‘No one will stop our people’: Bougainville president defiant in push for independence

President of Bougainville, Ishmael Toroama. Photograph: Jessica Hromas/The Guardian

Ishmael Toroama’s life has been dominated by a single ambition. The president of Bougainville, an autonomous island that is part of the Pacific nation of Papua New Guinea, has for decades fought for his island to claim its sovereignty.

“Bougainville is for independence,” the president insists. “It is only a matter of time.”