president of bougainville

Former rebel military commander Ishmael Toroama, who has been elected as president of Bougainville, an autonomous region of Papua New Guinea in … 21st Elimination – Tuesday afternoon Momis had sought a third term – in defiance of Bougainville’s constitution which limits presidents to two – but lost a challenge before the supreme court. Mr. Toroama says that Bougainville’s dreams to one day chart its … The general election was the first since Bougainville voted overwhelmingly President-elect Ishmael Toroama after being declared the winner of the #Bougainville Presidential #election . President Toroama highlighted the importance of Innovative Leadership of the Administration stating he will be reviewing and making changes if necessary. The BRA are the first Indigenous People to shut down one of the biggest mining companies on this planet. Rio Tinto and BCL turned the island of Bougainville into a sea of blood by imposing a military blockade using Australian helicopters decked out as gunships to strafe villages on Bougainville, navy boats supplied by Australia to keep journalists and human rights workers out so no medicines or medical teams could enter Bougainville in order to keep Rio Tinto and BCL’s filth from being exposed. ‘Oh yes.’ ‘How many?’ ‘Twelve.’ ‘Twelve! 29,896 – Simon Duraminu Ishmael Toroama – fighter, rebel leader, peace broker, scrap metal dealer, security boss and coca farmer – now seems likely to be fifth president of Bougainville. A Bougainville which itself may be standing on the threshold of independence. Elections for the first autonomous government were held in May and June 2005; Joseph Kabui, an independence leader, was elected President. He tells us how Jesus appeared to him after he was wounded. Bougainville president, and former rebel military commander, Ishmael Toroama, wants a swift resolution to independence talks with Papua New Guinea. Rio Tinto and BCL were making mega bucks without any regard for the environment or the people of Bougainville. Many long-term members of the province’s house of representatives lost their seats to young, millennial generation leaders, such as Theonila Matbob, born during the civil war, and elected to the constituency of Ioro, home to the disused Panguna mine. “[And] to the people of Bougainville, thank you for your peace and serenity as you decided on your government. Looking forward to work with your leaders including the president.”. During this post-war period, Toroama and his group not only expanded their activities by dismantling and selling scrap metal from Panguna but by offering ‘protection services’ to local businesses and visitors. Former Rebel Leader Is Elected President of Bougainville Ishmael Toroama is expected to lead talks in the South Pacific autonomous region’s effort to … If anyone is interested in my story please contact me on this email address: nmatte481@gmail.com, or search my name on Facebook: Nigel Matte (Nai) and Linkedin: Nigel Matte. 47,145 – Ishmael Toroama Thirty years ago, Ishmael Toroama was leading troops in a rebel army during a bloody conflict in Bougainville. Later, in 2001, he became a signatory of the Bougainville Peace Agreement under the auspices of which last year’s referendum on Bougainville independence recorded a huge vote in favour of the province’s separation from PNG. Toroama will be sworn into office Friday. He began his PNG Attitude blog in 2006. Pacific Media Centre articles are republished with permission. “I offer my support to work with you to deliver on my commitments to Bougainville,” he said. Encouraged by his numbers and undeterred by defeat Toroama has announced his candidacy for President of Bougainville for the 2015 election.”. Marape has said his government is willing to talk to Bougainville’s leaders, but has framed discussions around self-determination and “economic independence”, while carefully avoiding commitments to political independence. There are no half-measures here.”. President Hon. Closures, cuts, revival and rebirth – how covid reshaped NZ media... CIVICUS criticises Pacific countries over use of covid to curb freedoms, Northern Marianas gets vaccine freezers for covid-19 treatment. Bougainville's new President, Ishmael Toroama, says establishing law and order is essential if the autonomous region in Papua New Guinea is to prosper. Updated Updated 23/09/2020. “We conducted a clean campaign, we did not give money to the voters and we did not intimidate any voters: people have used their God-given wisdom to vote for the right candidate,” Toroama said after his victory was announced. Ishmael Toroama Photo: Facebook. Wounded by a rocket-propelled grenade in 1997, Toroama later laid down his arms to help broker the Bougainville Peace Agreement that was eventually signed in 2001, and was a key advocate in the disarmament process before returning to his land in central Bougainville to grow cocoa. We can only surmise from his background that he is well experienced and that he is a formidable man. In a journal article ‘The Gangs of Bougainville’ by Stan Starygin, Toroama was portrayed as a ‘Rambo’ . Toroama has not won an election yet but it is not for want of trying. This role, Starygin says, “went beyond the use of his celebrity to bring disputants together and grew to include event management by Toroama’s gang and those businesses in which Toroama ‘had an interest’ which, in turn, became the main conduits for AusAid and UNDP’s reconciliation dollars.”. They are corporate thugs who were stopped thanks to the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA). The big man is ‘no longer proud to be a fighter’. And now he stands on the threshold of becoming the next president of Bougainville. SYDNEY (Reuters) – Former rebel military commander Ishmael Toroama has been elected president of Bougainville, an autonomous part of Papua New Guinea in … Fiji declares state of disaster as TC Yasa wreaks havoc in... Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, Click here for the PMC's terms of use and disclaimer. But in more recent years, Toroama, from Central Bougainville, returned to what his family has done for generations – peacefully grow cocoa. Starygin writes that during the disarmament process endorsed by the peace agreement, “Toroama presented himself as an agent of peace”. First Toroama helped negotiate the peace agreement, then took the lead in subsequent reconciliations, next benefited greatly from selling scrap mine equipment from Panguna and later returned to the family tradition of cocoa farming. This may be to keep the ‘boys’, as everyone calls the BRA, on their toes. What we do suspect is that, although Ishmael Toroama has shown himself to be a shrewd operator, there is no proof of any illegality or corruption in his varied and volatile career. Fiji to set up relocation trust fund for villages hit by... Banabans climate change student documentary chosen for third festival, Banabans of Rabi student doco given Tongan film festival premiere, Banabans of Rabi short climate change documentary chosen for Nuku’alofa, Pacific storytelling with a focus on the ignored and ‘untold’ issues, While PNG promotes APEC big money, youth are building grassroots resilience. After interim elections to fill the remainder of his term, John Momis was elected as president in 2010 for a five-year term. “Ishmael is fond of dishing out such medicine. Newly elected President of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, Ishmael Toroama, says that for the autonomous region to progress it is essential that law and order is established. Ishmael Toroama, a former secessionist military commander turned peacemaker and cocoa farmer, has been elected the president of PNG’s autonomous Bougainville region, in a further fillip for the province’s push for independence from Papua New Guinea. In the war on Bougainville (1988–98) up to 20,000 people died. Echoes of the Rainbow Warrior – have the lessons been learned? Ishmael Toroama has been elected Bougainville president and will lead independence talks with Papua New Guinea [File: Ness Kerton/AFP] Former rebel military commander Ishmael Toroama … Bougainville Presidential Count Update googletag.pubads().definePassback('/9201682/APAC_Standard_Sidebar2', [[300, 250], [300, 600]]).display(); Duty editor of the Asia Pacific Report/Evening Report collaboration or the Pacific Media Centre at the Auckland University of Technology. Toroama did not take long to become a prominent ‘field commander’ in the BRA and later succeeded the BRA’s first ‘chief of defence’, Sam Kauona, who happens to be an eliminated candidate in the current election. He has proposed a timeline of two to three years. Former rebel military commander Ishmael Toroama has been elected president of Bougainville, an autonomous part of Papua New Guinea in the South Pacific, electoral officials said on Wednesday, and is set to lead talks seeking independence. My dad was also a civilian killed in the Bougainville Crisis by PNGDF, his name is Kevin Lalai Kokiai, I found records of him recorded on Amnesty Internationals Data Base Online. Toroama defeated 24 other candidates for the presidency, seeking to replace the retiring John Momis who has dominated Bougainvillean politics, as governor and president, for decades. But Jesus was to come into Toroama’s life when, during a skirmish with PNG government forces in 1997, he was critically wounded by a rocket-propelled grenade. The Autonomous Region of Bougainville Declare New President - Ishmael Toroama. His victory marks a break from the current administration, led by President John Momis, after the government’s candidate was earlier eliminated in the region’s preferential voting system. That is an important consideration given that corruption in Bougainville, as it is in PNG, has been a problem of mounting concern. Ishmael Toroama represented the people of Bougainville as a veteren fighting for the freedom of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea for over thirty years until he officially became the fourth president of the Autonomous Bougainville Government when he won the race for the president's seat in the Bougainville General Elections, 2020. President Ishmael Toroama said he will be announcing a full cabinet soon with a team of vibrant leaders who will provide the drive, energy and innovation in moving Bougainville forward. pic.twitter.com/CQJ7HGUa32. “Toroama’s BRA-days notoriety, his role in the peace process, the magnitude of his post-crisis ‘economic activity’ and the possession of weapons and loyalty of the men who carry them have made Toroama a viable political force in Central Bougainville. Seriously injured?’ ‘Er, one yes, very.’ It is training like this that has turned the BRA into such an effective fighting force. Keith Jackson is a retired educator, school publications editor and communications lecturer and consultant in Papua New Guinea who has managed radio stations in Rabaul and Bougainville and was head of policy and planning in the National Broadcasting Commission at independence in 1975. He died in office on 6 June 2008. The death of up to 20,000 people on Bougainville caused by Rio Tinto and BCL as well as the hiring of mercenaries from Sandline Inertnational who were stopped in March 1997, just shows the disgusting, greedy , racist behaviour that the Rio Tinto and BCL mining companies are all about. Well, this did not happen. We can only surmise from his background that he is well experienced and that he is a formidable man. Renowned for his role as a commander in the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA), Tororama was at the forefront of much of the BRA’s decade-long civil war against the PNG government. He finished a distant second to John Momis (who in that election received more than 51,000 votes to Toroama’s 18,466) but now, five years on, it seems that his political ambition is about to be fulfilled. Now, he will be sworn in as the region's president. VICTORY TO THE BRA. But Marape’s government has been careful not to commit to granting Bougainville independence in the wake of the referendum. October 2, 2020 Two female members have been name in the full cabinet of the Bougainville Executive Council. President’s Ishmael Toroma’s mission to increase appreciation and recognition of the dynamic role of women have in Bougainville society. SYDNEY (Reuters) - Former rebel military commander Ishmael Toroama has been elected president of Bougainville, an autonomous part of Papua New Guinea in the South Pacific, electoral officials said on Wednesday, and is set to lead talks seeking independence. Toroama was a commander in the secessionist Bougainville Revolutionary Army, and later worked on the peace and disarmament process. Later, as he accelerates his battered 4×4 Hi-lux truck along a track more hole than road, he admits that on these training exercises he attacks his men with live ammunition. He has also worked in development and communication roles for UNESCO in Fiji, Indonesia, India, Maldives and the Philippines. I’d like to share my story but I don’t know whom to contact. 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