https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/26/sir-michael-somare-papua-new-guineas-father-of-the-nation-dies-aged-84The man who led Papua New Guinea to independence, the country’s Grand Chief and longest-serving prime minister, Sir Michael Somare, has died in Port Moresby, aged 84.
Known throughout the country as “Papa blo Kantri” – Father of the Nation – Somare served as prime minister for a total of 17 years, over four terms, and was revered as a pivotal figure in the country’s peaceful transformation from colony to independent nation. He is depicted on PNG’s 50 Kina banknote.
Somare was the first and only chief minister of the Australian administered territory of Papua New Guinea, and helped found the Pangu party, which led the country to its independence in 1975.
Somare would then become the country’s first prime minister, telling his nascent nation in a midnight radio address on its first day in existence: “I wish to remind all that this is just the beginning. Now we must stand on our own two feet and work harder than ever before. We are indeed masters of our own destiny”.
Somare was Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea on four separate occasions, most recently in 2011. He was also leader of the opposition on two separate occasions, most recently from 2001 to 2002.
