Grand Chief Sir Michael Thomas Somare left behind such a huge legacy to talk about and for us to pick up and follow him.

Across the country from the National Hauskrai (mourning house) in Port Moresby to everywhere in Papua New Guinea, where groups of people could meet and pay respect, we talked about his legacy, the things that he did and benchmark he set.

Sir Michael was strong on integrity, honesty and doing things according to the rule of law and the Constitution. He led by example by being a committed Catholic Christian right to his death and stayed true to his one wife, Lady Veronica. Those are huge legacies to emulate.

Sir Michael spoke against official corruption in high places much earlier in his long political career in Parliament.

Today, as we remember him and his work, I would like to recall something Sir Michael as Prime Minister did soon after the 1977 national election, which was the first election after independence in 1975.

As the founding Prime Minister Michael sponsored a bill in Parliament in 1977-78 to outlaw Members of Parliament and bureaucratic leaders in the public service from owning and operating businesses. For PM Sir Michael, Parliament had a duty to prevent elected leaders and bureaucrats from corruptly serving themselves when they owned and operated businesses.

Unfortunately or as fate would have, it Sir Michael’s bill did not go far.

The Prime Minister’s bid failed with stiff opposition from MPs led by firebrand Chimbu regional MP Mr (later Sir) Iambakey Okuk. There was also opposition from outside of Parliament.

For Mr Okuk, having the benefit of a Parliament made up of mainly under-educated and uneducated traditional big man (village leader)–turned-MPs took a customary line to argue and defeat the Prime Minister Somare’s bid.

Mr Okuk reasoned that as a leader from the highlands, traditional custom required a big man to possess wealth to command and sustain respect from his subjects. He argued that the proposal of the prime minister was going to make an elected leader a ‘nobody’ in the eyes of the subjects in the districts and provinces.

Sir Michael’s opponents within and without Parliament became more aggressive and vehement and opposed his bid to stop mandated leaders from owning businesses or engaging in businesses.

Opposition came from with the political circles of Port Moresby and even via Canberra’s henchman in Port Moresby who branded Sir Michael as someone with socialist ideals trying to implement communism. The latter view was perhaps reflective of the ‘cold war’ dualism between the democratic west led by the United States of America and communist east led by the Soviet Union that was at its height.

Parliament defeated Sir Michael’s bid. Since that time, Sir Michael faced many challenges including a motion of no confidence bid round about 1978 and 1979. The next MONC bid was in 1980, and Sir Iambakey nominated Sir Julius Chan and the vote against Sir Michael was successful. Sir Julius became the second Prime Minister. But Sir Michael returned to the PM’s post after his Pangu Pati polled successfully in the 1982 National election and they (Pangu) won 51 seats. It was big enough to form the next coalition government with Sir Michael voted in as the third Prime Minister.

Throughout the years corruption had grown from bad to worse. I can imagine what could have happened if Sir Michael’s 1978 bid was success? I would safely bet that we would have controlled corruption from taking place in the magnitude it has over the years up to now.

Since that unsuccessful bid by Sir Michael as Prime Minister in 1978, not a Parliamentary term goes by without the issue of corruption surfacing and being debated in the country.

The manner in which corruption has been taking place and elected leaders and bureaucrats bending the rules to self-benefit through businesses they own and those owned by people close them has grown out of control.

All the laws and instruments and agencies of State mandated to police corrupt behaviour seem to be nonexistent as corruption occurs unabated.

All the various efforts and interventions seem not matter as corruption continues on its destructive path and leaves our country’s development envisioned by Sir Michael and his generation in its wake.

Sir Michael’s passing has given was the opportunity to look back many of things that we have got wrong and allowed corruption affect all sectors of our country.

Our leaders in Parliament and in the public service should revisit Sir Michael’s Bill of 1978 to pick up from what he wanted to do to stop people from using the government system to benefit themselves. We should revisit Sir Michael’s bid to outlaw MPs and bureaucrats from owning businesses and thereby compromising their professions and integrity.