Allegations among MPs revealed

Honiara: Serious allega- tions of corruptions have been revealed on the floor of parliament as politicians continue to throw mud on each other, while debating the No Confidence Motion which resulted in the removal of the Prime Minister (PM) Manasseh Sogavare. This came following the announcement by the Speaker of Parliament, for the mover of the motion Dr Derek Sikua who is the leader of the Parliamentary Independent group to outline the reasons for not having trust in the PM, to complete the one year left in his term.

Mr Sikua claimed that some of the issues that Democratic Coalition for Change (DCC) government implemented in the past three years has not benefited the Solomon Islands.

He listed the controversial Nazar Gold, Skyline and PM’s text message to miners as some of the serious cases of corruption that had been swept under the carpet. Mr Sikua also revealed that the employment of the PM’s nephew in the office of the Prime Minister has caused a lot of problems that contributes to the fall of the DCC. But Mr Sogavare clarified that all the reasons for the defected Members of Parliament (MPs) who regrouped with the opposition bench to oust him were rooted from corruption. Mr Sogavare held out the resignation letters of the defected MPs and revealed that almost all the letters expressed exactly the same wording conveying the same reasons for resigning from the government.

He said these reasons stated in their letter were very cheap and merely a cover up of the true reasons behind their defection.

The ousted PM said, those reasons outlined in their resignation letters were matters that should be dealt with in Cabinet or Caucus, thus, their true intention was something else.

He claimed that former Minister for Finance Snyder Rini and former Minister for Development Aid Planning Danny Phillip were involved in some dirty dealings to ripoff government coffers. He said Mr Rini has been there in the Ministry of Finance for his personal agenda, adding he cannot accept moving out from that job and they were treating that office as their family or private business.

The ousted PM went on to reveal that corruption in the million dollar allocation of shipping grant has shown some MPs applied for such funds for their personal interests, instead of the purpose intended for the project. He said some MPs received the funds for the purchase of vessels but ended up buying something else.

He also alleged that Danny Phillip was among the ones who persuaded one of the boat companies that sought $2 million for vessel repair to apply for $3 million, in order for them to have the $1 million as commission. Mr Sogavare argued on the floor of parliament that what Mr Sikua raised on his personal assets must be a question for all MPs in parliament to answer, so that it was fair to everybody.

He said his family business was declared with the Leadership Code Commission (LCC) as was done by other MPs who also had businesses. He said unless someone accumulated his wealth beyond his level of income with no documents to support their source of funds then something was wrong. “There are some MPs owning expensive houses in town with a number of vehicles, which is something that’s worth investigating to justify how they owned such wealth overnight.”

Mr Phillip’s attempt to respond to the allegations on the floor of parliament was ruled out by Speaker.