24/05/2026
Sunday Commentary. 24.6.26.
BREAKING THE SHACKLES OF NERETERE SYNDROME .
Honorable Kerenga Kua MP.
Member for Sinasina Yongomugl.
How Sinasina Yongomugl Broke the Neretere Syndrome.
For too long in many parts of our nation, elections were less a contest of ideas and leadership than a marketplace of influence—where the price of a vote was set by envelopes, small cash payments, and short-term promises.
In Sinasina Yongomugl this corrosive practice had its own name: Neretere Syndrome. It treated communities as commodities and warped the moral fabric of civic life. For thirteen years, the people of Sinasina Yongomugl have lived through a powerful, steady alternative: the leadership of Honorable Kerenga Kua.
Kerenga Kua’s approach has always been anchored in principle rather than transaction.
From the moment he stood for public office he refused to bend to the familiar temptation of buying consent. That refusal was not passive — it was an active campaign to restore dignity to the vote and to elevate politics back to a contest of ideas, character, and service. He made a plain but radical claim: public leadership must be earned through trust and demonstrated competence, not purchased through short-lived handouts.
The path he chose was difficult. Vote-buying is woven into local expectations: it promises immediate gains, it flatters those who feel power by giving, and it weaponizes poverty against the future.
Breaking that cycle required more than personal integrity; it required patient work to change incentives, build institutions, and transform culture. Kerenga Kua pursued that work on several fronts.
First, he led by example. As the only Member of Parliament in Simbu Province who consistently refused to bribe or engage in vote buying, his conduct became a living lesson. When constituents expected envelopes and saw none, the question shifted from “Where is my payment?” to “What does our representative do with public office?” Over time, his steady presence—working on development projects, advocating for local needs in Parliament, and openly rejecting corrupt shortcuts—began to answer that question.
Second, he invested in alternatives that made integrity attractive. Education programmes, community development projects, and transparent constituency funding showed voters there are better ways to secure public goods than temporary cash. When people experienced reliable services—improved school support, visible road maintenance, clearer channels for grievances—the value proposition of buying votes weakened.
The electorate began to judge leaders on delivery and accountability, not envelopes.
Third, Kerenga Kua engaged moral and civic persuasion. He spoke plainly about the harms of Neretere Syndrome: how vote buying steals public resources, entrenches poor governance, and humiliates both giver and receiver. His language appealed to local values—pride, respect, and intergenerational duty—so that resisting corruption became a communal act, not merely an individual virtue. Over years, families told their children that voting was a right to be exercised with conscience, not sold for pocket money.
Fourth, he worked with local institutions—churches, schools, leaders, and civil society—to build social sanctions against illicit practices. When community institutions withdrew the social approval that had made vote buying tolerable, the practice lost one of its strongest pillars. Local leaders who once expected to profit from the old system found themselves isolated when they tried to sustain it.
The result after thirteen years is nothing short of historic:
Sinasina Yongomugl has been declared free from Neretere Syndrome.
This is not merely a statistical victory; it is a moral and civic transformation. Freed from the tyranny of cash-for-votes, the electorate now evaluates candidates on policies, records, and promises anchored to measurable outcomes. Young people in the district see politics as a legitimate path for social change rather than a quick cash opportunity. Community solidarity has been renewed.
Kerenga Kua’s stand was not without critics or setbacks. Those invested in the old system resisted fiercely. Moments of doubt arose. But his perseverance proved a powerful counterweight to cynicism. He demonstrated that one leader’s consistent integrity can tilt a whole district’s expectations and behaviors—and that institutional change often begins with individual courage.
What Sinasina Yongomugl now offers to the rest of Simbu Province and to Papua New Guinea is a model: vote buying can be defeated where leaders refuse to participate, where communities insist on better standards, and where alternatives to immediate handouts are visible and dependable. The district’s success reframes the debate about governance: accountability wins when it is made practical, and dignity returns when leaders place long-term development above short-term transactions.
Honorable Kerenga Kua’s legacy is twofold. First, he restored the sacredness of the ballot in his district. Second, he handed the community a more sustainable future—one where leaders must earn trust and where public resources are used for public goods rather than private persuasion.
For that, the people of Sinasina Yongomugl owe him gratitude. For the nation, his example is a persistent reminder: to break corruption.
We need leaders who will refuse to sell the people’s voice—and the patient, strategic work to offer citizens a better choice.
It needs a strong and transparent leader to break the cycle of vote buying called NERETERE.
Honorable Kerenga Kua MP.
Defeated NERETERE SYNDROME In Sinasina Yongomugl District.
Freelancer
Bomai Sibabilyahl.
