Participants at the two-day reconciliation dialogue session organized by the Center for Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding (CECPAP) in Zuo-Zualay, Nimba County have resolved to work for peace and unity in their various places of work, worship, schools, and communities.
During the two-day session in Zou-Zualay, participants deliberated on issues they saw befitting to the growth of their community and its people.
One of the issues, according to the participants, that is mostly important to them, is for them (dwellers of Zou-Zualay) to reunite for the sole purpose of moving their town and county forward in all aspects of life.
CECPAP’s reconciliation dialogue session is expected to reach to areas identified by the Peace Building Office (PBO) as hotspots during the 2023 Presidential and Legislative Elections.
Zuo-Zualay became a hotspot during the 2023 Presidential and Legislative Elections when a political conflict ensued between the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) campaigner, Anthony Quiwonkpa, on one hand, and Unity Party Vice Standard Bearer, now Vice president of Liberia, Jeremiah Kpan Koung, and Nimba County Senator, Prince Y. Johnson, on the other.
According to reports, the political conflict between the two parties got tense to the extent that the supporters of the CDC allegedly fired live bullets which wounded several supporters of the Unity Party.
According to a dispatch from Zuo-Zualay, Nimba County, supporters of Anthony Quiwonkpa denied the story, saying that such a horrific act never occurred in their community during the electoral season, while supporters of the Unity Party affirmed the act.
Amidst the argument in the hall, CECPAP’s Executive Director, Charles Crawford, informed the participants that the presence of his organization in Zuo-Zualay was not an investigative mission, but a mission to help them live in peace and harmony through reconciliation.
The reconciliation dialogue session which has ended was held under the theme: A Reconciled Society for A Sustainable Growth.
The dialogue session brought together 25 participants drawn from the religious and disabled communities, women and youth groups, etc.
Already, CECPAP has reached Zwedru, Grand Gedeh County, and Zuo-Zualay, Nimba County.
Today, the organization is expected to engage in a two-day reconciliation dialogue with residents of Bellefani, Bong County.
The group said it will extend its activities to Foya, Lofa County, and Porkpa, Grand Cape Mount County, to conduct similar dialogues with residents of those communities.
The reconciliation dialogue is being organized and facilitated by CECPAP, with funding provided by the UN Peacebuilding Fund.
The UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) is supervising the implementation of the project.
