Noah Musingku

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Noah Musingku is a businessman, warlord and Bougainville separatist leader from Tonu in the Siwai (or Siuai) subprovince of Bougainville. He succeeded the late Francis Ona as the self-proclaimed King of Papala (an unrecognized entity) on 24 July 2005, taking the title of King David Peii II. Born in or about 1961, he graduated with grade 10 from Buin High School in 1980, the highest level then available in Bougainville high schools.

Musingku has been involved in recruiting bodyguards from Fiji, who have been widely suspected of being mercenaries. Among other things, they have been giving training to Musingku's troops. Eight former soldiers from Fiji were allegedly offered F$1 million each for the assignment. As of December 2005, they had not been paid, and five of them were reportedly refusing to leave Bougainville until they were compensated.

In the past, Musingku has been involved with U-Vistract, a failed pyramid scheme that reportedly left many investors in Bougainville and other parts of Papua New Guinea empty-handed. In both Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, he is wanted for fraud. Musingku defends his scheme. "We have set up a universal system, with its headquarters here on Bougainville," the Fiji Times quoted him on 11 January 2006 as saying. "We have investors all over the world, in Papua New Guinea, in Solomon Islands, in Vanuatu, in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, all over the world. England, America, we have investors all over the world."

Fiji's Military commander, Commodore Frank Bainimarama, told the Fiji Live news service on 13 December 2005 that several months earlier, Musingku had contacted him, offering F$35 million for "security work" in Bougainville. Bainimarama said he had recognized the offer as a hoax, and had not replied to the letter.