Leader of Opposition Hon. Matthew Wale has called on the Police Commissioner to come clean following an Al Jazeera report that the ‘replica’ firearms supplied by China to the RSIPF were actually real firearms.
Hon. Wale said this new information has undermined the Commissioner’s earlier claims that the firearms that were brought into the country were merely replicas.
“Senior police officers have confirmed that they were genuine firearms. Which begs the question – why did Commissioner Mangau, the then-Comptroller Sutton, the Minister of Police, and even the Prime Minister deliberately lied to the nation?” Hon. Wale said.
He said that this schematic deception at the highest levels of Government only exacerbates the already deteriorating public trust in the Government.
“When the very institutions entrusted to protect us are implicated in such deceptive acts, it becomes clear that this Government cannot be trusted, especially on matters as critical as national security,” Hon Wale said.
Hon. Wale also said the irregularities around how the firearms entered the country is proof of the Government’s poor decision-making.
“The facts speak for themselves as the firearms arrived on a logging vessel, were offloaded at a private logging wharf, and were notably absent from the official cargo manifest,” he said.
Hon Wale said these are not the actions of a government operating transparently.
He said they are deliberate and calculated moves designed to bypass standard procedures.
The Opposition Leader said these actions are more what one would expect from a criminal organisation not a sovereign government.
“Why is the government dodging its own Ports Authority with its own cargo?
This is more than poor decision-making; it’s a deliberate strategy that should alarm every Solomon Islander,” he said.
Hon Wale has urged the Police Commissioner to provide an honest disclosure of the matter.
“Solomon Islanders deserve the truth. The Police Commissioner must fully disclose the nature of these smuggled firearms. Otherwise, it will be another severe mark on a Government already plagued by poor decision-making and deceit,” he said.
Source: Press Release
