Koim files contempt petition against Finance Secretary

SAM Koim has filed a contempt application against the Finance department acting
secretary Dr Ken Ngangan for not releasing Investigation Task Force Sweep funds
as ordered by the court.
Koim and the state agency Investigation Task Force  Sweep he was the head of before it was dismantled by the Government in June,  have been allowed by the court to continue operating pending an appeal against  the State decision.
Koim’s lawyer McDonald Nale revealed that yesterday when  parties appeared for judicial review proceedings filed by Koim in the National  Court.
The contempt application relates to the finance secretary preventing  Task Force Sweep from accessing its funds.
Justice Colin Makail noted the  contempt application and ordered parties to appear on August 25.
Koim had  challenged in court the process taken by Cabinet in arriving at its decision to
disband Task Force Sweep on June 18. He is challenging the Government’s
decision on June 24, to replace Task Force Sweep with an interim anti-corruption
office to be headed by a former judge.   The National Court on July 8, granted
leave to Koim for a judicial review and issued an interim stay order of the
Cabinet decision to disband Task Force Sweep. The interim stay order was
made permanent by the National Court on July 28, pending the final determination
of the judicial review proceedings.
Lawyer Tiffany Twivey, representing  Prime Minister Peter O’Neill and the National Executive Council, said she had  not been served with the contempt application. Twivey said the matter needed to  be looked into by Koim because Ngangan was not a party to the proceedings.  PNG Facts/Then National