Corruption is rampant in the Bougainville government, despite Bougainville having a modern system of laws and an effective model of representative government and democracy.
John Momis Photo: Autonomous Bougainville Government
That is the view of the Bougainville President, John Momis, in the wake of a review of the region's autonomy status.
He said the report demonstrates the autonomous government has been chronically underfunded over the life of the Peace Agreement, and what funds have been received have not been managed well.
Mr Momis said the report found the government and public service consistently fail to follow the systems set in place and sometimes this fosters corruption.
He said the PNG Fraud Squad is to be deployed to Bougainville to investigate allegations of fraud.
Mr Momis said nobody is above the law; everyone must be held to account.
He said the very slow progress in advancing the drawdown of powers is due to poor funding, limited capacity and a lack of commitment and engagement by Port Moresby.
Mr Momis said Bougainville cannot harness the benefits of autonomy if it can't exercise the powers and functions that autonomy provides.
