Taskforce Sweep faces closure December 11,2014, 01:42 am -Post Courier By JACOB POK ANTI-corruption watchdog Task Force Sweep is on the verge of closing because it does not have money to continue operations. The K7 million appropriated this year for its operations had still not been released despite numerous requests. Task Force Sweep team, which had been successful in fighting corruption at the highest level, had been operating without funding for the whole of this year. According to documents filed in court and obtained by the Post-Courier, Task Force Sweep had operated from funds left over from last year and it had exhausted these funds. In June this year, Task Force Sweep was disbanded by the National Executive Council after an arrest warrant was served on Prime Minister Peter O’Neill relating to the payments made to Paul Paraka Lawyers. Task Force Sweep had however, obtained a permanent stay order against the NEC decision which had allowed it to continue to operate to date. The court documents revealed that numerous attempts were made by the Acting Secretary for Finance Ken Ngangan and Secretary for Justice Lawrence Kalinoe to remove the financial powers of Task Force Sweep chairman Sam Koim. According to Mr Koim’s affidavit file, Mr Kalinoe had taken him off payroll in August this year. A contempt proceeding had been filed against Mr Kalinoe, Mr Ngangan, Police Commissioner Geoffrey Vaki and National Gaming Control Board chairman Leslie Hoffman for interfering with the court to issue an order for the release of the funding. A hearing date is yet to be allocated for the hearing. The news of Mr Koim’s removal from salary went viral on social media.
Posted on: Thu, 11 Dec 2014 02:59:04 +0000
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