The Motu Koita Assembly is the landowner representative body of the
Motu and
Koitabu people
Koitabu, or Koita, is a Papuan language of Papua New Guinea in the 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 citi ...
, established as an Assembly by an act of the
Parliament of Papua New Guinea
The National Parliament of Papua New Guinea is the unicameral national legislature in Papua New Guinea. It was created in 1964 as the House of Assembly of Papua and New Guinea but gained its current name after the nation was granted independence ...
. It is the only Assembly of its kind in Papua New Guinea. The current Chair of the Motu Koita Assembly is
Dadi Toka Jr. The Chair of the Motu Koita Assembly also holds the office of 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 ...
.
History
The capital city of
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 ...
was established on the traditional lands of the Motu and Koitabu people in the late 1800s. In recognition of this, the
Motu Koitabu Interim Assembly was established under the
National Capital District Government Act 1982. It was given powers and rights to legislate in the ten recognised Motu and Koitabu villages and exercise authority over their customary land, which lies within the Port Moresby boundaries. The Motu Koita Assembly was subsequently established under the
Motu Koita Assembly Act 2007.
The objectives of the Act are: to protect and strengthen the identity of the Motu Koitabu people as the original landowners of the National Capital District; to promote equal opportunity and popular participation in government by the Motu Koitabu people; to provide for the Motu Koitabu people especially the basic human needs for water, health, education, transportation, communication, accommodation and social order through economic self-reliance; and to protect the customary land and natural resources of the Motu Koitabu people.
References
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Indigenous peoples of Melanesia