Late in 1975 a multi-pronged attack on Chim bu Coffee m anagem ent was launched by Sim bu political figures associated with Okuk. Form ing a short-lived Chimbu Coffee G row ers A ssociation, they called for CCC to enter the export m arket in order to gain additional 'com m ission', as they called it. T hey proposed a new m anager, a close ally o f O kuk's. Cr Siune in the K undiaw a C ouncil on 15 O ctober called for the sacking of the m anager in a w heedling speech, given - unusually for him in such a context - in K um an language.
The Council Services U nit failed through bad m anagem ent. The Coffee Society is the same. The m oney goes in and out. The m anager and the clerk handle it. They get the money from the Coffee M arketing Board and A ustralia. The root o f the problem is the m anager and the clerk. They pay for the coffee, cars, buildings the factory. W e don't know w hat is happening, w hat he writes and w hat m inutes they put. They are fouling us and do not do what we say. They set the prices, not the delegates and directors ... The m anager is 'eating' all o ur money! 14
T his speech p rovoked u p ro ar and drew out several d efen ces o f the CCC m anagem ent from councillors, including a CCC director. It was a typical appeal to non literates to suspect the educated, in this case non-Sim bu, people. Such m anipulative appeals w ere com m only m ade, frequently by educated people them selves, such as Iam bakey O kuk or M athew Siune, and often had grey heads nodding in agreement. C onspiracy theories abound in Simbu.
In D ecem ber 1975 M ichael Som are, already in co nflict w ith O kuk, strongly endorsed the m anagem ent o f Chim bu C offee w hen he presided over the cerem onial opening o f M ike Collins's factory. L ater th at m onth an attem pt w as m ade to sack G eorge Leahy while he was overseas on leave by directors close to O kuk, advised by an expatriate accountant. Leahy w as alerted and returned to C him bu after driving overnight from the coastal city o f Lae. He called the bluff o f the sham efaced directors, and sacked the accountant who had been tem pted with the m anager's job. Leahy then in itia te d steps tow^*d^ ^exporting coffee. H e had a clo se w ork in g and personal relationship w ith som epro vin cial government) secretariat m em bers, and this particular coffee crisis passed. Eventually, how ever, there was another coup in D ecem ber 1976. T here w as no claim of m ism anagem ent; it was entirely political. The CCC had made p ro fits o f around K 500,000 in 1976. T his tim e L eah y w ent, w ith a payout o f K 80,000, nearly 4 years' salary. Deja vu. A lthough the m ove w as taken by a fellow K am anegu close to Okuk, the parliam entarian avoided visible links w ith this move.
Nor was he in the ascendant. His proposed nominee for manager was again rejected, and Barunke Kaman, by then Provincial Secretary, joined the board of Chimbu Coffee.
The public activities of the Simbu politicians on the coffee border question directly reflected their private interests. In several cases it is possible to link policy waverings with their substantial business dealings with Chimbu Coffee, Chimbu Developments and Wahgi Valley processors, such as credit for vehicle purchase and cash advances for coffee buying. Some factory managers wrote off thousands of kina lent to politicians as a necessary operating expense, seen as a form of protection money. The pressures to remove the coffee border increased just when the managers in Chimbu sought to recover unacquitted advances at the end of the buying season. One Simbu politician changed his vote on the border when a factory bought his old vehicle at an over- generous price, which more than covered an outstanding coffee buying advance. Others attacked CCC when denied credit and started dealing with Wahgi processors, which involved the illegal transport of unprocessed coffee. Whether or not the coffee border suppressed buying prices in Chimbu, it certainly served the interests of the owners and management of the Chimbu factories, and the politicians.
The prospect of the border increasing provincial revenues swayed the issue through 1976. With full provincial government imminent, and desiring to secure revenues from 'derivation grants' (that is,jfeased on a percentage of the value of exports derived from the province) which are higher for commodities processed within the province, the interim provincial governmenun 1977 again appeared united behind the borders. In a year of booming pricestjlbuyers were in a sellers' market, able to get advances and take their coffee wherever a deal could be made. Good roads, the lack of any border control and high prices led them into neighbouring provinces and into deals with factories outside Chimbu. Several powerful politicians, as well as directors of CCC, were selling coffee into the Wahgi Valley. Receiving little support from the Coffee Industry Board (CIB), the new provincial secretary negotiated with the Chimbu factory managers to fund two vehicles to police the border. A small detachment of extra-legal 'inspectors', chosen for their brawn and close personal relationship to the secretary, policed the border in June and July. They hampered some of the more important Chimbu buyers and netted some interesting catches, including 17 bags owned by a prominent provincial assemblymqn. The provincial legal officer somewhat reluctantly prosecuted a test case, which failed. In late July 1977 the CIB resolved that since CCC had made a large profit in 1976/77, the buying restrictions should be revoked from 1 August. Despite heated public exchanges, neither the CIB nor the Minister for Agriculture would change their stance or give the Simbu assembly
legislative powers over coffee marketing. The patrols ceased, and the interim provincial government kept the vehicles.
The common element in the Simbu struggles over coffee was the desire of local leaders and national politicians alike to gain control of the major enterprise in the province, for a variety of reasons which could have included status competition with the directors, known in Tokpisin as jealousy, the desire to control the politically valuable patronage which the manager could allocate in the form of vehicles and cash advances for buying coffee, and the desire merely to prevent some other group controlling this resource. In addition, there undoubtedly was an element of cupidity, and in at least one case the managership was dangled by a politician conspirato^S*an expatriate staff member.15 Yet so long as there was strong management with a good knowledge of Simbu policiticians and businessmen, and there was a degree of government protection in good markets, the CCC maintained its autonomy. Yet it was a fluctuating struggle, with no decisive victor at any stage, and a degree of duplicity among the directors as well as the outside forces seeking control.
Independence
The issue of independence was passe in provincial politics before 16 September 1975,
because already the provincial elite was preoccupied with the issue of provincial government. For villagers, however, constitutional change remained a concern, as expressed in council meetings after Independence and by local leaders.16 Just before Independence the new DC, Gerry Nalau from Finschhafen in Morobe District, gave a number of reassuring talks over Radio Kundiawa saying that Papua New Guinea was now adult, a full member of the international community, and urging the need for hard work. This last point was reiterated with relish at the various Independence ceremonies held at Kundiawa and other subdistrict centres, where the principal speakers were often retired colonial policemen. The shrewd use of such colonial figures to legitimate the new government reflected the insecurity of the 1970s political leaders. Siwi Kurondo was unable to attend the Kerowagi ceremonies because of the Gena/Siku tensions. National politicans were not in Kundiawa for Independence Day itself, as they were in Port Moresby being sworn in at the National Parliament.