MEMBER for Goroka Hon. Aiye Tambua has stepped aside as the Minister for Agriculture as of 4pm this afternoon.
He announced this in a statement today given the ongoing overwhelming public allegations made against him involving his family.
Tambua said he is doing so to protect and maintain the integrity of the Office he holds, his family and the National Government.
Meanwhile, he denied the allegations made against him.
“I wish to categorically deny the story on the front page of the National Newspaper’s edition of Tuesday, 19th September 2023.
“Unbeknown to me, my estranged wife issued proceedings at the Waigani District Court and obtained Interim Protection Orders (IPO) on the 4th September 2023.
“And on the 7th September 2023, she travelled to Australia with my children,” he explained.
“To date, my lawyer has not been served with any court documents pertaining to the proceeding.
“The allegations which were used as the basis for the IPO application were not even disclosed to my lawyer in court on Monday, 18th September 2023,” Minister Tambua said.
“Although the National Newspaper ran the story without my name being stated, on social media through various social media forums my name was widely used with so much defamatory comments.”
Tambua said political enemies have taken this as an opportunity and widely circulated on all social media platforms to destroy his name and reputation.
“I am forgiving you all for your comments against me.
“I still hold my wife and my children in high regard and vow to maintain the integrity of our family,” he assured.
