Politics
Regional NGO Body in Deep Trouble
Expatriates feature in PIANGO bickering
The image that non-governmental organisations are better users of aid money than islands governments due to lack of personal politics and red tape has been shattered with the internal bickering in the Pacific Islands Association of NGOs (PIANGO) spilling into the public arena last month.
PIANGO’s executive board led by Chuuk’s Tina Takashy terminated Henry Vira, the association’s coordinator based in Port Vila. The ni-Vanuatu social worker responded by filing a writ in the Vanuatu High Court questioning the legality of the board’s decision.
- ADVERTISEMENT -
The development is the latest in a series of allegations and counter-allegations that began over the decision to renew Vira’s contract.
"I was hired as coordinator of PIANGO for a three-year period from January 1, 1998 to December 31, 2000. In November 2000, an appraisal was carried out on employees of the PIANGO secretariat by the former chair of PIANGO, Hana Tukukino, and Suliana Siwatibau. A further three-year contract was recommended by Hana Tukukino," Vira explains in a confidential memorandum circulated to NGO representatives around the Pacific last month, a copy of which was obtained by Islands Business.
"At the meeting of the PIANGO executive committee in Sydney on 21-23 February, 2001, members endorsed Hana Tukukino’s recommendation for the coordinator’s contract to be renewed with effect from January 1, 2001 to December 31, 2003."
Despite this, Vira claimed Takashy and her board overturned the executive committee’s decision on November 28, 2002, some 22 months into his new contract.
Instead of giving him the three-year contract agreed to in Sydney, the board now wants to terminate it six months prematurely. Vira objected and refused to sign the new contract, and his fight with the board escalated from then on.
But Takashy said the change in Vira’s contract was nothing to do with the man personally. PIANGO was in the process of bringing in new programmes, including the hiring of a new executive director, so the need to reduce Vira’s contract to June 2003.
She said Vira took the change personally, insisting that he should be given the executive director’s position. He has been difficult to work with since, Takashy said.
"Following the November 28 meeting, signatories for PIANGO’s main cheque account were changed by members of the executive committee. There was no consultation with the secretariat that this was to happen," Vira claimed.
"Since the new signatories reside overseas and there was no prior arrangement with our bank for authorising payments from abroad, I successfully sought a court order to allow the secretariat access to funds required to continue its normal functions."
Takashy and her board responded by issuing a suspension letter against Vira, dated February 10. In the letter, the PIANGO coordinator was asked to respond to 25 allegations against him.
Vira protested about Takashy’s action and asked for the suspension to be lifted. When Takashy declined, Vira filed for a judicial review of the board’s action on February 17. Takashy and her board acted swiftly by signing Vira’s termination letter on February 28, which Vira didn’t receive until March 7.
Takashy said they had hoped for an out of court settlement with Vira.
In the meantime, PIANGO has gone ahead and advertised the executive director’s position. Expression of interest for the job closed on March 15. In his confidential memorandum, Vira blamed Takashy and her executive board for embarking on a campaign to tarnish his reputation. Vira also blamed expatriates working on a project funded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Canada International Development Agency (CIDA) for seeking his removal, an allegation Takashy rejected.
According to her, PIANGO enjoys good working relations with donor agencies and it is Vira who has been doing things without the board’s approval. But she insists the internal bickering has not dampened the enthusiasm of PIANGO donors who feel that a change in management would help restore the image and credibility of the organisation.
Interestingly, Vira said his removal could be linked to attempts by some "elements" in the board to get the PIANGO secretariat relocated from Port Vila to Suva in Fiji.
He said an email to this effect was accidentally copied to his office last December. In that electronic note, suggestions were made for PIANGO to be based at the Fiji Council of Social Services headquarters in Suva. Vira found the relocation idea ironic given that attempts to initially set up PIANGO in Fiji in 1998 had failed.
