8 officers from Defence under investigation

Eight civilian officers from the Ministry of Defence are being investigated for allegations of paying themselves unapproved overtime and Annual Recreation Leave (ARL) payments while leaving out some PNGDF soldiers who were due for payment of ARL entitlements and allowances.

This led to a protest last Friday at Murray Barracks by a group of affected soldiers.

Minister for Defence Dr Billy Joseph confirmed the allegations were being investigated as well as the conduct of the protesting soldiers.

“Again, we regret the ugly side of ill-discipline in our force which has emerged at Murray Barracks last Friday, but we will deal accordingly with all parties involved including the civilian officers of the Department as we have set process in place to deal with such issues in relation to the delay in payment of entitlements and allowances for soldiers," the minister said.

Joseph said that warrants for Department of Defence were released late last year when government accounts were closing for the festive period.

Government accounts just opened last Tuesday, and the Department was in the process of getting soldiers entitlements and allowances paid when a group of disgruntled soldiers protested and caused certain levels of security and safety alerts in the city.

The Minister was not happy with the actions of the soldiers and said that PNGDF will not be a place for ill-disciplined and unprofessional people who resorts quickly to violence and mob behaviour.

One year on from Black Wednesday, and the fears of any uprising was on the minds of everyone after news of soldiers protesting at Murray Barracks went viral on social media platforms across Port Moresby last Friday, 10 January 2025.

While condemning the actions of Defence officials and soldiers, Minister Joseph also stressed the importance of Government releasing funding immediately after an emergency call out is issued.

"Otherwise, we will have to seriously consider withdrawing all soldiers on call outs to prevent such incidents caused by delayed payment of allowances," he said.

The minister further reminded soldiers that in 1990, soldiers who were fighting in Bougainville received only K30-40 daily allowances and the risk was high.

This has significantly increased to K150-200 per day and the risks are quite low.

“As long as the base salaries are not affected, the allowances will still be paid so there is no need to express frustration by assaulting civilian staff or destroying properties as it will only get them into trouble,” Dr. Billy said.