Maso Karipe
Member of the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea for
In office
22 July 2022 – 7 November 2023
Preceded byconstituency established
Succeeded byTBD
ConstituencyPorgera-Paiela
Personal details
Died7 November 2023
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
NationalityPapua New Guinean
Political partyPangu Pati
OccupationBusinessman

Maso Karipe (died 7 November 2023) was a Papua New Guinean politician of the Pangu Party.[1]

Biography

The customary indigenous co-owner of the Porgera Gold Mine, Karipe was one of the community representatives with the Canadian mining company Barrick Gold.[2] In response to violence within his community, he donated five tires to the local police to replace the used tires on their vehicles.[3]

In the 2022 legislative election, Karipe was an independent candidate for the newly created constituency of Porgera-Paiela. Shortly before election day, his personal property was destroyed by armed men from a neighboring community. However, he was still victorious on the platform of restoring security and order to his constituency, and he joined the Pangu Party shortly after entering Parliament.[4][5]

Speaking in Parliament after his election, Karipe announced that the intense violence made it difficult to reopen the Porgera Gold Mine and obtained funds allocated for maintaining order in Porgera.[6] He used his parliamentary funds to pay the tuition fees of students in his constituency,[7] as well as to contribute to maintaining order.[8]

The Porgera mine was partially nationalized at the end of 2022, with the Papua New Guinean government owning 36%, the indigenous community owning 15%, and Barrick Gold owning 49%.[9]

Suffering from stomach cancer, Maso Karipe frequently travelled to Australia beginning October 2022.[10] He died in Brisbane on 7 November 2023.[11]

References

  1. ↑ Kuku, Rebecca (9 November 2023). "Fourth MP dies". The National. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  2. ↑ "Principal Porgera Mine Landowner Maso Karipe becomes pioneer MP elect". Papua New Guinea Today. 2 August 2022. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  3. ↑ "Local businessman supports Porgera police". Porgera Joint Venture. 7 May 2018. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  4. ↑ "Hon. Maso Karipe, MP". National Parliament of Papua New Guinea.
  5. ↑ "Porgera leader congratulates MP-elect". Papua New Guinea Post-Courier. 8 August 2022. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  6. ↑ "'Address law and order in Porgera'". Papua New Guinea Post-Courier. 27 September 2022. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  7. ↑ "Prioritise education to help combat lawlessness, MP says". The National. 30 March 2023. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  8. ↑ "Law and order issues hinder re-opening". The National. 5 April 2023. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  9. ↑ "PM Marape welcomes progress on Porgera and Wafi-Golpu mines". PNG Business News. 11 October 2022. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  10. ↑ "Judge stresses on balance and rights". The National. 6 February 2023. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  11. ↑ Mado, Nigel-Francis (8 November 2023). "Porgera Paiala MP loses battle to cancer". PNG Haus Bung. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
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