By James Guken
In the ongoing trial of former Acting Secretary of Finance, Jacob Yafai, Prime Minister James Marape testified that his explicit instructions to withhold payments to Paraka Lawyers were breached.
At the time of these events, Marape served as Finance Minister. He appeared before Chief Justice Sir Gibbs Salika at the National Court, detailing the unauthorized disbursement of funds to the law firm.
Marape recounted consulting then-Prime Minister Peter O’Neill regarding legal bills submitted by Paraka Lawyers.
O’Neill directed that no payments be made to the firm. Acting on this directive, Marape instructed the Deputy Secretary of Finance to halt any such payments. Despite these clear instructions, a payment of K14 million was processed, contravening his orders.
Subsequent unauthorized payments added up to K40 million followed, prompting Marape to suspend Yafai. On May 16, 2013, Yafai provided a brief acknowledging his role in authorizing these payments against Marape’s directives.
The payments to Paraka Lawyers were executed using reserve trust accounts. Investigations revealed that between 2007 and 2011, the Department of Finance disbursed over K162 million to Paraka Lawyers through 65 cheques, with amounts ranging from K1 million to K5 million.
These transactions were processed without proper authorization and were part of a scheme involving multiple law firms as conduits to channel funds back to Paraka’s firm.
In May 2023, the National Court, presided over by Justice Teresa Berrigan, found Paul Paraka guilty on five counts of misappropriation, totaling over K162 million.
Paraka was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment, with Justice Berrigan emphasizing the elaborate nature of the scheme and the significant breach of public trust.
Two other state witnesses were called in bringing state witnesses up to 26.
