Thirty-one-year-old Benjamin Bofeng is the second lawyer from the Constitutional and Law Reform Commission to attain a Master of Laws and Development from the University of Melbourne, Australia.
A mix-parentage of East Sepik, Morobe, and Western Highlands, Bofeng is a recipient of the 2020 Australian Awards Scholarship, who successfully completed the 15 months-long program in March 2021.
The Program critically considered the theory of development through Law with an emphasis that sustainable means and local PNG ways of attaining development should be prioritized instead of merely relying on introduced, foreign ideas, Mr Bofeng said.
“The Program has assisted me to give back to CLRC and the nation by ensuring that law reforms and reviews should consider development of laws in a PNG-centric manner with the focus on developing local jurisprudence in PNG,” he said.
Now promoted to Senior Legal Officer within the Drafts and Advisory division, Mr Bofeng thanked the governments of Australia and PNG for the scholarship and CLRC as the facilitator.
In his congratulatory remarks last week, CLRC Secretary Dr Mange Matui said the achievement is a fitting reward for Mr. Bofeng for being a hardworking and committed employee since his engagement in 2014.
“It has always been the focus of past and current management to provide opportunities for further studies so that as an organization we create a conducive environment for staff to prosper and progress,” he said, adding plans are underway for similar long-term studies for more staff next year. Dr Matui also extended similar assurance to new staff this year including lawyers Gedion Max, Collin Yak, Kenny Kaipas, Betrina Gelua, and Salome Pamler, HR director Gilbert Hickie, and payroll officer Consita Sohomai if they decide to stay on with CLRC long enough.
