Condolence Message from Prime Minister, Hon. James Marape, MP, on the Occasion of the Passing of Grand Chief Sir Michael Thomas Somare, GCL, GCMG, CH CF SSI KSG PC
On behalf of my wife Rachel and our children, and on behalf of the people of Papua New Guinea, I offer our sincere condolences to the family of the Late Sir Michael Thomas Somare, GCL, GCMG, CH CF SSI KSG PC at his passing.
We want to thank Lady Veronica, Betha, Sana, Arthur, Dulciana and Michael Jr, for sharing your father with us.
We thank the people of Karau, on the Murik Lakes, East Sepik Province. for giving us this man.
Friday, February 26th, 2021 was the day our rock and his national fatherly presence was taken away from us.
We all feel a collective emptiness inside our hearts.
We also offer our sincere condolences to the people of East Sepik who he represented for 49 years in Parliament from 1968 to 2017.
You continued to elect him at each election to serve not just you but the rest of the country.
Without you, we would not have had our Grand Chief.
Thank you for sending him back to us for 49 years.
We, in turn, honor you by acceding to his wish to rest him on Kreer Heights in Wewak.
As we mourn his passing, we honor his legacy.
The legacy of the man who brought us nationhood.
He was the architect of our Independence.
Against prevailing views at that time, he saw the possible.
He needed important building blocks to be laid down.
Our constitution speaks of that outcome in very clear terms.
A man clearly well ahead of his time.
Even in our unsophisticated state, he saw what he wanted.
He then determined that he was the man to do something about it and he committed his entire life to achieve it.
He inspired actions.
He fostered and harnessed the collective spirit of those around him to work hard and with a defined purpose.
He confronted opposing views and brought them around.
He commanded respect because of his wisdom and humility.
His philosophy of dialogue and consensus befitting his chiefly name, Sana, unified thoughts and ideas.
He rallied the troops for one common purpose.
He was a force of nature that united this great country, from the Highlands to the sea, and on the islands.
He had a surrounding presence that engulfed you as you came within his space.
Much will be said, and much more will be written in the generations to come, about the ability, strength of will and farsightedness of this great man.
After Independence, he led the work of building a nation.
He was our longest-serving Prime Minister at different times for 17 years, spanning four terms.
He shaped our economic policies, infrastructure development, and built important institutions which will serve our country well now and into the future.
He built international relationships that have stood the test of time.
He was keenly aware of the strategic position of our country and reached out to both Asia, Australia and New Zealand, where he had life-long friends.
He harnessed the enormous respect for him in ensuring that some of our important bilateral and multilateral relationships remained solid and on sound footing.
He brought in key investments that are revolutionary, whose impacts are far-reaching.
He was a regional leader.
Together with leaders like the Late Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, he spoke on behalf of Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Kiribati, Tuvalu and others to expedite the process of independence for themselves.
He wanted Pacific people to be the masters of their own destinies.
He was a strong advocate for a unified Pacific and helped built both the Pacific Island Forum and the Melanesian Spearhead Group.
His attendance of those summits was always keenly anticipated because of the calming influence and voice on sticky issues in the Pacific.
He advocated strongly for decolonisation, and particularly for climate change issues, when the subject wasn’t even in common conversations.
His was and continues to be the face of Papua New Guinea.
A face of endearment and a face of friendship.
It is also a face of national and regional leadership.
A face of calm and reason.
Of dignified unity of a diverse country of 860 languages and 1000 tribes.
This country and its people, young and old, owe a debt of gratitude to you.
Our children will speak of you.
Our institutions will remember you.
People throughout the length and breadth of this country will discuss you in revered tones.
Therefore, we rise in unified national salute to you.
In 100 years, your name will still be remembered.
A colossus in Papua New Guinea’s political leadership.
A trailblazer.
A nation builder.
A unifier.
Our anchor.
We farewell our giant.
The father of a Nation.
The Right Honorable Grand Chief, Sir Michael Thomas Somare, GCL, GCMG, CH CF SSI KSG PC.
May you now rest in peace.
Hon. James Marape, MP
Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea
A fitting tribute. Simple, clear and perfectly suited from a Prime Minister to the greatest leader of the Papua New Guinean people.