretary for Police. Now that the position for the Secretary is removed, Manning doesn’t need a tertiary qualification to be the Police Commissioner. The NEC claimed to have acted consistently with the court’s opinion. But what the court stated was, the Department of Police was not created by law, but a 1976 gazette. So the court said if you don’t want someone with tertiary qualifications abolish the Department of Police and the Secretary’s position. At its current form, a police commissioner requires a tertiary qualification. The NEC then acted on it. Bryan Kramer argued on Facebook that the decision to abolish the Department of Police and Secretary for Police were not illegal. He’s right. But so was O’Neill's removal of police commissioners, and replacing them at will. O’Neill’s decision were not illegal. Both O’Neill and Marape have been political in their appointments of Police Commissioners. So our problem begins right at top.