Kabwum by-election rumors brushed off by Morobe election manager

Among the six nominated so far for Morobe's Kabwum district's by-election, the first to nominate is Patrick Basa, who was declared by Electoral Commissioner Simon Sinai as the district's MP under 'Special Circumstances' following the burning of ballot papers in the 2022 National Elections.

Also among the six is Haring Quoreka, the candidate who petitioned the Commissioner's decision right up to the Supreme Court, and won the appeal, which has resulted in the by-election that's now underway.

Speaking to NBC News, the Morobe Elections Manager, Simon Soheke, dismissed rumors that were stating that the court does not allow Mr Basa to run for the district seat again.

"There are rumors going around and that is not the instruction from the Supreme Court, therefore it is totally false. Both candidates have nominated and are registered to contest again," Soheke said.

Six candidates have nominated so far to contest the by-election, as of close of business yesterday.

Meanwhile, Yus LLG in Kabwum district is the last to have its Assistant Returning Officer [ARO] fly in yesterday, due to transportation issues.

Mr Soheke says given the geography of the area and time factor, the office of Yus LLG itself chartered the Air Sanga Aviation company's plane, all the way from Port Moresby and had the ARO flown in yesterday.

Yus LLG was previously accessed by the NCA's P2-Sam plane that crashed in December last year.

Mr Soheke told NBC News that apart from that, if there are complaints from other LLGs on whether a candidate should or should not be allowed to vote, then a final ruling will have to come from the office of the Commissioner.

The Elections Manager said all in all, all other LLG nominations are going as planned.