Namah ‘planned to gamble hundreds of thousands’
14 March 2012
BY SEAN NICHOLLS, MATTHEW MOORE & ILYA GRIDNEFF
SYDNEY MORNING HERALD / THE AGE
THE DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER of Papua New Guinea, Belden Namah, allegedly sexually harassed a blackjack dealer at the Star casino last year before being thrown out for threatening staff while drunk.
Despite this, the casino readmitted Mr Namah, an opposition MP at the time, after it realised he and his colleagues planned to gamble hundreds of thousands of dollars, the Herald understands.
But Mr Namah denies he is the person described in five separate incident reports, including one in which he is named by casino staff. His lawyer, Greg Sheppard, said Mr Namah ''did not misconduct himself'' at the casino.
''Until we are provided with the incident reports in question, Mr Namah is unable to comment further on how his name appears on these reports, except to say that if it does, they are mistaken,'' Mr Sheppard said….
Incident reports by staff show Mr Namah and two colleagues were gambling in the Sovereign Room for high rollers when approached about 7am on April 16 last year and asked to stop drinking ''as they were deemed to be approaching intoxication''.
A blackjack dealer's statement said that after being asked to stop drinking, Mr Namah began ''teasing me by asking my mobile number''. Mr Namah is then alleged to have asked him: ''Can I f--- you tonight?''.
When he was being removed from the casino, Mr Namah allegedly told either a manager or security guard: ''You may be big but I will knock you on your f---ing arse''.
Read the incident reports. Warning: people may find some language offensive.
This article really portrays a bad image of PNG politicians and how corrupt some of them are.
The people have trust and hope that the person they vote will serve them honestly and not bring shame to their electorate and province.
I pray that God will Bless the souls of PNG politicians to change their dirty and shameful act in the eyes of the international community.
Note: A good article, I recommend there must be an awareness about that article to the local people in remote areas of PNG so that the next time they will vote someone who will properly serve them and not bring shame to their doorstep.
Posted by: Zenitram Dee | 17 May 2013 at 03:44 PM
What is he trying to prove. He is there enjoying himself while the people of Sandaun suffer from poor transportation in and out of the province.
The amount of money he spent is enough for road maintenance from Vanimo to Aitape. What a waste for the township.
Posted by: Nathan Gabara | 17 May 2013 at 12:30 AM
Oh, my holy God save us! I dont know what to say.
Gambling the money when our people are suffering ... the harassment claims.
Speechless! Shame, shame, shame! OMG. Shame!
By custom he is not a leader any more. Usually these type of men are beaten and chased from the community and family. Please can we do the same?
I personally can never look at him the same way again!
Posted by: Regina Dorum | 14 March 2012 at 09:33 AM
And who were his "companions"? Were they fellow politicians or were they "big business"?
Was it government money or was he being supported by his companions in return for "political favours"?
The questions from this are endless.
Posted by: Ross Wilkinson | 14 March 2012 at 09:31 AM
It was $800,000.
Funny that the Oz media are playing up the "why was he let back in?" angle, whereas the harassment story is of Bill Clinton proportions to PNG readers, and the amount of money involved is just unimaginable for a PNG MP.
Maybe Namah's alleged comment really was "I am a big dick."
Posted by: Peter Kranz | 14 March 2012 at 08:11 AM
Unfortunately this article on the front page of the Sydney Morning Herald today is going to tarnish the name of the PNG parliament big time in the eyes of its readers.
Sadly, it will also tarnish the reputation of PNG in general in the eyes of those who have little knowledge of the country and its peoples.
Everyone will be commenting on it. They will be saying things like, "Why should we financially support the country of PNG if the deputy prime minister appears to have come by $800,000 and is using it for gambling purposes?"
The fact that Namah evidently had something like $800,000 to gamble should be a wake-up call to all PNG citizens.
Where did he get such a large sum of money?
What sort of a man goes around gambling $800,000?
PNG is a very poor country, so how come its deputy prime minister has $800,000 to spend on his gambling addiction?
The sickening sexual comments just show you what a low type of individual he is. How could the people of PNG trust someone like this and have enough respect for him to elect him to parliament?
Wake up West Sepik!
Wake up PNG. Only the best, trust worthy, honest, sober, hard-working men and women should be elected to Parliament. This one is an absolute disgrace to the country!
Posted by: Mrs Barbara Short | 14 March 2012 at 08:03 AM
This is unbelievable.
The harassment claims are bad enough. Namah is alleged to have said to a male casino worker "Can I love you, you are so pretty to me" to which the worker replied, "I am a boy you cannot love me."
Namah allegedly persisted and said, "Can I f*** you tonight? I have a big dick."
He repeated the harassment many times, after which he was thrown out.
But the other big question is where did he get "hundreds of thousands of dollars" to throw away at a casino?
Rumours have been rife in PNG for years about Namah's alleged rake off from logging exports.
Surely O'Neill cannot keep him as Deputy PM.
It sort of sums up all that is evil and corrupt about PNG politics in a nutshell.
_________
Big trouble for besieged casino authorities too. Despite evicting Namah for alleged drunkenness, they let him back in when he claimed he had "hundreds of thousands" to gamble with - KJ
Posted by: Peter Kranz | 14 March 2012 at 07:51 AM