Can Boris Johnson save Wa-Wa?

Naomi Robson and her TT crew have been removed from West Papua – so who can save Wa-Wa?

Crikey is tough on cannibalism and tough on the causes of cannibalism – and so is the Member for Henley on Thames and Tory spokesman on higher education, Boris Johnson.

As we reported just days ago, Boris alerted readers of the London Daily Telegraph last week to “Papua New Guinea-style orgies of cannibalism”.

For his pains, he was rebuked by Jean Kekedo, the PNG High Commissioner in London. She claims cannibalism ceased to be an everyday occurrence with the introduction of Christianity some two centuries ago. PNG, she says, is a country where people dine together, rather than on each other. But is this so? And who is Miss Kekedo, anyway?

A Crikey subscriber claims: “I crossed swords with Ms Jean Kekedo many a time. She was, at the time, Secretary for the Department of Forests in PNG and at one stage she threatened to have various persons who were opposing her deported… She led a political faction that sought to free Papua from political domination by New Guinean politicians.”

Political domination? Cultural domination? What are the implications for pan-Papuan cannibalism? In the wake of Wa-Wa’s woes, surely the public has a right to know?

Naomi’s gone – so who can save Wa-Wa? We alerted Boris to the issue yesterday. And this morning, on the email, was a crisp response from the tousled Tory: