Claimant McGlory Kalsakau questions “spokesman” Michel Kalworai’s place

Land claimant McGlory Kalsakau says Chief Putua Bakokoto of Teufi Tribe of Ifira and the Chichirua Family have denied Michel Kalworai as their spokesman over Marobe and Bauerfield runway, and that what came out in the Daily Post is a contempt of court because Andrew Chichirua has lost his father’s “probate”.

Regarding the judgment of Marobe, Kalsakau says it progressed to (late) Pastor George Kano and stopped there and still has to be cleared in the nakamal.

Kalsakau says Pastor Kano was chief of Teufi tribe but in the court judgment, it says Pastor Kano gave the right to his son Aloani Chichirua who belonged to the Nawita Tribe of his mother’s bloodline so he could not possibly claim custom ownership of Marobe because custom land owned by Teufi cannot be handed over to Nawita so it has to return to their nakamal.

He adds, “He (Michel Kalworai) says we are perpetual landowners (but) we want to deal with “stret man” because to us, he does not have the credentials while Michel (Kalworai) pulls the strings and Andrew (Chichirua) responds.

“Let Andrew (Chichirua) mature as a person while the court decides on Kano’s name as to who should have the right to claim it. Until then Michel (Kalworai) cannot speak for Kano because he has not been declared by the court as the spokesman for Kano”.

In response Mr. Kalworai says he has been the spokesman and researcher for Marobe Teufi Tribe before 1993, while the Marobe land case was heard in 1993. At the time his brother Mahit Kalworai was a witness while his uncle, Pastor Kano was spokesman for Marobe as declared by custom. In the same way in terms of “probate”, in line with common law it deals with personal items of a deceased but it does not deal with custom declaration.

Kalworai adds that his middle name is “Kalnawi” which means a person who looks after the yam tribe of Marobe, Efate.

Referring to the next court hearing he replies, “This is a requirement to formalise the custom declaration and there is no such thing as a contempt of court because there is no court declaration involved.

“We have dealt with that in the custom declaration of 1993 which was upheld by the Supreme Court in 1994”.

Regarding Marobe Land he explains, “In Marobe where we come from, custom land is transferred from father to son by blood, and custom landowner Andrew Chichirua, late Aloani’s biological son carries the custom ownership of the land through his late grandfather Pastor Kano and through his mother who is also from the yam tribe.

“Aloani, Pastor Kano’s biological son cannot be a ‘Nawita’ by bloodline because it belongs to his late mother. In Marobe custom, custom landownership is handed down from father to son and not from mother to son”.

He says while Christian missionaries came and diluted many customs but blood connection remains supreme as the custom determining factor to the right to ownership of custom land.

Finally but not least, Kalworai says the three affected areas in the Bauerfield runway plan in this project do not involve any claim involving McGlory Kalsakau’s party to custom land.

He says the three land titles involving the runway do not include the Kalsakau claims in part of the Marobe judgment in the North and West of the affected areas.

As to a planned meeting to be attended by all custom land parties involved, Kalworai explains that it has always been their intention to call such a meeting even before he spoke to Daily Post. “We see it as a win win opportunity for all of us to attend such a meeting. Whether McGlory’s party turns up or not is not a concern to us but we have welcomed the party from Mele when eight members of the Sope claimants met with us last Thursday. It was an amicable meeting in which they handed over documents signed by the Head Chief of Sope Family of Mele, Kenneth Kalonsuma Sope, terminating forthwith the mandate of Vauvautalo Malas from any dealing with the Marobe and Bauerfield cases for the family”.

The meeting on Thursday also supported the Vanuatu Government Airport Project.

Daily Post won’t accept any more articles on internal issues between the two parties until their differences are resolved in their nakamal.