Dr Bosawai to file criminal case against Maneka for alleged abuse of constituency funds

The Member for North Guadalcanal Constituency, Dr Paul Popora , is in the process of lodging a criminal complaints against the former MP, Samson Maneka.

This is after he discovered through the constituency acquittal reports that clear evidence of misuse of public funds belonging to the North Guadalcanal Constituency and happened during his time as the MP.

Dr. Paul stated that the manner in which public funds were used during Maneka’s time in 2018 and 2020 is against the Public Financial Management Act 2013 and the Penal Code (criminal law) of the Solomon Islands.  Dr. Paul further stated that under the relevant act, those who are responsible for holding public funds should not use designated bank accounts for private purposes or cash cheques for government purposes.

One obvious finding from the investigations into the use of North Guadalcanal public funds between 2018 and 2020 is that certain amounts of money were allegedly raised in the names of certain people.  There was evidence of receipts  produced that revealed the names of those people who claimed to have received those funds. From the receipts, the same amounts can also be seen in the acquittal reports that were filed by the former MP, Maneke, in 2018. However, during the investigation, when the people were approached to confirm if they indeed received those payments, they denied receiving such payments or cash. One obvious example was the $200,000 that the acquittal report in 2018 showed was paid in cash to GPPOL. The GPPOL management has confirmed that they have not received or are aware of such payments. These are just some examples of how public funds were used during Mr. Maneka’s time.

Dr. Paul stated that he will go through all the acquittal reports for each year and will endeavor to make sure that funds allocated during those years are accounted for.

There were at least 5 incidents of similar transactions in 2018 discovered during the investigations, and he will make sure all incidents are reported to the police and have him charged for these conducts.