050122Bougainville Leaders Tribute to Hon Sam Akoitai Fearless Leader and Champion of Peace.
NEW DAWN FM NEWS
Presented by Hon Timothy Masiu, Minister for Communication and Information Technology, Member for South Bougainville
Thank you for this honour to pay tribute to the late Member for Central Bougainville, Hon Samuel Akoitai.
I do this today as a State Minister and as a Bougainville Leader representing:
• Hon Peter Tsiamalili Jr, Vice Minister for Bougainville Affairs and Regional MP for Bougainville
• Hon William Nakin, Member for North Bougainville, and
• President Ishmael Toroama and the Autonomous Region of Bougainville; and of course
• The population of Bougainville both in AROB as well as scattered throughout PNG and abroad.
From the start, let me state emphatically, that Honourable Samuel Akoitai was a Fearless Leader: A True Champion of Peace in Bougainville; and in Papua New Guinea.
Samuel Akoitai was born the son of David Akoitai of Togarau, located in the Crown Prince Mountain range inland of Central Bougainville. Further details of the Akoitai family will or have been delivered by others here or in Bougainville tomorrow onwards.
But David, late Samuel’s father was part of the linguistic/translation/literacy team with American’s Irwin and Jacqueline Firchow from the Summer Institute of Linguistic who placed Papua New Guinea and Bougainville on the world map with the uniqueness of Rotokas language.
Rotokas, the language spoken by the Akoitais and up to 10,000 people in Wakunai and further inland in Togarau, has the world’s shortest alphabet with 12 letters out of some 6000 languages of the world.
Samuel, or Sam as he is commonly known, was a three-term Member of Parliament representing Central Bougainville until his passing.
He was declared duly elected to this 10th National Parliament on 13th April 2018 and sworn in on on the 19th April 2018 following recount ordered by the Court of Disputed returns. This was third term in the National Parliament.
He was first elected to the sixth National Parliament in 1997 and became a significant player in the formation of Government by Prime Minister Honourable Bill Skate (later knighted as Sir William).
He was re-elected in 2002 and became part of the National Alliance coalition government led by (now also the late) Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare.
But the qualities of Sam Akoitai as a Fearless leader and a Champion of Peace was initially forged
• in the fierce fighting during the Bougainville Crisis – and
• more particularly his switch from a battle-hardened soldier – to a peace-maker from 1994 - 1995.
Sam, like many initial apolitical men and youth, took up arms as resistance fighters to defend their own villages, homes and relatives amidst the rampart lawlessness that permeated Bougainville following the 1990 PNG Government Blockade and withdrawal of PNG Security Forces.
The attacks and counter-attacks and revenge killings, some of it between blood relatives –– became a complex senseless concern that seemed never to end.
The Bougainville Crisis since it began in 1988 had bested Prime Ministers and many National Governments and was set to continue until an important turning point – the Arawa Peace Conference in 1994.
Out of that Conference, seen by many as a failure with the non-attendance of the so-called Bougainville Interim Government leaders, came Theodore Miriung, another Central Bougainville Leader.
Later elected Premier of Bougainville Transitional Government, Miriung drove the agenda of “Peace by Peaceful Means” and the importance of the perception of “No Victors” and “No Vanquished” in the pursuit of peace.
While there were many proponents of this approach, Sam Akoitai, some would say by divine design, became the frontline bridge-builder of peace among combatants.
At great risk to himself, not to mention his own brothers Paul, Thomas (who is here with the sister Janet) and Max, the Akoitais with their small band of resistance fighters began with their own relatives to meet, reconcile and expand this within Wakunai, Manetai, Pakia Gap to Panguna and further south to the North Nasioi areas including Toboroi.
A key strategy employed was to bring in a select team of journalists who were perceived to be fair, objective, non-sensationalists whose focus in reporting was not just news for the sake of news but to promote the idea of “peace by peaceful means”.
I was part of that team: initially as NBC journalist and then as reporter for The National. Also included in that “Peace Journalists Team”, many times unbeknown to them, was Peter Niesi of the then Post-Courier and occasionally Sean Dorney of ABC and others.
Many of us were privy to, and can attest to the bravery and fearlessness of Sam Akoitai on many, many occasion: as he went unarmed into BRA-Controlled areas putting his own personal life on the line.
Sam, as many security forces will tell you, was an exceptional soldier. He, like many Bougainvilleans, started resistance movements, to defend their own immediate relatives, clans and communities.
They say, that the first casualty in war is the truth.
That’s correct in Bougainville. What began as a landowner issue with the blowing of pylons, expanded into reactions to police riot squad deployment, heavy-handed tactics and human rights abuses, no doubt fueled by fear and frustration in what was an escalating insurgency warfare. Among ex combatants, the taking of arms and the power it provided, was often used to attempt to address old feuds and feed other lusts.
Sam Akoitai’s peace ventures earned him firstly the respect of the Resistance Fighters who elected him as Resistance Fighters Chairman. Many of us believe, that Sam Akoitai’s success in peace-building arose from his own battle-hardened reputation as a dreaded foe. His foe-to-friend approach earned him the respect of many combatants including current Autonomous Bougainville Region President Ishmael Toroama.
Essentially, it was better to be a friend then a foe of the Akoitais and their band of Resistance fighters.
The Resistance Chairmanship and the peace venture set the stage for him to be one of the key signatories to many of the strategic outcomes of peace talks including Mirigini Talks, Cairns Talks I & II, Burnham I & II Talks.
Sam Akoitai as Minister for Bougainville Affairs in the Skate Government and as Minister for State Assisting the Prime Minister on Bougainville Matters from 1997-1999 did the groundwork and set the stage for the Bougainville Peace Agreement.
Sam, and his mentor and friend, Theodore Miriung recognized and helped to drive the need for the Organic Law on Autonomy, Peace-Building, Weapons Disposal and Referendum into the PNG Constitution.
On the surface, it may look as if this was an imposition into the National Constitution however a deeper look highlights that this was a very responsible act.
Late Sir Mekere Morauta, signatory of the Bougainville Peace Agreement, hints at this with his reference to Bougainville as a key political landscaper of PNG politics. He was referring: firstly, to how the first Organic Law on Provincial Government was introduced to accommodate Bougainville’s aspiration of autonomy and decentralisation. And secondly, to this Bougainville Crisis resolution Organic Law. The key rationale was to treat Bougainville as a special crisis resolution case, worked into the National Constitution to avoid other provinces jumping on the band wagon.
Several months after the results of the Bougainville referendum, in the dying days of President John Momis, I invited Deputy Prime Minister Samuel H Basil, Bulolo MP to visit Bougainville. Akoitai received his namesake the Deputy Prime Minister in his Wakunai residence.
During the luncheon, Sam Akoitai, showed his Fearless Leadership and Champion for Peace. Again. This time – not just within Bougainville context – but within the context of how best to manage the outcome of the Bougainville referendum within the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea context.
Akoitai’s view, as a three-term MP and former State Minister of the Sovereign State of Papua New Guinea, was pragmatic. He noted that the overwhelming Bougainville’s referendum result for secession was still subject to the Papua New Guinea National Parliament. And requires extensive lobbying in which defining and demarcation of what amounts to the national interest for broader Sovereign State of Papua New Guinea and Bougainvillean interest would need to interface.
For Sam Akoitai, as the Fearless Leader and Champion of Peace, the responsible way would be to look at existing models of relationships between Sovereign States around the world. Open up dialogue on how to adopt and adapt that into the PNG – or Bougainville context. This must be done - not just in an exclusive way - but inclusive of other parts of Papua New Guinea.
Bougainville Leaders have already made public their views on the loss of this brave man and great leader.
As I conclude my remarks, I am mindful of one of the verses of Our LORD Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount recorded in the Gospel of Mathew 5, verse 9
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God
I am sure, we all, in one accord, pray that God Our Father will see Sam Akoitai, this Fearless Leader and Champion of Peace, as a true peacemaker worth to be called a son of God and receive him.
May he rest in eternal peace.
Hon Timothy Masiu, Minister for Communication and Information Technology, Member for South Bougainville
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