Indecent acts follow jail time
A man who says he was called by God to run for mayor of Palmerston North has recent convictions for indecencies in public, which he says came about as a result of deep depression.
Those convictions add to Maruna Engu’s criminal history, which includes the indecent assault of a 5-year-old girl.
Stuff revealed in August that Engu, who is running to unseat Palmerston North mayor Grant Smith in October’s council elections, did 3 1⁄2 years’ jail for indecent assault charges he was convicted of in 1993.
But court documents released to Stuff yesterday show Engu has more convictions of a sexual nature.
He was sentenced in 2013 in the Palmerston North District Court to 12 months’ supervision and six months’ community work for committing indecent acts in the Esplanade, and in Featherston and Cook streets.
Judge David Smith’s sentencing notes do not go into detail about what Engu’s acts specifically were.
However, the Esplanade is a popular place for indecencies in Palmerston North, with people appearing in court in the past decade for offences such as masturbating there.
The judge did note the behaviour was ‘‘not just a matter of your own personal gratification, but . . . causes harm and upset to everybody else concerned’’.
‘‘Goodness knows what harm it has caused to your family by the behaviour concerned.’’
The judge did know one thing, though: ‘‘What is apparent, clearly, from this is that you are in need of help.’’
Engu’s only sexual offending before the indecent acts was his 1993 offending, the judge said.
‘‘It is unfortunate that you have not been able to maintain a clear record from there on.’’
Engu said yesterday the indecent acts came about after an event in his life triggered deep
depression, which made him want to die. He was able to banish that thought from his brain, but then wanted to go back to prison, hence the offending, he said.
He had since recovered and wanted to become mayor to bring love and prosperity to Palmerston North.
‘‘I’m wanting to bring confidence, healing and restoration.’’
There has already been backlash after Engu’s 1993 convictions were made public.
Heather and Aaron Freeman took their food truck The Evil Stepson away from the Highbury Flea Market organised by Engu.
They said they could not support the market after hearing about Engu’s past, and now set up on the corner of Burfield Place and College St on Sundays.
The others running for mayor of Palmerston North are Smith, Green Party nominee Teanau Tuiono, academic Andy Asquith, Manawatu¯ Multicultural Society vice-president Hussein Kikhounga-n’got and convicted child assaulter Ross Barber.
Barber would not be able to serve as mayor due to his property being under the control of his brother. The court found he suffered a mental illness, making him incompetent to control his property affairs.
‘‘I’m wanting to bring confidence, healing and restoration.’’
Maruna Engu Palmerston North mayoral candidate
Creating more affordable housing in the city was one of the main ideas from a trio of hopeful Palmerston North City councillors.
Manawatu¯ People’s Radio held a debate at Hancock House yesterday for new candidates running for the Palmerston North City Council, but only three attended: Latham Lockwood, David Lane and Renee Dingwall.
All three spoke about the importance of housing in the city.
Dingwall, 35, said she was a youth-adjacent, Samoan-born multicultural woman and the council needed more diversity.
Housing and the climate crisis were her two priorities.
‘‘I want to increase the social housing structure. [The] city council has a duty of care to its people and environment for quality of housing stocks and the amount of housing stock. I’d want to put an incentive on investment to build affordable housing. Speed up the process for people wanting to build houses.’’
An example was offering lower administration costs to builders of affordable housing.
Dingwall has experience working in the non-profit sector and has run her own business, including having started a social enterprise. She also wanted more support for local businesses.
Palmerston North real estate agent Lockwood, 29, said he was standing to represent youth.
He said the city had a lot of unique issues, but there was no reason all of them couldn’t be looked at.
‘‘There’s a massive wait for retirement homes and then people are not selling their properties. [Those houses] are not available for first- and secondhome buyers. The only way to do it is to build more homes.
‘‘Are they affordable? That’s something we have to concentrate on and help break that cycle.’’
He said a housing problem didn’t stop people wanting to live in Palmerston North.
Lockwood is involved in the the Manawatu¯ Young Professionals Network, Rotary, Parentline and Kind Hearts.
Lane, 61, is a city council road planning team leader and his main focus, if elected, would be to promote road safety, he said.
He had a background in infrastructure, but didn’t want to be a one-issue candidate. He wanted to improve infrastructure, business, housing and education.
He said the building of infrastructure had slowed and he wanted to work with business to find out what the barriers were.
Dingwall has been endorsed by the Green Party, but she said she was standing for the things she valued, which happened to be values shared by the Greens.
The other two candidates are independent.
Manawatu¯ People’s Radio is holding further meetings throughout the week.