Bougainville's President Ishmael Toroama addressing the nation following the swearing-in of the fifth Bougainville House of Representatives on 10 October, 2025. Photo: NBC Bougainville - Maus Blong Sankamap
Bougainville President Ishmael Toroama shared his focus for the first 100 days in office during his inaugural statement at the swearing-in of the fifth Bougainville House of Representatives on Friday.
"In my victory speech in 2000, I said that the winds of change have arrived and that we Bougainvilleans must be the winds of change. No one else will create a better future for us but ourselves," he said.
He said the statement is still true today and "we must desire the need for change at all levels of society and move forward towards a better Bougainville."
The former Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA) commander won more than 90,000 votes in a landslide victory after the election on 5 and 6 September.
Over 238,000 people were registered to vote in the autonomous Papua New Guinea region election.
All 45 elected members of the Bougainville House of Representatives were been sworn into office by Chief Justice Sir Gibbs Salika at Parliament House at Kubu on 10 October.
Bougainville's Parliament sitting following the September 2025 general election Photo: NBC Bougainville - Maus Blong Sankamap
Following the procedure, the House of Representatives then moved to nominate and elect a Speaker for the House.
The Central Bougainville bloc nominated the return of Simon Pentanu as Speaker, a nomination which received support from both the North and South Regional Parliamentary Committees.
The Central Bougainville Regional bloc also nominated Therese Baranangko as deputy chair of the regional parliamentary committee.
Simon Penatanu accepted the nomination for the Speaker's post for another term.
In his election speech, Speaker Pentanu told the House of Representatives that the region has come a long way and its Parliamentary Democracy will continue to grow, develop and become more effective.
Pentanu said one way of ensuring this democracy continues uninterrupted is to continue to hold credible elections for people to appoint their leaders into the legislature.
Toroama thanked the people of Bougainville "for your confidence in my leadership in pursuing our common agendas of independence, economy and good governance.
Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape, on the left, attended the swearing-in of the fifth Bougainville House of Representatives. Photo: NBC Bougainville - Maus Blong Sankamap
He also acknowledged and thanked the Bougainville Electoral Commission for conducting a free and fair election.
"There is plenty to do as we position ourselves to be a sovereign nation," Toroama said as he listed his agenda for the first 100 days:
- Enact Constitution for an independent Bougainville
- Agree on a clear process framework and timeline for implementing the Melanesian Agreement and a Draft Sessional Order for taking the 97.7% vote for independence into the PNG Parliament
- Establish the Bougainville Nation Building Secretariat under the Chief Secretary and Launch the Bougainville Nation Building Strategy
- Panguna mine - secure Joint Venture arrangement and progress towards Mine Development Plan
- Bougainville Gold Refinery to start production
- Enact legislation to reclaim the large plantations from absentee landlords and develop a strategy for redeveloping the Plantations
- Fisheries - negotiate with PNG the transfer of Fisheries powers and seek Joint Venture and financing
- Establish Bougainville's own Cocoa Export Company
- All Depts to develop revenue generation plans for the next 5 years
- Establish an effective HOD performance management system
- Improve capacity for Tax collection
- Technical Education - Conduct assessment of Technical/Vocational Training and formulate Plan for increasing capacity of these institutions
- Develop Plan for strengthening law and order focussing on the Correctional services especially Bekut and Kuberia
"Many of these priorities are not new because the need has been with us for a few years," Toroma said.
The swearing-in event was attended by Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister James Marape, the Chief Justice of PNG, Justice Salika, other PNG leaders and government officials, and the diplomatic corps.
Many people attending the event at Parliament Photo: NBC Bougainville - Maus Blong Sankamap
