Sam Akoitai, born 5 May 1961 in Bougainville

Bougainville Island

Bougainville Island is the main island of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville of Papua New Guinea. This region is also known as Bougainville Province or the North Solomons. The population of the province is 175,160 , which includes the adjacent island of Buka and assorted outlying islands...

, is a Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...

n politician, a member of the United Resources Party

United Resources Party

The United Resources Party is a political party in Papua New Guinea. The party won 5 out of 109 seats in the 2007 General Elections...

.

Akoitai joined the Bougainville Copper Limited company in 1978, and worked there for eight years. In 1990, he became involved in the Bougainvillean civil war, leading a resistance movement against the Bougainville Revolutionary Army

Bougainville Revolutionary Army

The Bougainville Revolutionary Army was formed in 1988 by Bougainvilleans seeking independence from Papua New Guinea .BRA leaders argue that Bougainville is ethnically part of the Solomon Islands and has not profited from the extensive mining that has occurred on the island...

 (BRA), and subsequently participated in the ensuing peace process. During the war, he was abducted by the BRA, and several members of his family were murdered. He initiated peace talks with the BRA in 1994.

In 1997, Akoitai took part in the Papua New Guinean general election, and was elected Member of Parliament for Central Bougainville. He was appointed Minister for Bougainville Affairs in the government of Prime Minister Bill Skate

Bill Skate

Sir William Jack Skate KCMG was a Papua New Guinea politician and statesman. He was the son of an Australian father and a native PNG mother...

. In 1999, he was appointed to the State Ministry. He lost his position in government when Skate lost office to Mekere Morauta

Mekere Morauta

Sir Mekere Morauta, KCMG is a Papua New Guinean political figure. He served as the sixth Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea between 1999 and 2002, and later as Leader of the Opposition. He is the sitting member for Moresby North-West in the national parliament, and he was until recently the...

 later that year.

In the 2002 general reelection, Akoitai retained his parliamentary seat, and was appointed Minister responsible for Mining, Environment, Conservation and Correctional Institution Services by Prime Minister Michael Somare

Michael Somare

Sir Michael Thomas Somare, GCL, GCMG, CH, CF, KStJ, MP was Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea from 2002 to 2011; he had previously been Prime Minister from independence in 1975 until 1980 and again from 1982 until 1985. Somare's first two terms were as a member of the Pangu Party, but he then...

.

In 2008, no longer a member of the national government, he took part in the Bougainvillean presidential election

Bougainvillean presidential election, 2008

Presidential elections were held in Bougainville from November 30 to December 18, 2008. Voters elected the new President of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, following the death of President Joseph Kabui while in office, on June 7.The potential resumption of controversial mining activities,...

, and finished second out of fourteen candidates, defeated by James Tanis

James Tanis

James Tanis is a politician in in Papua New Guinea who was President of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville from 2009 to 2010. He was previously the Vice President of the Bougainville People's Congress....

.