Dadi Toka Jr (born 8 August 1977) is a Papua New Guinean businessman and the Chairman of the

Motu Koita Assembly The Motu Koita Assembly is the landowner representative body of the Motu and Koitabu people, established as an Assembly by an act of the Parliament of Papua New Guinea. It is the only Assembly of its kind in Papua New Guinea. The current Chair of ...

, a traditional landowner representative group established as an Assembly by an act of the Parliament of

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

. The Chairman of the Motu Koita Assembly is also Deputy Governor of

National Capital District A capital district, capital region or capital territory is normally a specially designated administrative division where a country's seat of government is located. As such, in a federal model of government, no state or territory has any politi ...

, which was established on the lands of the Motu and Koitabu people.

Education

Toka Jr is the youngest child of a large Motuan family and is named after his father, who was among the first council members to be elected after the Motu Koita Assembly was established in 1991. He attended international school in Port Moresby, followed by

Anglican Church Grammar School The Anglican Church Grammar School (ACGS), formerly the Church of England Grammar School and commonly referred to as Churchie, is an independent, Anglican, day and boarding school for boys, located in East Brisbane, an inner suburb of Brisbane, ...

from 1991 to 1995. He attended

Queensland University of Technology Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a public research university located in the urban coastal city of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. QUT is located on two campuses in the Brisbane area viz. Gardens Point and Kelvin Grove. The univ ...

, graduating with a Bachelor of Business Administration.

Career

Toka Jr has mostly worked in private enterprise and is director of a number of companies, including Tura Sports. In 2011 he was elected Chairman of the Port Moresby General Hospital board. He was also Chief Executive Officer of the Papua New Guinea Cancer Foundation from 2013 to 2018. With

Bryan Jared Kramer Bryan Jared Kramer is a Papua New Guinea politician and Member of the 10th and 11th Parliament of Papua New Guinea. He is also a businessman and social media strategist known for his Facebook page, The Kramer Report. Formerly a member of the Pang ...

, he is a former member of the Organising Committee of the Miss PNG franchise of the Miss Pacific Islands

beauty pageant A beauty pageant is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physical attributes of the contestants. Pageants have now evolved to include inner beauty, with criteria covering judging of personality, intelligence, ...

. Toka Jr successfully contested the Chairmanship of the Motu Koita Assembly in 2018, running a campaign focused on generational change under the Motu slogan "Ita eda nega" (It's our time). Of the 17 members elected in 2013, only three were returned, Toka Jr having campaigned hard on a platform of long term neglect and mismanagement of the Assembly and its assets. Toka Jr won with a majority of votes. The outcome of the election was seen as a strong endorsement for generational change and improved rights for Motu Koitabu people. After his election, Toka Jr quickly re-established essential services and has sought and secured partnerships with development agencies to benefit his constituents. Toka Jr has campaigned strongly for improved recognition of Motu and Koitabu people, the traditional owners of the land on which Papua New Guinea's capital,

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New Z ...

, is situated within the

territory. In early 2019 this brought him into conflict with Governor of Central Province, Robert Agarobe, who called for

(NCD) to be recognised as part of Central Province. Toka Jr has refuted these claims, primarily on social media, causing tensions but reinvigorating a discussion about ownership and management of traditional lands in the nation's capital. During the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

crisis, Toka Jr led the response in Motuan and Koitabuan villages, installing handwashing stations and Motu language education materials before the rest of the country. As PNG instituted a betelnut ban, to stop the prevalent spitting of chewed nuts to limit spread of the disease, Motuan villages were at the forefront of smuggling efforts into the lucrative Port Moresby market. Despite the potential for violence, Toka Jr and the MKA successfully stopped the escalation of unrest.

References

External links

*. {{DEFAULTSORT:Toka Jr, Dadi 1977 births Living people Queensland University of Technology alumni