Chief of PNGDF, Major General, Mark Goina is now suspended and Deputy Commander, Commodore Phillip Polewara is now Acting PNGDF Commander.
Prime Minister James Marape as Chairman of the National Executive Council said the NEC decision will allow the General Board of Inquiry into the killing of two PNGDF members, the wounding of a soldier and a civilian to continue.
“Therefore to affirm the integrity of the GBOI, and also the dignity of the Commander, NEC took a decision to suspend the Commander under Section 6 (3) (b) of the Defense Act 1974 for three months, or until such time the GBOI delivers its findings,”said Marape.
Goina’s suspenssion today follows a brief report to cabinet by Defense Minister, Win Barki Daki on the shooting death of Leading Seaman, Eric Gwale and Corporal Watata Kutegen on 4th July 2023 at Kupiano.
The two were part of 40 soldiers who underwent training for the Corporal Qualifying Course but were killed on the final exercise.
Initial PNGDF investigations into their killings revealed that they were shot by high velocity ammunitions fired from within 40 meters.
Three soldiers were identified and one has confused to firing the live ammunitions because he had it in his possession.
The Terms of Reference for GBOI covers the shooting incident and expands into any contributing factors which may have led to arms contamination in a training situation.
“As a government we owe it to our men and women of the Defense Force, and especially those who died or were wounded and their loved ones, to find out what went wrong, and how do we fix this wrong. We therefore welcome the General Board of Inquiry that was set up by the Defense Minister,” said Marape
The GBOI is a legal process that will run independently and deliver its findings.
The government will pick up on the recommendations from the GBOI and will address all the issues that come out of the findings.
Related: https://insidepng.com/two-pngdf-soldiers-killed-during-training-exercise-in-kupiano/
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