On the 19^th September 2018, the Bougainville Senior Appointments Committee (BSAC) made a decision to suspend Secretary for Technical Services, Bernard Tzilu over allegations of misconduct.

This is according to an official media statement released by the Chief Secretary to the Autonomous Bougainville Government, Joseph Nobetau.

The suspension will remain in force until such time as a Board of Inquiry, established by the BSAC, reports its findings.

Mr Nobetau said that, under the Bougainville Constitution and the Bougainville Senior Appointments Act 2014, responsibility for dealing with disciplinary matters involving constitutional and senior officers rests with the Bougainville Senior Appointments Committee.

“This is to ensure that the process is fair and impartial and free of political interference. Where areas of misconduct are raised against a senior officer, the Committee is required to follow strict procedures. If the Committee considers that the allegations should be investigated, it must appoint a board of inquiry to conduct the investigation and report back.”

Mr Nobetau said that if the Board of Inquiry was satisfied that misconduct has occurred, there is a range of punishment options available to the Committee, including removal from office.

“In this case, Mr Tzilu has been provided with details of the allegations and has been afforded an opportunity to respond. These matters will now be fully investigated and Mr Tzilu will be provided with full natural justice,” he added.

“I understand that people will be curious to know the details of the allegations set out in my petition, but it would not be fair to Mr Tzilu for those details to be made public at this stage. The formal procedures should be allowed to take their course. It should be sufficient for me to say that I found the allegations very concerning requiring me to take this action.”

“As Chief Secretary I will not tolerate corruption and misconduct within the Bougainville Public Service. Bougainvilleans are entitled to expect the highest standards of integrity from their public servants. I call on any person with evidence of misconduct on the part of any public servant to come forward so that appropriate action can be taken,” said Nobetau.

The Board of Inquiry will be headed by prominent senior statesman Chief Ila Geno who is considered to have a high level of integrity and qualification to take lead of such an inquiry.

In the interim, Deputy Secretary (Policy and Planning) Thomas Raivet will act as Secretary of the Technical Services department.

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