Chinese Government provides SBD 21 million cash grant to Office of the Prime Minister for unspecified purposes in 2021

Project narrative

According to official Government of the Solomon Islands records, the PRC Government provided SBD$21,000,939 in general budget support in 2021 to the Office of the Prime Minister. The PRC Government reportedly allowed for the funds to be spent at the Prime Minister's discretion, and two tranches of payments — worth SBD$9.75 million $(SBD$250,000 per lawmaker) and SBD$831,000, or about SBD$20,000, respectively — were equally distributed across 39 of the country’s 50 Members of Parliament (MPs) on November 22, 2021 and December 13, 2021. Then, in August 2022, the Office of Prime Minister Manesseh Sogavare rejected allegations it was using money from the PRC Government to stay in power. At the time, former Deputy Prime Minister John Maneniaru said in a legislative hearing that the policy of distributing money at the Prime Minister's discretion was ‘not good for unity in this country. […] He is the prime minister for 50 constituencies, not just that handful of constituencies.’ Manesseh Sogavare was elected Prime Minister of a coalition government on the floor of parliament with 34 votes in 2019. He survived a no-confidence motion in December 2021 with the support of 32 members after an anti-government protest on November 24, 2021 led to rioting, which in turn led to Sogavare seeking international police help to restore order.