Wingti hails from the Jika Tribe of the Western Highlands province, and was born in Moika village, near Mount Hagen.

While doing his final year in Economics at university, he contested the 1977 election, and won the Hagen Open seat, joining Michael Somare's Pangu Party.

He lost a motion of confidence in July 1988 with changes in the shifting coalition and was succeeded by Rabbie Namaliu, the new leader of the Pangu Party, but Wingti returned for a further two-year stint in 1992.

Wingti continued to represent the Western Highlands in the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea, although he switched from the local Hagen constituency to the provincial-level electorate in 1995.

However, he was defeated in his bid for re-election at the 2007 election, losing to former student activist Tom Olga, largely as a result of the new preferential voting system.[1].