When Mune lost the election, the dreams of his supporters were shattered.^[5] They did not know what to do, other than to rally behind Mune as he proceeded to contest his loss, filing a petition with the Court of Disputed Returns against Agiru’s win. As a result of the dispute, Agiru — who was from the Tari district in the Hela area — refused to stay in Mendi; he claimed his life was in danger and chose to live in Moresby, governing the province from there.

As the court battle dragged on, tensions grew between the Hulis and the people of Nipa. The discontent of the Nipas began to show in small roadblocks, and the harassing of PMVs and commuters. When Mune lost his life in a car accident in 1999, people blamed Agiru. The argument was that Mune had won the election fairly, but because of Agiru’s disputed win was forced to seek legal redress, which resulted in his death. Some went so far as to accuse Agiru of sorcery both in winning the election and in causing Mune’s car to crash.

Faced with such accusations, Agiru chose to remain permanently in Port Moresby, although he assisted in Mune’s funeral arrangements. He dealt with the provincial administration but was never there to see the people. If he travelled to the province, he was there briefly and then returned to Port Moresby. His administration, too, spent long periods in Port Moresby seeking directives from Agiru. Deputy Governor Wambi Nondi remained in the province, apart from sojourns to Port Moresby, but was not as influential as Agiru. Agiru’s absence provoked a lot of people, and the law and order situation in Nipa started getting out of hand, with frequent roadblocks.

After the Skate government lost a vote of no confidence in 2000 and Sir Mekere Morauta became prime minister, the provincial government’s powers were withdrawn and the incoming PDM government appointed one of its experienced party men, Pila Niningi, as administrator. Niningi, who was from Ialibu, ran the province for a short while before being displaced.

The boom period initiated by Mune had come to an end; people looked to Agiru to continue the flow of money, but it did not happen. Agiru’s absence from the province contributed to their frustration. Even in Agiru’s district of Tari, violent crime started to increase. Mendi followed, and by 2001 Southern Highlands had major law and order problems. Some argued that had Agiru remained in the province, travelling and conversing with the people, the situation would have been different. However it is not clear that this would have been the case: a spontaneous development of violence took place in the province, exerting pressure on government services. In project areas such as Hides and Kutubu, landowner tensions were rising: power pylons were being brought down, and roadblocks were apparent in the Hides project area. Mendi became a fighting zone in 2001, with businesses shutting down, the school of nursing closed, public servants fleeing, and anarchy prevalent. A tribal feud between the Tunjup and Unjumap groups escalated; the death toll rose with the proliferation of high-powered weapons, and the hiring of mercenaries becoming increasingly common. Southern Highlands was in the news daily, with reports of violence and mayhem. Police and the Morauta government tried to do something, but Mendi’s woes increased, and for some time the town was almost deserted. However, Agiru left a legacy: the six-storey Agiru Centre in the middle of Mendi town.