Jackson J. Paye, a prominent son of Nimba County, has strongly denounced the recent violent activities that ensued between the people of Kparblee District and Dialah in Lower Nimba County terming it as unfortunate.
He said the troubling situation that led to the death of one person with five seriously wounded arose from a land conflict between the people of Bah Town in Kparblee Administrative District, predominately of Krahn ethnic group and the people of Buotuo, Doe Administrative District of the Gio ethnic group referred to as tribal dimension.
Addressing members of the Nimba Kwadoe Organization as guest speaker and launcher during a fundraising ceremony recently in Paynesville, he urged the audience to always embrace unity because it is sine-quo-non to achieving lasting peace in any nation.
“Quadoe means ‘we are one’ from the Gio Ethnic group so you need to be united so that the aims and objectives of your organization can be realized,” he admonished the membership.
Mr. Paye cautioned the residents of the county and other participants not to engage in any act that has the proclivity to take away lives and destroy properties.
He suggested that dialogue is the genuine way to solving conflicts especially amongst Nimbaians because they are brothers and sisters residing in the same community.
However, he advanced to elders who are passionate to see a unified Nimba County that the government needs to sustain its intervention in the situation to avoid further escalation as well as to arrest the culprits and bring them to justice through the court of law.
Other recommendations were to console the bereaved families, provide needed psychosocial consoling and other material supports; provide assistance to the wounded and maintain security presence in the area as the inhabitants get resettled in their various communities.
He named long-term plans as to find permanent solution to the land issue involving the two communities; create inter-tribal council to promote peaceful co-existence; resolve issues through dialogues and continued engagements.
According to the former Superintendent of Nimba County, people of the county had peacefully co-existed and carried out inter-tribal marriages including other forms of collaboration since the establishment of the county in 1964 prior to the outbreak of the civil war.
“Nobody could even identify anyone by tribe even though there are many tribes in Nimba County like, Gios, Manos as well as Krahns, Mandingos, including the Kpelles, Congos among others,” he pointed out.
He then disclosed that his mother was Gio from Marlay, Boe and Quilla interestingly and when the civil war was raging in the country, his mother was being protected by the Krahn people and that location became unknown at some point.
Speaking further, the former Superintendent stated that his administration was overwhelmed with series of reconciliation meetings among the people and in that process, his parents were killed but he did not harbor any animosity against any group of people adding that for that reason when he returned to Liberia in 2017 he sponsored a reconciliation conference among three towns namely; Buotuo, New Yorpea and Old Yorpea aimed at finding solutions.
He however, urged the people of Nimba County and Liberia at large to reject violence as a means of settling disputes especially the youths as they are the future leaders.