In spite of his popular support among grassroots Papua New Guineans and many civic leaders, the 36-year-old general who once had aspirations to become a lawyer has been shaken by the commission of inquiry set up in response to his demands.
Since Judge Warwick Andrew began public hearings in early April, there has been little hard evidence of corruption - although plenty of revelations about the alleged skulduggery and secrecy of the government of sidelined Prime Minister Sir Julius Chan.
Already, Chan is being widely referred to as the "Marcos of the Pacific".
When the state refused to pay legal fees to counsel representing Singirok, the lawyer, Peter Donigi, withdrew his services and challenged the credibility of the "one-sided affair".
Judge Andrew's report is due on May 30 - two weeks before the country's general election which begins on June 14 and ends two weeks later.
Legal funds: Singirok launched a public appeal to continue legal representation before the commission and for his fight against corruption. The appeal raised US$10,000 in the first fortnight and has been gathering momentum during the campaign.
Ironically, several non-government organisations helping the Singirok fund-raising campaign, gathering K3000 for their own defence against Chan in a defamation case, have been targeted in dawn raids by police in what have been described by some lawyers and trade unionists as a "political vendetta".
At least three three senior officials of PNG Watch Council, an NGO substantially funded by a government grant, and the political activist group Melanesian Solidarity were arrested and charged with "illegal assembly" during the anti-Chan protests.
Computers, floppy disks and files were also seized from the NGOs, and from the Individual and Community Rights Advocacy Forum (ICRAF), an organisation receiving a funding grant from Greenpeace in New Zealand and other aid groups.
"The government is setting a dangerous trend, trying to suppress dissent with an attempt to link us to a plot that doesn't exist,² said director Powes Parkop, a former University of Papua New Guinea law lecturer. Earlier this week he was also arrested.
Melanesian Alliance leader John Momis and former Prime Minister Sir Rabbie Namaliu, who is now parliamentary Speaker, challenged the police motives and condemned the "culture of violence" to maintain law and order.
The national quality weekly Independent said the "whole Sandline affair stinks" and the police raids could trigger unnecessary confrontation between police and the soldiers - "and that must be avoided at all costs".
National issue: Traditionally, Papua New Guinean elections have been decided on local issues and patronage, but this time the national issue of the Sandline mercenaries is dominating the campaign.
A record 2370 candidates - including 55 women - are contesting the poll for 109 seats in the National Parliament.
Among allegations in the inquiry:
Sir Julius Chan wanted to use the South African-based Sandline mercenaries and a special forces unit to create an elite "palace guard" for himself and his cronies, claimed Singirok. The general said the elite force was for the "convenience" of the prime minister.
Chan had advised his acting departmental adviser to relinquish control and command of the PNG special forces on January 20 this year to the prime minister.
"I thought the whole idea was unconstitutional because the prime minister has no right to engage in a constitutional role of the Defence Force," Singirok told the inquiry.
Sandline International, the British-based military consultancy humiliated by the detention and deportation of some 65 of its mercenaries, had counted on the opening of Bougainville's huge Panguna copper mine as the best option to end the eight-year-old war.
The Chan government had pushed for the signing of the contract with Sandline despite strong resistance from four department heads.
The government had planned to bring in US$15 million worth of military equipment from a German firm, International Business Company, in three stages between December 1996 and July 1997. The shopping list appeared similar to the list provided by Sandline International, but the plan was dropped.
Singirok claimed he had been told by Defence Minister Mathias Ijape that he would "become a rich man" if he agreed to hire Sandline to help seize the closed Panguna mine and crush the Bougainville Revolutionary Army secessionist rebellion. Singirok also walked out of the inquiry in protest against being called a "liar" by state lawyer Marshall Cooke, an Australian queen's counsel
A $19 million arsenal of weapons in Australia ordered by the mercenary force of "advisers" for the Bougainville operation includes two Mi-24 helicopter gunships, ($4.06 million) two Hind Mi-17 troop carrying helicopters ($3.8 million), helicopter spares ($2 million), six rocket-launchers, 1000 67mm high-explosive rockets and 100 AK-47 assault rifles and 750,000 rounds of ammunition. The cache has been mothballed by Australian authorities until after the inquiry.
PNG soldiers had seized US$400,000 in cash from Sandline International chief executive Tim Spicer, 44, a former lieutenant-colonel in the Scots Guards. The money was frozen in a PNG trust account. (Sandline was reported to be seeking compensation from the PNG government - for half its $36 million contract money still outstanding, the cash seized from Spicer and $250,000 in ³consultancy² fees.)
On his return to London earlier this month after giving evidence before the commission and being freed on minor firearms charges, Spicer claimed he had been threatened with a gun to his head and beaten up after being captured by the PNG troops. He condemned Singirok, accusing him of "betrayal".
In the first foreign repercussion from the inquiry, a senior Hongkong executive with investment giant Jardine Fleming was suspended indefinitely after allegations that he had made payments to the mercenaries. The company announced it had suspended Rupert McGowan, an assistant director, and launched its own internal inquiry into the "grave" allegations.
Wantok system: Ironically, the commission hearing has been held in the grey concrete Supreme Court building, which neighbours Parliament Haus where Chan and two of his senior ministers were forced to stand down on March 26 pending the inquiry.
Chan has been careful not to actually resign and a controversy has raged over the country having "two prime ministers" but Acting Prime Minister John Giheno, previously one of Chan's cabinet ministers, insists he is in charge.
Corrupt practices are difficult to eliminate completely in Papua New Guinea, where a traditional "wantok", or brotherhood and kinship, system is deeply entrenched.
But the national concern over the problem has been reflected in a secret new report by the National Intelligence Organisation which has warned that corruption on a major scale is threatening to take a "stranglehold" on the country.
"What Jerry Singirok was on about was stopping the ever-growing upward spiral of corruption that started after independence and has grown alarmingly with each passing year," the report said.
"Do we really wish to be reduced to a basket case like certain African nations or, even closer to home, the Solomon Islands?"
If the commission's report does not vindicate the popular Singirok, observers believe the polls could turn into chaos - or a coup.
David Robie is a New Zealand journalist and author specialising Pacific affairs. He is currently lecturer in journalism at the University of Papua New Guinea.
