Prime Minister (PM) James Marape has come out to strongly reject what he has described as misleading allegations suggesting the use of public funds for election purposes next year.
These allegations were from the East Sepik Governor Allan Bird who suggested that the existence of “slush funds” under the Office of the Prime Minister and the Government funding allocations, are being used to influence the 2027 National General Election.
Prime Minister Marape described the comments as irresponsible, misleading, and damaging to public confidence in the country’s lawful budgetary and governance processes.
“The people of Papua New Guinea deserve facts, not politically driven narratives designed to create suspicion and division,” PM Marape said.
“All budget appropriations passed by Parliament are done through transparent legal processes under the national budget framework and are subject to scrutiny by Parliament, Treasury, the Department of Finance, Auditor-General, and relevant oversight agencies.”
Marape said it was incorrect and misleading to describe contingency funds, government obligations, district maintenance allocations, or development appropriations as “slush funds” controlled personally by the Prime Minister.
“These are lawful appropriations passed by Parliament to enable Government operations, national obligations, emergency responses, development programmes, and service delivery,” he said.
“No Prime Minister can wake up and spend public money outside the legal budget process. Every allocation has a purpose, a process, and an accountable pathway.”
Prime Minister Marape went on to explain that PNG’s budgeting system involved all Members of Parliament and Government agencies through formal parliamentary approval processes.
“The same Members of Parliament Governor Bird refers to are elected leaders representing the people of this country,” he said.
“The national budget is debated openly in Parliament before being passed. It is not hidden from the public.”
The PM further clarified that the allocations Governor Bird referred to fall under Treasury Department budget items such as Item 207, including miscellaneous expenditure and Secretary’s Advance appropriations, which are longstanding provisions contained in national budgets under successive governments.
“These appropriations are managed under established Treasury and public finance procedures. The Prime Minister has no personal discretion or unilateral authority over how these funds are applied or disbursed,” he said.
“The Budget Management Committee (BMC) process also regulates and oversees all spending to ensure compliance with approved government financial procedures and accountability mechanisms.”
“These budget items existed under previous governments, exist under the current government, and will continue under future governments as part of normal state financial operations.”
Marape said it was therefore wrong and misleading to portray lawful Treasury appropriations as personal political funds controlled by the Prime Minister.
