Alcohol blamed for killings

ON Monday, Jan 6, another man from the Koneman tribe by the name of Minkap Mond (Apakas) was shot by the Maitanak tribe at around 4pm opposite the Mulitaka High School, Laiagam, Enga.
The tribal conflict between the Tupins in Tumbiam and the Maitanaks in December 2019 has now escalated into killing of an innocent Koneman man.
This has created another conflict between the Koneman tribe and the Maitanaks.
In 2018, a tribal conflict between the Koneman tribe and the Maitanak tribe in Lagaip-Porgera dragged on for a whole year.
The conflict resulted in the killing of 42 men and destruction of homes and properties and displacing hundreds.
The ceasefire and the conflict resolution ceremony was held in late 2018.
Those who attended the ceremony were then Enga Provincial Police Commander Joseph Tondop and his men, the Papua New Guinea Defence Force, the law and order and peace and good order committee, community leaders, public servants and the people of Maip Mulitaka.
The cease fire has seen both sides agreed to lay down their guns and stop fighting by signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU).
Both tribes agreed on the declaration not to fight again, not to disturb peace and good order in the community and to respect and protect government services.
In the declaration, any tribe member either from Maitanak or Koneman who caused any trouble would face the full force of the law.
Their leaders who signed the declaration would also be arrested, charged and imprisoned.
The Maitanaks have broken the treaty by killing a Koneman man again.
The Koneman tribesmen were taken by surprise.
They agreed on Tuesday to carry a post-mortem examination on the body with medical and related reports be sent to police.
The police would revisit the MoU signed by these two tribes in 2018 and lay necessary charges against the tribe who broke the terms of the agreement.
The root cause of such unnecessary violence and killings is alcohol.
I am calling on the government and the law enforcing agencies to come down hard on those who are unnecessarily creating disharmony in the community.

Bid Ambassi, Wabag