Now Seth,
don’t be dismayed to know that I’m now willing to take on you, your cronies, and
some of my relatives, who were supporting you in the last election. I will spare no bounds, personal or not, in my
writing. I will expose you, your wife, children and your personal mistresses, and
hope you will never regret provoking me by digging into my parent. There
will be no topic spare in this forum and I am now asking you to start getting used
to it. Hope those relatives of mine, whom
you have claimed to be your supporters and feeders of your character
assassination attacks, would become millionaires by feeding you with dirty laundry about my past and upbringing. Get used to
it now.
In recent
weeks, Seth has once again demonstrated his attitude of bullying, which simply
reflects very badly on him and his inept to comprehend the broader social, political,
economic and cultural implications of his actions. Despite his rambling about
non-issues, Seth has neither denied nor confirmed most of the principal
allegations against him (see previous articles). Interestingly, Seth has only
confirmed what many of us have already knew, his blatant corruption and using
of “public funds” (government project funds, CDF, Millennium, solar panel) as gifts
and rewards for his relatives, family members and friends, who were voted for
him during the 2006 and 2010 national elections.
Seth has not
shied away from revealing it, but failed to provide any answer about his set up
in Choiseul, allegations of misappropriation of public funds and projects, but
provided a clumsy denial of him becoming a millionaire since turning politician.
He simply claimed that the money he was using was his salary, plus his gratuity,
assuming that it was paid to him following his sacking as Head of Trade Mission
to Taiwan in 2005. Seth – your gratuity
and salary are too small to feed your extravaganza life style, multiple marital
affairs and children, paying rents and food to multiple women, weekly hotel bills
for your mistresses and financing two elections (names withheld for the time
being).
In several
articles by MP Seth, he made no qualms about the issues of conflict-of-interests
in awarding government grants of over $400,000 to his in-law, relatives, friends and his
daughter, who is attending college at Avondale Adventist College, Australia. What
Seth reveals in his article is mind boggling, yet he has boasted about it. For
him to boast about using public funds for his daughter’s education, and Moreno
guest house, which owns by his brother in-law, Saul Tepai, is just shocking.
His recent
revelation of representing William Kaunga and Nicolas Taika – a friend and a
relative - secure funding from the government - on the basis of being voted for him, is beyond comprehension. So what will future leaders do in this
situation? In fact this case of nepotism and cronyism on the basis of
relatives, family members and friends, goes to show that Seth has no leadership
and professional ethics, and also have no idea about the broader long term implications
that his action would have on the people of Rennell and Bellona. To confirm
this “factual” observation and cases, please read Jerry Tengemoana, Don Temoana
and MP Seth’s explanations in conjunction with the “Island Sun” articles, my
articles and the Solomon Star recent article respectively. The “facts” are
there for all to see, which makes their explanations redundant and riddle with half-truth
– a direct joke and insult to the intelligence of our people.
Seth revelation
in a recent reply to one of my articles that he would only help people who were
voted for him during the past election (2010) is a shocking admission by an MP,
who had made corruption his daily bread and as a result, it numbed his senses
of direction and responsibility. Sadly,
he also plied on the ignorance of our people, who are living in rural areas and
unable to understand the system of governance and democracy. In a way, Seth has
used his “elected” position to threaten and bully our people to vote for him as
a way of obtaining projects, receiving funding, scholarships and CDF from the
government.
This is a
blatant abuse of power and yet he is not ashamed of it. Instead, he warned me
that those relatives of mind who were not voted for him in the last national election
are not going to get any help from him to have access to government services
and project funding. Sadly only my mother’s side of the family in West Bellona
was not supporting Seth. Let just be clear with this issue Seth, government
funds are not your late father or family inheritance. For you (Seth) to boast
about it only shows how out-off touch, ignorant and intellectually retarded you
are about democracy, leadership, ethics, good governance, accountability and
the principles of handling tax payers’ money.
MP Gukuna
might be boasting about his upper hand as an “elected” leader, in denying
government-funding to his non-voters, especially my relatives, but his
leadership style, attitude and blatant corrupt practices are simply part of his
history. People will seat back in 40 years down the track and laugh about Seth
absolute ignorance. I bet political scholars of our two islands in the future
will be analysing his various articles with amazement about his sense of
leadership, direction, lack of leadership quality, reasoning ability, decision
making, professional and cultural ethics. Leadership in our society is not
something that you are educated to become one. Leaders are groomed to inherit
leadership position, not only to shoulder the expectations and aspirations of a
people, but the future of a generation. Now, I don’t think that Seth and his
cronies have ever had a clue about some of these issues.
On another
matter and for the record, Seth should not fume about my decision not to use language
befitting of addressing leaders in the Rennell and Bellona community. Seth and
other people in our community would remember well that during my first article
to S/Star about his unprecedented way of personally attacking his critics such
as Hendry Teho, Evan Tuhangenga and Dugan Tekatoha, I did caution him of his
cultural obligation to our people and the unwritten rules and protocols in how our
leaders should communicate with people in our community. Seth made a mockery of my observation,
claiming that I was out-of-touch with modern democracy and media freedom. From
then on, I decided to adopt the language of democracy and media freedom. In
this instance, I’m using the culture of democracy that spells no bounds and spares
no protection for public figures and democratically elected leaders.
In addition
to this, I would like to correct a number of misleading statements by our PM,
Gukuna, especially his claim that I’m making a lot of noises now because of my
new found degree ad educaton. Pity really because this is the “attitude” of our
MP. He has often threw in few lines of mockery and sarcastic against his
opponents if he is cornered. But in this case, I wish to put him in his right cage.
Our MP is absolutely wrong to claim that
my being outspoken about Renbel issue is based on my new found education. I
know that this is a sarcastic dig on my personal life. But the truth is this –
during the early 1990s, when Seth was working as a public servant and later as
a senior manager with Shell Company, I was fighting corruption cases in the
mainstream media in Solomon Islands. During that time, I was working as one of
the first local journalists to take on corrupt politicians and the logging
industry.
I was a
journalist when Seth was sacked by the Shell Company now known as South Pacific
Shell for stealing funds (fraud) to feed his alleged casino habit. Seth became
wasted following his sacking. During that time, he used to hang out at my
second eldest sister’s former residential area at GG Provincial Headquarter,
where unemployed women and men around the area, were playing cards (play loka)
for days on.
At one
stage, Samuel Topue and his brother, Tino Topue, had a fight with Seth over a few
dollars’ bet, which they had alleged the Seth was trying to crook them. As a
result, the two brothers abused him and threaten to bash him. Following hearing
the story, I went and told my sister to stop the card game. I was offended and obligated
to take the action because of my sympathy to Seth, then one of our first educated
people in town. During his years of unemployment, Seth was among frequent visitors
of the Casino. Again, while he was wasted, I was fighting corruption cases
against crook politicians in the media.
In the mid-1990s,
when Seth became a tutor at University of the South Pacific (USP) Honiara
Centre, where he had obtained a scholarship from the SIG (funded by an overseas
donor) to study at USP for his MBA, I was still a journalist. We both attended
USP Fiji and during his two years postgraduate at USP, I was also an undergraduate
USP student and Chairman of the University’s Students Public Relations
Committee, Manager of the Radio Station (Radio Pacifica) and Editorial Advisor
to our Journalism student newspaper, The Voice, and also the USP Journalism Program
newspaper, Wansolwara, while working a part-time sub-editor and business
reporter for Fiji’s Daily Post, Suva.
Back then,
we were good mates and heavily involved in the USP SDA Students Association.
While he was our Sabbath School Superintendent, I became the Social Leader,
organising our social get-to-gather on weekly basis. In most weekends, we hanged
out together at my cousin’s house, then a student, Nolan Teika, who had also
contested the last election against him.
Back then, I was still a journalist when Seth’s good mate at the USP MBA
program, the late Fred Fono, completed his program and returned to the Solomon
Islands and subsequently became a Member of Parliament.
Seth on the
other hand remained at USP to repeat few of his courses, which he had failed in
an earlier semester. At the completion of his MBA program and returned home, the
late Fred Fono (as a minister) provided an opportunity for Seth to join the
public service as a Policy Advisor with the Prime Minister’s Office. Back then,
I was writing stories about corrupt politicians, who were exploiting the
government left, right and centre. And as a result, the Ministry of Education
sent a delegation to Fiji and requested the New Zealand High Commission Office
in Fiji, which was my sponsor, to terminate my scholarship. The NZH later ruled
against it and instead invited me, along with other NZ sponsored students, to a
dinner at his residence, where he personally thanked me for being outspoken
about corruption in the country.
Once again, I
was there as a journalist back in Solomon Islands, when the late Fred Fono, a
government minister, and Seth’s good friend, and late Lucian Kii, then Permanent
Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, used their Malaitan connection in
cabinet and the public service, to push Seth case to become the first Head of
the Solomon Islands Trade Mission to Taiwan, despite his lack of diplomatic
training. Again, I was there as a
journalist when Seth was eventually appointed and became the first Head of the
Solomon Islands Trade Mission to Taiwan, where he did a fantastic job in
negotiating the multi-million dollar loan that the post-coup government of
Manasseh Sogavare, secured to pay compensation to the Malaita Eagle Force (MEF)
during the ethnic conflict.
I was there
as a journalist when the then government of Prime Minister Alan Kemakeza took
office from Sogavare. It was the beginning of Seth brief struggle to remain in
the position because of a number of ethnic Malaitans and Western politicians
and senior advisors were not happy with his performance. I was still there as a
journalist when you were sacked as Head of the Solomon Islands Trade Mission to
Taiwan, following a drink-and-drive car accident, which almost landed Seth in
jail. He was only lucky due to his diplomatic legal immunity status, which
protected him from being prosecuted. But the case gave ammunition to his
doubters to simply kick him out of the post.
I was there
as a journalist, when you returned home to the Solomon Islands when your brother in-law then Premier of Rennell and Bellona Province, Mathew Taupongi Giusanga, personally appointed you as his Policy Advisor. In your role,
Giusanga and yourself with the knowledge of the executive government and senior administrators, Provincial
Secretary, Richard Maui, and Deputy Provincial Secretary, Ruben Ngiumoana,
hatched a deal that led to the scam of siphoning $2m from the government
transport grant to Renbel diverted to Seth personal company bank account to purchase the now
beached MV Renbel. Your role in the elaborate scam of the $2 million dollars is
still a subject of a High Court case in the Solomon Islands.
I’m still here
as a journalist since you become a politician in 2006 until today, observing
your leadership ‘attitude” and your never changing tendency of under table
dealings. Unfortunately, you’ve learned nothing-new about your past mistakes, a
problem that have dogged your enter professional and now political career.
Seth, if I were to trust and choose between you and your cronies and my
sources, I would trust my sources in our community, and the public service.
Your background is so dirty that no intelligent person in his or her rightful
mind would ever trust you.
Obviously
with the benefit of high sight, the only reason that you are serving a second
term in parliament is because you did not play by the rules – a skill that you
have undoubtedly learned from the Asians, while working in Taiwan. Unfortunately,
your opponents in the 2010 national elections were unwilling to take on you due
to reasons only known to them. But what I do know is this – your runner-up was
not in a position to launch a petition against you because most of the people
who were implicated in the vote-buying scam were all related to him.
I released over
the past couple of years of observing your leadership that no one could ever
change your attitude and hereditary tendencies as a person. In this context, I
guess there is no point of trying to reason with someone who hasn’t grasps what
are petty issues, serious issues, village issues, provincial issues, national
issues and global issues in the governance of our people. Our MP’s reasoning
ability has demonstrated a total lack of it.
For quite a
while, I’ve been observing Seth understanding of our culture, tradition and
reasoning ability, people skills, level of interaction with people of different
views, through his writing, and found him to be very shallow and an absolute
joke. Unfortunately for the people of Rennell and Bellona, especially my own blood
relatives, many of them are descendants of proud and virtuous traditional
leaders of Bellona; we are publically humiliated by a person who has no pride
in his grandparents and parents leadership achievements and status, and whose
only pride is to use his Western education to exploit the ignorance of our people.
Through his own admission, Seth has plied on people’s lack of understanding of their
democratic rights and economic vulnerability. As long as I’m here, I will always
defend the interests and rights of Bellona people, an island where I have relatives
in every village from the East right through to the West part of the island.
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