Sir John to lead new look PNGOC Board

June 30, 2020

Sir John Dawanincura has retained the position of President on the Executive Board of the Papua New Guinea Olympic Committee following elections held on Saturday June 27 during the organisation’s Annual General Assembly held at the Gateway Hotel in Port Moresby.

Sir John Dawanincura has retained the position of President on the Executive Board of the Papua New Guinea Olympic Committee following elections held on Saturday June 27 during the organisation’s Annual General Assembly held at the Gateway Hotel in Port Moresby.

As per the PNG Olympic Committee Constitution, the elections were conducted using an exhaustive ballot process supervised by the PNG Electoral Commission.

Sir John surpassed challenger, Ralph Tarasomo in the second round of voting, by one vote after the third candidate for the position, Karo Lelai was eliminated in the first round.

This will be Sir John’s third and final term on the PNG Olympic Committee Board and he has sworn to carry on the important work that has been established within the organization and see new developments during his time at the helm.

Among these are the good governance structure of the PNG Olympic Committee, the hosting of the 2015 Pacific Games and its success by Team PNG as well as the recent establishment of the PNG Olympic Haus.

Sir John brings with him leadership, continuity and stability for another four years as well as knowledge based on his experience and networking in PNG and regionally.

“I’d like to thank Karo for putting up her name and also Ralph for putting up his name due to the democratic process that we abide by, and I thank you all for casting your votes,” said Sir John. “I also take note of the voices of National Federations as valued members with focus on more support for them,” he said.

In the other positions voted on, Tony Green is the new Senior Vice President of PNG Olympic Committee taking over from Mel Donald who also vacated the seat after serving the three-term limit (four years per term). Donald is a former PNG international athlete in the sport of shooting and has been on the PNG Olympic Committee Board since 2004.

The position of Male Vice President went to Kila Dick who unseated Michael Henao while Iammo Launa became the new Female Vice President which was left vacant by Emma Waiwai who was nominated for the Senior Vice President role.

The Treasurer’s position was taken up by Grace Mataio who fills in the position unopposed. It was previously occupied by Tamzin Wardley whose tenure also ended after she completed the three- term limit.

Wardley has been on the PNG Olympic Committee Board since 2004. During that time she has led Team PNG as Chef de Mission to various Pacific, Pacific Mini and Commonwealth Games events. She was appointed to be the Chef de Mission again to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics which has now been postponed to 2021.

Meanwhile, Faye-Zina Lalo also retained her role as Legal Advisor on the Board unopposed.

The final position voted on was for the Chairman of Fundraising which was previously held by Syd Yates. He served on the PNG Olympic Committee Board since 1998. Syd also completed the three- term limit.

Yates has led Team PNG as Chef de Mission to the 2004, 2008 and 2016 Olympic Games during his time on the Board.

Former Male Vice president, Henao was voted in to take Yates’ place and remain on the board for another term.

Sir John acknowledged and thanked Donald, Wardley and Yates for their distinguished service to the PNG Olympic Committee and sport in the country and the region.

To stagger the election of the Executive Members, the Senior Vice President, Male Vice President and the Female Vice President positions were only elected for two years, up to 2022, thereafter, these positions will be elected for a four year term. The rest of the positions will serve four year terms to 2024.

The Secretary General’s position which is a full-time paid position appointed by the Board.

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About ONOC 
Established in 1981, the Oceania National Olympic Committees (ONOC) is one of five Continental Associations. It looks after the interests of 17 member nations in the Oceania Region, including Australia and New Zealand as well as seven associate members. 

ONOC has an office in Guam where Secretary General Mr. Ricardo Blas is based and the Secretariat in Suva, Fiji, where the Office of the President Dr Robin Mitchell is located.

All services and-programmes are based on the ONOC Strategic Plan for 2018-2021, and its 4 Core Functions of (1) Building and Strengthening NOCs Capacity (2) Cultivating Strategic Partnerships (3) Contributing towards Sporting Excellence and (4) Leading by Example.

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For more information, please contact;

Shivneel Narayan
Chief Communications Officer (Acting)
shivneel@oceanianoc.org

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