DR REGINALD Aipia – the man who became critical of Police Commissioner Mostyn Mangau’s performance during events in Auki and again in the recent riots in Honiara – has clarified his comments.
“My comments were never intended to be personal attacks, which the Commissioner used as an excuse not to respond to my call on him to step down. My comments highlighted the lack of professionalism in handling the two events.
“On anyone’s count, his performance lacked professionalism and a total lack of intelligence gathering.
“These are issues of national interest because the people of this nation look up to the Commissioner in times like these,” Dr. Aipia said.
He said if these were not national issues, he would not be raising them.
“I respect him as Commissioner but when he is not performing to expectations, someone has to raise it so that the concerns are addressed. I simply did that because lack of intelligence gathering allowed demonstrators in Auki to force provincial members to flee from performing their duties.
“The same happens on the situation in Honiara last week. If he was up to his job, the city would not have witnessed so much rioting, looting and burning. These two events were defining moments for the Commissioner and his executive, but they failed miserably.
“In the case of Auki, the MPAs in the Opposition were left in a vulnerable situation. Their safety was compromised, but police never took action,” he said.
Dr. Aipia said the Commissioner and his Executive flopped on both occasions when they could have prevented much of the damage, particularly in Honiara.
“I believed It is also a wish for all business owners in our beautiful city and every citizen of this country for safety and smooth running of day today activities and avoid loss like this happening which will take years for recovery
“As a relative and brother, I sense that something is not quite right within the force since day one of his appointment.
“I think for our own safety and the good works of our RSIPF and to keep our sovereign country in good shape and for our benefits, our commissioner needs to think and re- assess events of the past few weeks and decide whether he should remain in the position of Commissioner,” Dr. Aipia said.
“The Commissioner and his executive flopped on both occasions. He still has a chance to redeem himself by taking actions against those who took part in the illegal activities in Auki and here in Honiara,” Dr Aipia said.
“The Commissioner must know that if he did not get the Intel he needs to address such a huge thing as the events in Auki and Honiara, he is in no position to deal adequately with the situation.
“To suggest as he did that my call was to discredit him is not true at all. All I can sense is that police are not cooperating in the discharge of their mandate.
“And if the Commissioner cannot handle the situation, he should step aside so that the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF) can have new leadership in this challenging time.”
By Alfred Sasako
Newsroom, Honiara
