Papua New Guinea Chief Justice Sir Gibbs Salika has been cleared of any wrongdoing as evidence provided by the Ombudsman Commission to refer him to a Leadership Tribunal is “insufficient”, says acting public prosecutor Helen Roalakona.
“We have declined to refer the leader to the National Executive Council for the appointment of a Leadership Tribunal,” she said.
“We have declined to refer the leader to the National Executive Council for the appointment of a Leadership Tribunal,” she said.
“The decision was done through careful and close assessment of the material given to us by the Ombudsman Commission.
“We have considered all the evidence in its entirety and have arrived at the decision that there is insufficient evidence, and therefore we have declined to refer the matter.”
Sir Gibbs was referred to the Office of the Public Prosecutor by the commission on 09 March, over the 50 allegations of failure to declare incomes from unknown sources, contrary to Section 27 (1) of the Constitution, and Section 4 of the Organic Law on the Duties and Responsibilities of Leadership.
He was alleged to have failed to declare in his annual statements the source of additional income he received between 2018 and 2024, amounting to K1.6 million (US$368,000), and his wife’s income between 2019 and 2023, amounting to K460,000 (US$105,000).
It was determined in the assessment of evidence that most transactions consisted of a pattern of cash withdrawals from Sir Gibbs’ primary salary account which were deposited on the same date into his savings account.
The amounts were additional income and were declared by Sir Gibbs as his net income in his annual statements for those years.
Upon assessment, Roalakona discovered that the additional allowances that were received in Sir Gibbs’
accounts were payments done by the National Judicial Staff Services through internet banking, and were registered under transactions numbers, and was declared as his additional income.
It was also determined that the income received by his spouse during the alleged periods were traced to be monies deposited from Sir Gibbs’ primary salary account and were declared by him in the annual statements.
“The determination on the evidence is that there is insufficient evidence that is not credible or cogent to warrant the referral of the Leader to the appointing authority for a Leadership Tribunal,” Roalakona said.
So pursuant to Section 177 (b) of the Constitution, Roalakona declined to bring a proceeding under the Leadership Code against Sir Gibbs over misconduct in office.
