PM MARAPE URGES PAPUA NEW GUINEA MEN TO TAKE STOCK OF THEIR TREATMENT OF WOMEN IN THE COUNTRY
Marape – Rosso Government 2022 |Approved for Release: 27 August 2022.
PRIME Minister Hon. James Marape has used the occasion of the National Day of Prayer & Repentance on Friday (26.08.22) to bring the spotlight on the plight of Papua New Guinea’s women by calling on the men to take stock of their actions against women.
He made the appeal while holding the men to account for many of the difficulties and problems Papua New Guinea women have been experiencing and continue to face today.
The Prime Minister was speaking at the Sir John Guise Stadium at the event jointly organised by the Government and churches to mark the occasion. The event involved the offering of prayers for various aspects of life and nation, singing, delivery of sermon and speeches, and has been included in the national calendar to return attention to our Christian Faith.
PM Marape said: “I repent on behalf of all the men of our country, past and present. I am sorry for the wrongs we have done to our wives, mothers, daughters, and sisters.
“Today on this Repentance Day, 20 days before our nation passes through 47 years of nationhood, I ask all sons of PNG to join me and say sorry to all daughters of the country.
“Sons of Papua New Guinea must repent for all wrongs we have done to our daughters and sisters.”
The Prime Minister said men must be the first to be held accountable as the greater responsibility falls on the man more than the woman being the leader of the family unit and the physically stronger of the two genders.
“Christians, it was Eve who first sinned. But God came searching for Adam. The son, whom God created first and strongest, was passed the greater responsibility of care for everything including the care for the woman.
“To our women of PNG, I say sorry on behalf of all my PNG brothers. Please, forgive us. As Jesus Himself has said ‘forgive us as we forgive those around us’.”
The Prime Minister continued by highlighting the wisdom of the Founding Fathers in officially grounding the country’s predominant Christian Faith into the Constitution of the country.
“To identify with Christianity is to anchor our national foundations in the Rock of Ages, the Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer of Life.
“Our nation is one of diverse tribes and tongues. Our national leaders then – as we do now – saw that without God in our Constitution, our diverse country will find it harder to be united.
“Because of this, in 2008, our Founding Father the late Great Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare returned our attention to God by calling us to repent of our sins so our nation could proper.”
The Prime Minister used the opportunity to also thank the churches for their continuing support, saying the Government looks forward to working in health and education with them.
Following in the “big footsteps of Sir Michael”, PM Marape has remained open about Papua New Guinea’s strong Christian Faith by making official pronouncements about this, including spearheading the work by the Papua New Guinea Constitutional Law Reform Commission in getting a Constitutional proclamation of the country’s national identity as “Christian”, a consultative process which has been finalised last year and ready for submission to Parliament.
PM Marape has also taken this further by setting his vision to make Papua New Guinea the “Richest Black Christian Nation on Earth”, once more returning attention to the strong roots Papua New Guineans have with Christianity.
In many of his high-level meetings with high commissioners and ambassadors, Prime Minister Marape uses the opportunity to point out this “advantage”, saying the environment for trade and investments in Papua New Guinea is less prone to volatility unlike in many non-Christian countries because of the basic principles of Christianity of Love and Tolerance.