By: Henry J. Wavik MBE, Retired Assistant Commissioner, Southern Region.
During my employment, I have served under ten (10) national Commissioners. In 1974 when I joined the PNG Correctional Service, we had the first national Commissioner, Mr. Wilfred Timon Bai from Bukawa in the Morobe Province who succeeded the colonial Commissioner Mr. John Pesall in 1973 who succeeded the first ever-Correctional Service Commissioner Mr. Malcolm English who was the first commissioner when Correctional Service was incepted. The national reigns started with Commissioner Wilfred Timo Bai who later had trouble with the law and left in 1975 and the government appointed Commissioner Leo Kuaball from Chimbu province, he was a trained military officer before that executive appointment.
After Kuaball left the former Commissioner of Police, Henry Tokam became the Commissioner and then another former Police Commissioner Pious B. Kerepia was appointed commissioner and we had Francis Gesa appointed from the Correctional Service ranks and was replaced by Commissioner Sam Nuakona who was also an Assistant commissioner of police at the time of the appointment. Ken Serupi from the correctional Service ranks succeeded Nuakona, Serupi was Assistant commissioner in charge of Finance and Richard Sikani succeeded him.
Richard Sikani was the longest serving Commissioner in the history of PNG Correctional Service, he was a well-groomed and oriented correctional officer. Richard Sikani attained a Master’s Degree in criminology from the Monash University in Melbourne-Australia. He served a record eleven (11) years plus as the Commissioner of PNG Correctional Service and was succeeded by Martin Balthazar during the Somare/O’Neil governments’ political impasse in 2012. Martin Balthazar did not last long, he passed on in 2013. Following the passing of late Commissioner Martin Balthazar, Michael Waipo was appointed Commissioner in 2014 and his four years contract came to completion in September 2018.
Within my forty-four years of active service, I have served under ten different national Commissioners; six were home grown, three from the Police and one from the Military. From the inception of Correctional Service as a national department, we had twelve (12) Commissioners including the two colonial Commissioners.
The national officers who were duly promoted and served at the executive level as Deputy Commissioners and Assistant Commissioners according to my human archives included, Deputy Commissioners Andy Siure, Joseph Apau, Mathew Jaran, Napao Namane, Lawrence Kanawi, Kelly Karella, Girubane Moihau, Henry Wavik, Dominic ToMar, David Melenge, Steven Pokanis and Dennis Piandi while the Assistant Commissioners were Andrew Dambui, Francis Nomelia, Vagi Toua, John Tara, Godfred Nigints, David Kanumbom, Mathew Himsa, Solomon Kai, Philip Eka, Molly Moihau, Michael Mosiri, David Suagu and Joseph Jako.
Andrew Dambui, Martin Balthazar, David Melenge, Molly Moihau and Joseph Jako passed on during their tenure in office.
Source:
An extract from the Autobiography (“From the Village” - unpublished) by Henry J. Wavik MBE
