Prior to entering politics, he was a teacher at Henganofi High School, a public servant for the Eastern Highlands Provincial Government and council manager for the Henganofi Local Level Government Council.
[3][4][5][6] He immediately caused some controversy by proposing a bill that would ban commissions of inquiry and tribunals in what a major newspaper described as "an attempt to legalise official corruption".
[7][8][9] In February 2014, Atiyafa, who had by now joined the governing People's National Congress, was appointed Minister for Police.
[11][12] He supported the involvement of Australian advisors in training Papua New Guinean police and advocated for the recruitment of officers from overseas in on-the-ground roles accountable to Papua New Guinean law, while expressing cynicism about previous arrangements involving the deployment of foreign police.
[13][14] During the 2016 student protests against the O'Neill government, he denied international media reports that demonstrators had been shot by police and stated that protestors preventing students from returning to class were "obstructing the rule of law and open to arrest and prosecution".