MCLEOD: For sixteen years, a fugitive has been hiding out in these mountains, a leader who started a war that claimed over ten thousand lives. For just under a decade, a fragile peace has held on Bougainville but the jungle warrior has stayed on his mountain top, holed up with his armed rebels, controlling up to a quarter of the island. Now on the eve of elections for a new Bougainville Government, the man who would be King, Francis Ona, is back.

This is the new look Francis Ona, jungle fatigues replaced with a businessman’s shirt, still very much the master of the tactical assault but now in civilian guise. The King of the Mountain has come to Arowa, Bougainville’s former administrative hub to fight for his political life.

This month the town’s residents, along with the rest of Bougainville, will vote for a new government. Francis Ona wants to stop that dead in its tracks. The autonomous government is a creature of Bougainville’s peace process. For six years Francis Ona has refused to be involved. He argues Bougainville is already independent, a nation he called ‘Meekamui’.

For the Australian and Papua New Guinea Governments and the United Nations who’ve spent years preparing for the coming elections, this may be their worst nightmare. The man who single-handedly sparked revolution on Bougainville, is once again on the loose.

Ona has always been a high-stakes negotiator. Back in 1989, outraged at the environmental carnage the Panguna Coper Mine had inflicted on his homeland, Ona demanded ten billion dollars in compensation. At the time, Panguna was the biggest copper mine in the world providing 40% of Papua New Guinea’s export earnings. Ona and his Bougainville Revolutionary Army shut it down and prepared for the inevitable backlash.

FRANCIS ONA [1991]: ‘BRA’s ready to retaliate against any invasion plans by PNG defence force’.

MCLEOD: In the bloody ten year conflict that followed, the PNG defence force was often humiliated by Bougainville’s jungle fighters and as many as one in ten islanders lost their lives in the fighting and the economic blockade that followed.

To this day, the mine remains closed and under the control of Ona’s men and now he’s back to take on the Government once more. His first stop is the UN compound. Since 1997 the UN has helped set the groundwork for the coming elections. Ona wants to sweep all that away, demanding the signing of a formal declaration of independence.

MAN AT UN COMPOUND: ‘I think my role here is now to receive this declaration and I do not think it is appropriate for me to sign anything until I have seen exactly what’s in it’.

MCLEOD: It’s a clever ploy.

FRANCIS ONA: ‘I must tell you… this is good news. Independency of Bougainville is now ours!’

MCLEOD: The mostly illiterate crowd think the UN’s signing of the paper and the handshake are confirmation of independence. The word spreads like wildfire. The next target is a contingent of Australian Federal Police.

MAN WITH BASEBALL CAP ON: ‘We don’t want you Federal Police here! You have no work to do in Bougainville. You must go’.

MCLEOD: The Australian police are in Bougainville as part of a new Australian aid package with the support of PNG.

FRANCIS ONA: ‘Go back to your place and clean the backyard!’

CROWD: ‘Yeah!’

FRANCIS ONA: ‘Your government is illegal! Your government is illegal!’

CROWD: ‘Yeah!’

FRANCIS ONA: ‘The message is on your ears. You’ve got it already. Please… Federal Police people, you’ve got a lot of work to be done back your home - back your home’.

MCLEOD: Ona professes to come in peace with placards and loudspeakers, not guns but his speech is filled with anger at outsiders and foreigners and as the rhetoric reaches its height, our own producer becomes a target for that anger.

FRANCIS ONA: ‘All of you must be happy now – don’t get mad at each other. We are fighting the same family. (Fighting) is not good. The only man that will spoil it for us is this one’ [punches Producer].

MCLEOD: There’s no doubt Francis Ona can draw a crowd, even after sixteen years in hiding many still respect him but translating that respect into political support is increasingly being undermined by the man himself. Over the past year, Ona has made a series of bizarre declarations, culminating in his proclamation of Bougainville as the Kingdom of Meekamui with him as its absolute monarch. The danger for Francis Ona, is that the King of the Mountain may well be seen as the Fool on the Hill.

SAM KAUONA: ‘Interesting issue that one because the thing is that there has not been a king in Bougainville before’.

MCLEOD: For years Sam Kauona was Francis Ona’s loyal and inspirational military commander. Now the former guerrilla leader views the crowning of King Francis with comical disbelief.

SAM KAUONA: ‘Some just couldn’t believe it. Some say it’s all bullshit but others and the Meekamui maybe, they may have thought it’s a step forward for them. They might have made Francis, crowned him king and that perhaps things will fall in line. It could be the answer. I do not know’.

JOSEPH KABUI: ‘In that direction there is the Panguna Mine’.

MCLEOD: Like Sam Kauona, Joseph Kabui is one of many former Ona allies who have abandoned the self-proclaimed King. Considered the political genius behind the BRA’s successes in the nineties, Kabui gave up the revolutionary struggle and joined the peace process years ago. He’s now a frontrunner to be elected President.

JOSEPH KABUI: ‘I think what is going through Francis Ona’s mind is that he’s certainly under pressure to deliver. A time has come, a time has come for him to show first and foremost the people of Bougainville and perhaps the world that he can deliver, that he can lead’.

MCLEOD: ‘Is it a grab for power?’

JOSEPH KABUI: ‘I think so yeah. I think it is a grab for power yes, yes that definitely. I think in the final analysis it is’.

MCLEOD: So in this second coming, can Francis Ona, now a self proclaimed King, once again rally the people to his side?

FRANCIS ONA: ‘Today I am standing here, I confirm that I’m ready to give service and [crowd roars] to my people’.

MCLEOD: The key this time is in what he’s offering - wealth and prosperity for all.

FRANCIS ONA: ‘Give me time and I’ll do it for you, just for you’.

MCLEOD: But the more you hear about how Ona’s grand promises will be delivered, the more bizarre it seems. It’s been cooked up by a royal court, replete with dubious foreign advisors. Surrounded by Meekamui bodyguards, at least one of them is hiding in this car. Incredibly they are the backing for Ona’s promises to deliver everything for all on Bougainville.

FRANCIS ONA: ‘I’ve got people all over the world supporting me as a monarchy. We’ve got a monarchy system which supports each other, so all the monarchies are ready to give me much needed aid’.

MCLEOD: It’s pure fantasy. The man in the front passenger seat is Prince Jeffrey from the so-called independent sovereign State of Mogilno. He is in fact Jeff Richards from Kempsey in New South Wales. Mogilno exists only in cyberspace.

‘Can you give us the names of some of these monarchies are that helping you?’

FRANCIS ONA: ‘Ah…not…not… because it’s under N.C.N.N.D.I.C.C. declarations. I’m presently contracted, bound not to be disclosed’.

MCLEOD: Despite the key role of these foreigners in his kingdom, Francis Ona professes to know little about them.

FRANCIS ONA: ‘As far as I know they are humanitarian people assisting... trying to assist people in Bougainville’.

MCLEOD: ‘Is Prince Jeffrey one of those people?’

FRANCIS ONA: ‘Can be, you know I’m not, I haven’t got much information on this’.

MCLEOD: Whether Francis Ona knows it or not, the money making scheme behind his new kingdom is a scam. In downtown Arowa you’ll find what passes for the National Bank of Meekamui, part of King Francis’ new international monetary system, the one that Ona’s unnamed fellow monarchs will support.

‘Good morning. Is this the central bank of Meekamui?’

MCLEOD: But this is not your average bank. All deposits are welcome, however try to make a withdrawal and that’s another matter.

‘But can you tell us, are any payouts being made here today? Are people able to withdraw their funds?

MAN IN BANK: ‘No… it's not my business to release...…

MCLEOD: ‘A lot of people want to know about what’s going on here…’.

MAN IN BANK: ‘Just get out of here please’.

MCLEOD: The bank is little more than a front for a massive financial fraud that’s estimated to have conned as many as four out of every five Bougainvillian’s.

‘How do you feel about the situation at the moment? Are you waiting to be paid?’

It’s known as U-Vistract, a bare faced pyramid scheme that has robbed Bougainvillian’s of millions.

MAN IN BANK: ‘Just please, leave the place please’.

SECOND MAN IN BANK: ‘Move’.

MCLEOD: And this is what it’s all about. This is a U-Vistract contract. In this case a local man invested seventeen thousand kina and was told that within 45 days he would double his money. That was in 1999 and he’s still waiting. He was recently told by a U-Vistract official that this contract is now worth fifty one million kina. That’s about twenty five million Australian dollars. But he, along with so many thousands of others, are still waiting for a single kina.

The man behind it is Noah Musingku, Bougainville’s home-grown king of financial scams.

SAM KABUI: ‘I think he's a combination of all things. I think there’s a bit of evangelist in there, and a salesman in there, a bit of a conman in there - so he certainly is a smooth operator’.

MCLEOD: It was Noah Musingku who first invited Francis Ona’s royal advisors to Bougainville and it was Musingku who crowned Francis Ona king in a ceremony at Panguna in May last year.

To get to the heart of this scam, and the man who has manipulated the hopes and fears of Bougainville for years, you have to head south, four hours drive to Tonu Village, the headquarters of U-Vistract.

Well we’re about a kilometre away from Tonu Village, that’s the place where Noah Mosingku's setting up his headquarters and he’s set up things like World Banks, Central Banks, even Grass Roots Banks. It’s what he calls a new world financial system. We’re not sure what we’re going to find when we get there and we’re not sure what sort of a welcome we’re going to receive.

As we reach the edge of town, a warning [sign saying ‘Foreigners Banned’]. It’s called the ‘Meekamui peace zone’ but all foreigners are banned. Just how secretive this place is becomes only too apparent. We are immediately herded onto a disused airstrip and surrounded by a crowd of gunmen.

Again our enquires are unwelcome. What we are able to discern is that across the way, some sort of evangelical meeting is going on.

MAN: ‘This one is the start of the process for the ceremony for U-Vistract’.

MCLEOD: ‘So this is ceremony over here to open up the bank to start the system down here is it?’

MAN: ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah’.

MCLEOD: We later find out the banks administrators have very good news. According to Noah Musingku as he opened the latest branch of his so-called bank, he paid out one trillion US dollars to U-Vistract’s long-suffering investors. Of course it’s all funny money yet among those he claims to have paid millions to are senior advisors to Francis Ona’s.

‘So the directors over there at that meeting…’

MAN: ‘Yeah that’s right’.

MCLEOD: ‘Alright well perhaps when you go over you could ask is there any chance we could actually speak to the director or to the governor, whichever, I mean we’d just like to find out what, what’s going on’.

Our request to talk to Mr Musingku is rejected and we leave like everyone else today, empty handed.

‘The finances that will support Meekamui are they being provided anyway through the operations of Noah Musingku or U-Vistract or the Royal Assembly of Nations and Kingdoms?’

FRANCIS ONA: ‘No my government is outside, outside Noah Musingku’s system. We are outside yeah.’

MCLEOD: ‘What’s the nature of your relationship with Noah because he talks about a twin kingdom’.

FRANCIS ONA: ‘It’s a, it’s a local question on Bougainville. I’ve nothing to do with him, no. He’s free there. He’s doing his own things you know?’

JOSEPH KABUI: ‘Well I think I can describe you know, what is going on in the No Go zone, particularly with all this you know, promises of massive wealth you know coming down. I can, I can describe that in a really as something of a cargo cult really. You know people expecting you know so much billions, trillions, you know coming down, of being handed over to them by you know, people they thought you know they had all the money.’

MCLEOD: You don’t have to look far to find those who’ve lost in the U-Vistract scam.

‘People here are hoping to find out some information as to whether or not a payout has actually happened.’

PETER UNIO: Yes, yes, yes. They are still waiting. They’re waiting to find out if any payments have been made.

MCLEOD: ‘How regular an occurrence is this that people hear a payout might be happening?’

PETER UNIO: ‘Well they’re still waiting. They’re just still waiting’.

MCLEOD: The district government official, Peter Unio conducts a headcount. Nearly every single person has lost money.

‘How much?’

MAN: ‘Around three grand’.

MCLEOD: ‘Three grand?’

And he wants Australian Police on Bougainville to take action.

PETER UNIO: ‘I think Australia has done a lot of things overseas abroad in Iraq but it’s doing less here’.

MCLEOD: ‘And so you’re talking about the Australians who are working with the promoters of U-Vistract?’

PETER UNIO: ‘Yep… yep…Prince Jeff and David and them… David and them…’.

MCLEOD: ‘What should be done about them?’

PETER UNIO: ‘They should be arrested’.

MCLEOD: The Australian Police aren’t doing anything about it because they can’t. Their mandate is to help train the local police force and the no go zone maintained by Francis Ona with its road block and armed guards remains just that, out of bounds to both local and Australian Police.

INSPECTOR STEVE HULBERT: Police here on Bougainville respect the no go zones and that’s something that’s come out of the peace agreement and the police operate within the political boundaries that exist on Bougainville and the police are quite conscious of the restrictions of the peace agreement and the necessity to maintain peace and good law and order on Bougainville and are not prepared to breach those agreements.

MCLEOD: It’s a situation Ona, his white advisers and the peddlers of U-Vistract are happy to maintain.

DEPUTY COMMISSIONER JOE BEMU: ‘Police in Port Moresby investigated Noah Musingku and he took flight into a No Go Zone. Now he’s living in the No Go Zone’.

MCLEOD: ‘So he is a wanted person?’

DEPUTY COMMISSIONER JOE BEMU: ‘He is a wanted person. I think for failing to appear in court in a matter against his company and the central bank’.

MCLEOD: A week after his first rally, we get a late night message. Francis Ona has left his no go zone under cover of night. He’s on the move again. As the election draws nearer, he’s stepping up his efforts to move hearts and minds.

Well it’s about three o’clock in the morning. We’re heading north on the highway up to Buka. That’s about four hours away. Francis Ona is also on the road this morning. He’s heading to Buka but for what we’re not sure. It could be a political rally, it could be a confrontation. Either way it’s his second public appearance in a week. This one could be even more audacious then the first.

Winning the people of Buka to his cause is critical for Ona and no easy task. Far removed from the No Go zone, Buka is starting to look like a success story. The king thinks he can do better.

FRANCIS ONA: ‘I will be looking at the medical services and educational services and also the development too much, for example here in Buka town I found that there’s no water supply. People are carrying buckets and all this up to the shower room. It’s unrealistic’.

[On loudspeaker to crowd]: ‘Do you want to throw out the Federal Police?’

MCLEOD: As in Arowa the week before, careful planning has gone into the Ona road show. For two days the Meekamui clan has been trucked up to Buka for support.

FRANCIS ONA: [Loudspeaker to crowd] ‘Do you want to throw out the Autonomous Government?’

MCLEOD: And a little pork barrelling wont go unnoticed. But the King delivered on very little else, perhaps under the influence of his advisors, Ona subjected the crowd to a monologue of the legal status of the Australian Governor General.

FRANCIS ONA: ‘No Governor General is or has ever been legal in Australia since 1919’.

MCLEOD: Under the blistering midday sun, the crowd soon grew bored with Ona’s rambling speech.

FRANCIS ONA: ‘In relation to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the 2nd, I personally hold in the highest regard, as the world, as well as here also, a Queen of courage and resolve. A true leader’.

MCLEOD: Ona’s former comrades are blunt. The King of Meekamui has lost the plot.

JOSEPH KABUI: Driving down from Buka and heading back home I heard rumours and this are rumours that I can say that are reliable. What people have said is just look, I think we are finished now with Francis Ona. We’re finished. It’s the same old talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk. Same old promise, promise, promise. Same old you know, all this high-flying talk. Now I guess I will would deliver, but when are they going to deliver? You know when?’

SAM KAUONA: ‘Well as far as I’m concerned, he has been conned. It’s as simple as that’.

MCLEOD: Some worry that given the promises he has made and the company he’s keeping, Francis Ona is playing a high stakes game.

JOSEPH KABUI: It definitely is a danger. There’s a real danger yes. If he fails to deliver, there’s a real danger he might find himself in an unfortunate situation. I mean we’ve had many cases all over the world that you know, in just straight you know utter frustrations you know, they’ve ended up you know taking the lives of some of their leaders. That’s a real danger.

MCLEOD: The past sixteen years will be marked as some of the darkest in Bougainville’s history. The people have endured war, disease and economic hardship and they’ve borne it all with faith and hope. As the peace process and the coming elections bring the chance of a brighter future, many are waiting to see if the man who set Bougainville on its current path, will be a part of that future.