By ZEBEDEE KUMPIO
PRIME Minister James Marape has clarified that he did not curse the country but his speech was taken out of context.
PM Marape said during National Repentance Day in 2019, he made a speech which was perceived by many as curse to the country.
He said the perception that every bad thing happening in the country is because of the curse is completely false.
“No sane thinking Prime Minster would curse his own country and so that is not true,” said PM Marape in a media conference on Thursday.
“People have cut and paste one part of the whole speech I made in 2019 repentance day,” he said.
“Earlier on when I arrived in office, there was a repentance day at Sir John Guise Stadium and in a public speech, curse was made to those who practice corruption.
“The curse was made to everyone including myself,” PM Marape said.
He said his speech was made in the context of fighting corruption and was directed to curse those who practice corruption.
The Prime Minster said he did not curse the country and will never curse the country, but the curse will only apply to those who practice corruption in this country.
“Let the country know that the country is never cursed, the country will never be cursed because this country is God’s country.”
PM said when his government took office in 2019, they have noticed a lot of indication of corruption taking place in the public space.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister called out on all public servants not to sit around all day and being complacent with their jobs.
He said the country expects more from public servants and sitting around whole day and earning salary is not good enough.
“Two words I used is corruption and complacency in the public service and I still use these words today.
“We are not here to pass time and public servants must not be complacent in their work space,” Marape said.
