Bougainville Manifesto 9: Ona-Kabui Power play

Leonard Fong Roka

The late Francis Ona’s will to reign over Bougainville met disaster early in 1990; and the BRA strategist, Sam Kauona’s smell of Bougainville’s political jeopardy, was too late to rescue the then 100 000-plus people of Bougainville with the Panguna brothers, the late Joseph Kabui and Martin Miriori, included.

But in this chaos, two figures stood out over Bougainville and outside of the island as the key leaders of the Bougainville rebellion. But each leader’s introduction into the crisis and the overall responsibility and view of the conflict were not that harmonious between the two Bougainville crisis-time leaders. This did greatly affect the Bougainville people.

Each leader saw different events unfolding around their personal lives as Samuel Kauona of the BRA and Leo Nuia of the PNG government signed the ceasefire (Niugini Nius, 1 March 1990, pg 1) that is worth an analysis to glean where and why the whole political struggle and division should have had originated from.

The now late Joseph Kabui got into the wheelhouse of the provincial government in 1987. He may have not seen a milestone of his leadership when the year 1988 brought challenges with militancy against the Panguna mine and the PNG government apart from the arrival of the MV Sankamap, a coastal passenger trawler that was to serve the Bougainville Atolls and Torokina.

From late 1988 his office was flooded with letters or proposals from Bougainvilleans and non-Bougainvillean ordinary people and leaders and national government leaders seeking help, compensation on personal properties and harm or ways to address the conflict situation on Bougainville. With these responsibilities for decision making weighing on him, he took his first brutal bashing up from the PNG police on the very first day of July 1989 whilst returning from a church service in Arawa (Niugini Nius, 2 July 1989). But he staggered on.

Furthermore, with the reaching of the ceasefire on 30 January 1990, saw a stream of compensation claims for damages and so on to the premier’s office by the 4000 Bougainvilleans who were now returning home from the care centers where they were ordered to by the PNG government.

But the PNG’s NEC suspension of the North Solomons provincial government on the 29 August 1990 might have relieved Kabui, but angered by the PNG’s Australia supported total blockade that was known about in May 1990.

In the weeks leading to Sam Kauona’s invitation, Kabui and his elder brother, Martin Miriori were subjected to a number of BRA harassment and looting resulting to a formation of a BRA contingent from his home, Tumpusiong Valley, to protect him.

On the other side, Kabui’s counterpart, Francis Ona, was a hero. He deserved no flood of claims to his Guava village. People saw him to have had a divine right to liberation and rule of Bougainville.

After the 17 May 1990 UDI, Kabui was in action as the vice president of the BIG (Bougainville Interim Government). The BIG soon established its Honiara office with Martin Miriori heading it. At home, the BIG was equipped with the Radio Free Bougainville that was donated and set with some Australian sympathizers to spill its political discourse.

Without the presence of the BRA supreme commander and BIG president, Francis Ona, Joseph Kabui attempted to establish order on Bougainville. There was a police establishment; a military academy, known as the Erama Barracks, where young men were trained by Bougainvillean former PNGDF soldiers.

But all these developments were happening without Ona and with other popularly BRA greats like Ishmael Toroama, Glen Tovirika, and Chris Uma and so on had already created their private little armies executing their own rules in the name of Francis Ona.

According to the Australian government appendix D article, Outline History of the Bougainville Conflict (n.d.), in July to August 1990, Joseph Kabui led BIG to sign the Endeavour Accord with PNG to restore services on Bougainville; in 1991 January, Kabui led BIG to signing the Honiara Accord, again on PNG to allow services into Bougainville. And in August 1991, he led BIG to the hearing of UN Committee on Rights of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples’ Rights in Geneva, accusing the PNG of atrocities.   

In his return, he did an all-Bougainville speech tour; they did the much of Central and South Bougainville where he was being attacked by people for not being capable of delivering services. The North was not toured since the invading PNG army was there in most areas.

All these BIG achievements was without Ona who always maintained that such was the roles of the vice president and often accused Kabui of trying to betray Bougainville; often leading to heated debates in the 2-way radio networks the BRA/BIG had.

As the vice president led, the PNGDF also snailed closer to the heartland of Bougainville politics, Kieta and the civil war began nastier and nastier whilst Ona kept silent. He never came public on the Radio Free Bougainville; the little secessions he made were all have to be recorded in his Guava village and brought to where the broadcasters were stationed. 

In October 1992, when the PNG army landed on Tunuru and the Morgan Junction, Kabui had a two-front political war to wage; he was attracted more to ‘peaceful means to address the conflict’ because there was disorder in the BIG/BRA and there was also the problem of getting the founding master of the conflict, Francis Ona, to get out to the midst of the people and lead.

Kabui travelled from village to village in central Bougainville encouraging people to stand firm in the moment of PNG attacks and fear. In all these tours he had to call in at Guava to brief the ‘boulder’ that never moved where often his entourage when hungry because of no proper care was given (personal experience in 1992).

Thus Kabui was lured by engaging in peace with the Australia-backed PNG government. This led to the Honiara Talks between Sir Julius Chan and Sam Kauona in September 1994 where an agreement on ceasefire was reached and pavement for further talks set later leading to the formation of the Bougainville Transitional Government (BTG) in April 1995. All these of course in slight isolation of Francis Ona.

The moment of shock for Francis Ona came in September 1995 when the BRA/BIG and the BTG met in Cairns, Australia. He began to set his teams on speech tours throughout BRA controlled areas of Bougainville especially inside Central Bougainville.

He even began to engage in his own international deals and also began paying visits to communities outside of his Guava village. In one of these tours he visited Oune village, where he attacked the peace lovers with Kabui as ‘betrayers’ of Bougainville.

His men led by his commander, Moses Pipiro, also terrorize people from the Panguna area who were going seek vital services like health and education; or get a share of the Red Cross supplied basic household goods in Arawa.

Following this political nightmare, where his vice president and most of his best BRA commanders had isolated him, he formed his Meekamui Government and Meekamui Defence Force. He was also got himself a radio station then known as, Radio Meekamui that aired from Guava.

After the successful BRA defeat of the PNG’s military operation to neutralize Central Bougainville of the BRA, Operation High Speed, the BIG/BRA established their base just next to the former Aropa International Airport in a place known as Kangsinari in 1997. The spot was easier for negotiations with PNG controlled areas like Arawa and travels across to the Solomon Islands in the peak of negotiations and peace talks.

With Francis Ona’s anti-peace campaigns gaining momentum in Kieta, and leaders like BIG leader, Premier Theodore Miriung and peace negotiator, Thomas Batakai, being murdered by the PNG government,  the BRA/BIG called for a meeting with the Meekamui to reach a common ground for a better Bougainville.

The talk was held but, like in 1988 or 89, Francis Ona, was not that satisfied and walked off. Thus the break-up of the Bougainville leaders into Meekamui and Bougainville People’s Congress that was pro-peace, is so often locally referred to as the Kangsinari Coup that happened in around 1997.

Francis Ona protested influencing the likes of Chris Uma and Moses Pipiro to his side and strengthened his Meekamui Government and Joseph Kabui went his way with his sheep behind him pursuing his peace efforts on Bougainville.