The name 'Chimbu Yomba' was not recorded by the Registrar-General. It means, in effect, the strength of the Chimbu people, yomba being a hardwood tree, a branch o f which is sometimes carried by old clan leaders as a symbol of leadership.
Imitation being a sincere compliment - even when self-interest accrues - Chuave MHA John Kaupa in late 1974 set up a Chuave Corporation with the express aim of building a tavern, to be owned jointly with the Council. He personally collected 'share' funds on several occasions but had difficulty^äining enough cash to start his tavern. Kaupa lacked Okuk's political weight and credibility among his own people. It was three years before funds from the Papua New Guinea Banking Corporation and the South Pacific Brewery enabled the tavern to be opened with a big party in the very week voting started in the 1977 national election. The tavern, owned jointly by the Elimbari Council, ran for only a few weeks, compared to the Kamanegu Corporation's 3 years.
Okuk went from strength to strength as a local patron. He set up a government- financed Asian 'study trip' for Anton Aba, a local businessman/ politician, previously an opponent, who became a strong ally. He told me in June 1974 he always gave away the wristwatches presented to him by visiting Japanese delegations, so no one could say that he was influenced by these gifts. He complained that his constituents were draining him of funds with their constant requests for contributions for death payments, brid
and so on, a traditional aspect of the big-man's role. In all this, he was creating obligations that would, by custom, be repaid, but he did this amongst those who were unable to reciprocate in kind. At once obligated and grateful, they were thus drawn into his camp, and many eventually became active members of his faction. Lack of reciprocity creates a sense of unease amongst Melanesians. This process occurs in all political areas at all times; there are no free lunches.
But all was not smooth - and Okuk's ministerial career was the most turbulent in the first Somare government. Acting without formal approval, he committed the government to the purchase of a fleet of Mercedes-Benz cars, a mild scandal. The Public Accounts Committee criticized his department's unapproved purchase of a large Datsun sedan for his use in his own electorate. He put pressure on foreign firms to use national owner-drivers as haulage sub-contractors, and his use of the language of race
inspired fear amongst expatriate businessmen (Nation-Review, October 31- November
6, 1975). His private life became a matter of public concern. He was stabbed by a jealous woman outside the Kundiawa Chimbu Lodge Motel, was charged by an expatriate couple with using insulting words, appeared in court several times on traffic and drink related charges, and engaged in several brawls both verbal and physical in government offices. Somare grew tired of protecting him and, as more ffighlanders were recruited into the coalition and Somare's legitimacy grew in their region, the Prime Minister's need for Okuk declined.
Serious policy conflict between Okuk and Somare had become public during the 1975 constitutional debates, during which Okuk wanted to restrict the rights to compensation for freehold land of expatriates who became citizens, and to deny them rights to hold political office. This last move would have excluded PPP leader, Julius Chan, from office. Okuk, who had long associated privately with regionalists such as the Highlands Liberation Front while publicly taking a nationalist position (Standish 1976b), lobbied unsuccessfully for months among Highlands parliamentarians to oust Somare just before Independence (Marie Reay, pers. comm. 1976). Okuk and Somare also clashed in 1975 over Chimbu Coffee Society management and the coffee border restrictions.
Okuk finally lost his Transport portfolio in December 1975 because of his dealings with the Boeing Corporation.8 After a trip to Boeing at Seattle he demanded that Air Niugini should buy Boeing aircraft, contrary to a decision by Cabinet at that time to lease aircraft. The airline was eventually committed to buying a second-hand Boeing, and Okuk continued to advocate purchase of further Boeings. He was transferred from the Transport portfolio to Education as part of a general reshuffle in December 1975, a field which needed a strong minister, but one which a National Party staff member told me 'lacked opportunities'.
Okuk's response to this perceived demotion was a clear demonstration of his tactical audacity and sheer political willpower. He initially sought to rally Highlands support to regain the Transport portfolio, and then with a series of statements with National Party leader, Thomas Kavali (MP, Jimi), he provoked Somare to sack them both from the ministry, by describing the reshuffle as dictatorial. The denouement
almost appeared to be scripted m advance. In January 1976, on the day Somare
demanded his resignation in a letterpenvered by Okuk's departmental head, Okuk threw a party in Kundiawa for some hundreds of Simbu leaders and some prominent expatriates whose presence was used to show his acceptability. I costed this exercise at Kl,400 for meat and drink alone. His welcoming speech to his guests was brilliant. In sorrow more than anger, he explained that he had been removed by the 'coastals' who dominated cabinet because he had struggled for the Highlands people. He subsequently always denied he had been sacked, however, saying he had resigned from the ministry. Thereafter on every possible public occasion he distanced himself from the Somare/Chan (Pangu/Peoples Progress Party) government and blamed it for Chimbu's lack of development, bitterly attacked coastal dominance of government (especially the
8 The reasons for Somare removing him from the Transport portfolio were never announced, but