Ben Micah was a Papua New Guinean politician. He was a member of parliament for the

Kavieng District Kavieng District is the northernmost district of New Ireland Province in Papua New Guinea. The district contains the northern part of the island of New Ireland, as well as New Hannover, and the St. Matthias Group. The district headquarters is ...

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

. Micah served as Minister for Transport, as Minister for State Enterprises under the O’Neill/Dion government from 2012 to 2016, and as Minister for Petroleum and Energy from 2016 to 2017. A long-time member of the

People's Progress Party The People's Progress Party is a political party in Papua New Guinea. It was founded on 11 November 1969 by Julius Chan and Warren Dutton, forming a caucus of eleven members of the House of Assembly of Papua and New Guinea. Following indepe ...

, he led the party from 2014 to 2017.

Education

Micah attended the

Papua New Guinea University of Technology The Papua New Guinea University of Technology (Unitech) is a university located in Lae, Morobe Province of Papua New Guinea. Courses offered Unitech offers courses in the following fields: *Agriculture *Architecture * Construction Management ( ...

, where he studied accountancy and served as president of the National Union of Students.

Career

Micah was elected as an MP to

Kavieng Kavieng is the capital of the Papua New Guinean province of New Ireland and the largest town on the island of the same name. The town is located at Balgai Bay, on the northern tip of the island. As of 2009, it had a population of 17,248. Kavi ...

to the 5th National Parliament in 1992. He was appointed to serve on the Appointments Committee and Standing Orders Committee and was chairman of the Public Works Committee. Micah was unseated by

Ian Ling-Stuckey Hon. Ian Ling-Stuckey (born 27 December 1959) is a Papua New Guinean politician and Member of Parliament for the Kavieng District. He served as a member of the National Alliance Party until joining the Pangu Party and the Marape Government as ...

in 1997. Micah chaired the Constitutional Law Reform Commission in 1996 and subsequently played a significant role in the reforming the provincial government system, which was eventually abolished. From 2012 to 2016, Micah served as Minister for State Enterprises under the O’Neill/Dion government and as chief of staff to the Prime Minister. In January 2016, he became Minister for Petroleum and Energy after a cabinet reshuffle. In June 2014, Micah became leader of the People's Progress Party, taking over from

Julius Chan Sir Julius Chan (29 August 1939 – 30 January 2025) was a Papua New Guinean politician who served as Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea from 1980 to 1982 and from 1994 to 1997. He was Member of Parliament for New Ireland Province, having won t ...

. Micah was unseated by Ian Ling-Stuckey in the

2017 Papua New Guinean general election General elections were held in Papua New Guinea between 24 June and 8 July 2017. The writs for the election were issued on 20 April, and candidate nominations closed on 27 April. Michael Somare, the first Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, ret ...

, losing his Kavieng Open Seat.

Personal life

Micah was originally from

Emirau Island Emirau Island, also called Emira, is an island in the Bismarck Archipelago located at . Emira is part of what on many maps are charted as the St Matthias Islands, also known as the Mussau Islands, a small group to the northwest of the main island ...

. Micah was married three times. With his third wife, Maryanne Millie Micah, he had 4 children, of whom two were adopted. After his career in politics ended, Micah was involved in promoting boxing. He was a patron and promoter of Oceania Fight Promotions until his death.

Death

Micah died on 16 March 2022.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Micah, Ben 20th-century births 2022 deaths Members of the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea People's Progress Party politicians Government ministers of Papua New Guinea People from New Ireland Province