Papua New Guinea Travel Advisory: “Do not travel to the Highlands region due to civil unrest.” – U.S.
Department of State”.
No matter where you are in the world, it is hard to escape politics. Papua New Guinea is no different. We arrived in PNG in the middle of election campaign season and the whole country is getting involved. Because of Covid, we could not travel to PNG for the past couple of years, so when we could visit again, we took the opportunity – it just happened to be an election year.
Every five years, PNG holds its elections. It is one of the few occasions that most citizens actively engage with the government nationwide. It is a period of high activity and mobility. Historically, the election cycle has led to increased demonstrations. Some become violent between rival political parties and tribes as well as their supporters. This happens during campaigning, during vote counting, after polling ends, and when results get contested or challenged. Public demonstrations in population centers and protests intended to be peaceful can quickly turn confrontational and become violent. During the election in 2017, protests erupted over accusations that rival politicians hijacked the voting and over 200 people died in violent clashes during widely discredited elections.
Barnabus’s phone continues to ring. Call after call. I jokingly asked him, “are you sure you don’t work for dominoes because your phone will not stop ringing?” In all the seriousness, I got a little chuckle and a half smile from him. It was a slight break in the tension. The first call was to notify us that political supporters forcefully shut down Mt. Hagen International airport. Protesters covered the tarmac with crude oil, making it impossible for planes to take off or land. Lucky for us, we did not have a flight for a couple of weeks. Another call came in exclaiming that the city’s center was on lockdown and protesters were blocking the road to the Estate with rocks, trees, and boulders, making it impossible to get past them.
The chances of making it to the Estate were not looking good. Barnabas hung up his phone, turned to us and, in his deep voice, said there was no way we could go to the Estate with the current situation. Our immediate reaction was to see if there was another way into the Estate… any back road we could take. We pleaded with him, asking him to explore all options. Finally, he politely told us it was too dangerous to go to the Estate today, even the team in the management office were evacuated. If we wanted to, we could check out a local campaign rally in the area. The candidate was from Barnabus’ tribe, so it would be ok. After a brief discussion, Vikram and I agreed that we wanted to check out the rally. Eager to make use of our first day in the Highlands, we jumped at our chance.
We told Barnabus that we were ready to roll. He seemed excited that we agreed to go despite what had been occurring around us. We got back in the truck and headed to the rally. On our way there, we passed several campaign trucks with loads of people pushing the limits of how many people could fit in and on a truck. It was rather impressive. People were dressed in tribal colors, some with faces painted, hanging on the back of pickup trucks. It reminded me of a big sporting event in the states, but instead of supporting a sports team, they are supporting a candidate from their tribe with the same enthusiasm. Typically, most of these people would work on coffee farms picking coffee or working at the mill, but since it is an election year, the candidates are giving them money, so there is no incentive to work in coffee. According to Barnabus, this typically happens during election years….the incumbent government passes an order to pay more for coffee. They deposit funds into the large cherry and parchment buyers’ business accounts and order the buyers to pay more for smallholder coffee. Since PNG is like 90% smallholder coffee, this is a ploy to get the smallholder votes under the guise that they will make more for their coffee under the current government. It works for votes, but it also incentivizes smallholders to pick LESS cherry because they can meet their basic needs more easily. I would think they would want to make as much as they could when prices are high, but I’ve already learned, when in PNG you must expect the unexpected. As it turns out, less cherry gets picked during these election years because of the high prices…this, in turn, creates lower overall production levels which only compounds the higher price paid for cherry and parchment.
As we approached the rally, I could immediately feel the energy.It reminded me of driving into a music festival. It was a good vibe.Large groups walk alongside the road barefoot wearing bright colors with faces painted and with flowers in their hair. Some people would stop in the road, obstructing our path, because they saw Barnabus driving and wanted to greet him with gifts or just say hello. After several interactions, we finally found a spot to park the truck along the road. We got out and walked towards the rally. From a distance, I could hear the echo of a politician speaking over a muffled speaker. As we made our way up the road, we came upon an open field filled with people listening to the candidate speak emotionally on stage. The crowd observed as he made his case. Because of the language barrier, it was hard to understand what the candidate was saying, but I could make out at least one familiar phrase I repeatedly heard: “Yes We Can!”… I guess if it worked for Obama, why not him?
Making our way through the crowd, we formed an entourage of children that followed us in bewilderment, whispering and giggling amongst themselves as we walked through the crowd. Women and men of all ages came up to us to shake hands, welcoming us with open arms. We posed for pictures with tribal elders and other people in the crowd. Barnabus was very popular amongst the people. So many greeted him and approached him as if he was a local celebrity. I could not help but wonder if he was running for office. He may want to, considering all the attention he was getting. He even personally knew the candidate that was headlining the event, Paul Mawa. After Mr. Mawa finished his speech, he introduced himself and welcomed us to his village. It turned out that he actually went to school with former President Barack Obama, so semi-jokingly he said it was ok for him to use the slogan. I agreed with him and we all enjoyed a laugh and posed for more photos. As the sun went down, we returned to the truck, taking more pictures and shaking hands along the way. Although we could not visit the Estate, the day was not wasted….I got a new perspective on elections and some of their effects in PNG.
Before arriving in PNG, Vikram told me that traveling during an election year is dangerous and would have its challenges, but with so much uncertainty in the world, I wanted to take the opportunity while I had it. In hindsight, while I don’t regret a minute of it, election season may not be the best time to visit this country. As a coffee buyer, some things are entirely out of your control: politics and natural disasters, for instance. With four out of five years being non-election years, I might just opt to go during those years instead. I mean, I use the same “four out of five recommend” approach with my toothbrush decisions and that’s been working out fine.
We were driving away from the rally when Barnabus got a phone call that the road to the Estate was still inaccessible but we should be ready in the morning because Cedric, the estate “community liaison,” had a plan for us. We had to leave first thing in the morning. We arrived at the guesthouse and thanked Barnabus for taking us around and then we parted ways for the night. When we got into the guest house, Jacob had left us fresh fruit along with a note. Vikram and I shared a couple beers, chatted about the day, and called it a night. Day one was wild…at this point, I couldn’t possibly predict what day two had in store. Stay tuned for the next installment in this series, where I tell you all about it!
Check out our PNG 2022 highlight on Instagram to see some video clips of our adventures!