JUNE 13 2022
Prime Minister Hon. James Marape has commended the founding fathers of Pangu Pati as it celebrated its 55th anniversary on June 13, 2022
He said the memory of those political pioneers of Papua New Guinea would spur the Pangu he now leads on to greater heights.
“We had founding Papua New Guinea leaders like Sir Paul Lapun, Sir Michael Thomas Somare, Sir Pita Lus, Sir Albert Maori Kiki, Sir Barry Holloway, Sir Lucas Waka, Sir Kingsford Dibela, Sir John Guise, Sir Cecil Abel, Oala-Oala Rarua, Sir Ronald Tovue, Sir Paliau Maloat, Tony Voutas, Sir Kobale Kale, Sir Ebia Olewale, and many more who founded Pangu Pati, ” he said.
” At a time when our nation was still under the shackles of colonial rule, they decided that enough was enough, and it was time to break free.
“Hence, the founding fathers of Pangu were also the founders of our country, as they laid the foundations for Self-government in 1973 and Independence in 1975.
” Their zeal and patriotism formed Papua and New Guinea United (Pangu) Pati. “
PM Marape said the feats of these founding fathers would inspire the Pangu he now leads into the future.
“We recommit ourselves to stand by the virtues of these great men, and to do better for our country going into the future,” he said.
“We have 47 years hindsight and admit that our country remains unconnected by modern infrastructure, we still have many dropouts from our school system, our health system is totally rundown and not serving our country, we remain economically weak despite so many natural resources in our country.
“That is why my generation of Pangu leaders have rallied under the banner of ‘Taking Back PNG’ to be economically independent.
” As we celebrate our 55th birthday today, and into the 2022 General Election, Pangu Pati’s political leadership, the non-parliamentary wing, candidates and supporters recommit ourselves to ensuring that the country is served better.
“That’s why we are working right to better our economy, better our education, better our health , better our law-and-order, better our infrastructure, and better everything else over the next decade for the sake of our country.
” We must honour the memory of our founding fathers by protecting the interests of the country.”
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