My wrongful dismissal, malicious prosecution and unlawful detention revisited

Today’s news that after 6 months in September the case against me for “false pretence” was finally thrown out for lack of any evidence, produced in me mixed feelings.

On the one hand, it is good that finally the general public knows the truth, what we knew all along. On the other hand, I am put again in a no-win situation, unable to prove my innocence after being falsely accused, wrongfully dismissed, maliciously prosecuted and unlawfully detained, as I explained earlier.

My story and my PNG traditional storyboard

My story board


This beautiful traditional storyboard was made by Henry, a Papua New Guinean artist from Sepik, after I returned from my first exile in Australia on 3 April 2014. It has been hanging in my office in Papua New Guinea, now in my office in Italy.

The storyboard depicts my imaginary visit to the Sepik village, where Henry the artist hails from.The text on the storyboard reads:

"Dr. A. Schram, it is good you care. Most wellcome to PNG heritage". "Thank you tru for choosim Papua New Guinea. Your stay in PNG will be a historical one & commendable to the citizens. Mi hamamas tru long u".

(In English: Thank you for choosing PNG. ... I am very happy for you")

Indeed I believe my 6 years in the country have brought some good, though many colleagues in the university management and council were utterly resistant to implementing any positive change, preferring instead to serve themselves exclusively, and to play the corrupt politics, of greed and inflated ego's in Waigani .

For many of the students coming from villages just like these, however, we are sure we have brought some truth, light and hope.

What is touching is how most people in the country have been so kind and welcoming. Although Papua New Guinea is not the only story in my life, having worked as a professor in other wonderful countries like Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Guatemala, my PNG story is the most memorable and interesting. 

Hooray! Regression Back to How it Was Before for UNITECH

(Updated in May 2020. The "Hooray!" in the title is cynically used, and refers back to an earlier Hooray! article when #UNITECH was still moving forward.

Meanwhile, in January 2019 the case against me was dismissed by the courts due to lack of any evidence. Other charges were never laid in my regard.

In sum, it was all nonsense and madness, and my detractors in 6 years have never been able to show I did anything against the law. AS)

No More Internet

When I was Vice-Chancellor from 2012 to 2018, we worked hard to bring the Papua New Guinea University of Technology (PNGUoT) into the 21st century as to its basic IT-enhanced learning environment through Google Classroom, providing all students with 50% subsidized lapstops, as well as through the development of a modern, competence-based curriculum delivered in a student-centred manner. In order to improve teaching, we created the Post-Graduate Certificate on Student-Centred Teaching for all lecturers, now discontinued.

On 1 June 2015, the PNGUoT became the first university in the world to have campus-wide broadband internet through the O3B satellite system. Because of mismanagement, now it is the only university in the world where you can see the internet, but nobody can use it.

UNITECH: the only university in the world where you can SEE the internet, but can not USE it.

The current management and Council, however, decided to rent out the O3B installation to DataCo without having a backup plan. DataCo themselves have stated that they are not readily distributing the bandwidth from the new under-sea cable until September or October. Any deal with them should therefore have started in January 2021 at the earliest.

The University management seems to be making a real effort to bring the university back half a century, into the 1970s of the 20th century, intentionally or through sheer ignorance, incompetence or callousness. Of course, there are strong suspicion that greed and venality are behind all this, but we will never know, will we? Here is a sad tale of regression, which has forced me today to speak out in an effort to reverse this trend.

A Trojan Horse as a Birthday Gift for PNG's 43rd Independence Day

Happy 43rd Independence Day

Let me wish all the good people of Papua New Guinea a happy 43rd independence day celebration with their families.

Not wishing to put too much of a damper on the celebrations, let me use this occasion to share some present and serious concerns about this government's management of the national economy.

As an economic historian concerned with long term economic growth and development, and an avid reader of the reputable national and international press, as well as specialized economic analyses regarding the country's economy, I feel I must make my voice heard. When things go south in PNG this year or the next, nobody can say I kept quiet.

A Sad Ending: wrongful dismissal, malicious prosecution and unlawful detention

My Arrest

Now that I have safely left Papua New Guinea, I finally feel free to write about what happened after my arrest at Jacksons Airport on 1 June coming into the country, and all those things that were not reported in the national media. 

Relief: safe arrival in Singapore in transit to Europe

We are still shaken by the experience of my brief arrest by the cops-for-rent in Waigani, but wish to thank before all Prof. Stephen Howes, Director of the Development Policy Institute at the Australian Natioanal University for clearly calling out the injustice, madness and absurdity of it all.

We also wish to thank Prof. Jan Czuba, the secretary of the Dept. of Higher Education, who authenticated my doctorate. It boggles the mind how a letter from the highest authority in the land is completely disregarded.

Legalization of my doctorate in PNG

Furthermore, the honorary consul of the Netherlands Stan Joyce and the British High Commission for protection, and their good offices with the Waigani police. Our lawyer Emmanuel Issaac who did what he could. Finally, our friend Mr. Sanjay Vaijdja who offered us logistical and moral support, and all our other PNG friends and friends in the press for their kind gestures and expressions of support.

Hooray! Two important milestones for the PNG University of Technology

Letter from the Auditor General on our 2015 accounts.

(See my interview on EMTV on 28 November 2017. See my earlier post on why the PNGUoT is the premier University in PNG.)

UNITECH has reached two important milestones.

1) The Auditor General's report carried out by an independent auditor on our 2015 accounts was clean and did not contain any qualification. The first time in over 20 years! We are now part of that handful of state agencies that received an unqualified report on our accounts.

On becoming a good University (part 5): opening of the 8th Huon Seminar 7 November 2017

Introduction

Dear Students, Governor, Minister, honoured guests, Council Members, members of Vice Chancellor's office, Head of Departments, Professors, Faculty and Staff of the PNGUoT, ladies and gentlemen,

Today, it is a great honour for me to open the 8th Huon Seminar, where over 40 stimulating papers are presented reflecting the research activity of our Faculty and staff from a PNG perspective. The word Seminar comes from Latin "seminarium" which means seedbed. I am also proud that all members of the Vice Chancellor's office have prepared interesting contributions, Prof. Gena, Dr. Renagi and Dr. Moshi. All participants today are expected to be seeds, yielding many fruits across the nation and the Pacific region.