Ceremonies point to lasting peace

By ISSAC LIRI
“UNITED we stand, divided we still stood.” These were the words of former Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA) Chief of Defence Ismael Toroama during a reconciliation ceremony at Roreinang United Church Mission grounds in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville this month.
The Monday, May 15, reconciliation event was between former BRA (Bougainville Revolutionary Army) ‘A’ company, which broke away from the rest of BRA under the leadership of late Francis Ona, leaving the rest of BRA companies (B-H) under late Joseph Kabui’s leadership.
This action took place on Sept 26, 1997, at Roreinang in the Kieta district of Central Bougainville, which was the BRA stronghold at the time.
Moving forward to 2017, all the former BRA company commanders gathered in a week-long workshop in Arawa’s Goro Homes Village Resort from May 2-5 and discussed how best to settle the conflict that had caused the split and so much animosity over the past 20 years.
The outcome of that meeting was the signing of the Goro Understanding which made plain the events that unfolded at Roreinang back in 1997, and the letters that were exchanged between the BRA headquarter and late Francis Ona.
It was also agreed at the meeting in Arawa that the way forward was for reconciliation meetings to be staged in three locations – Roreinang, Panguna and Arawa – starting on Monday last week with the final ceremony held last Wednesday. The ceremonies were made possible by the financial support of Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) through the Bougainville Peace Building Programme based in Arawa, UNDP, ABG and the Mekamui Government of Unity (MGU).
The peace ceremonies held at Roreinang and Panguna were very emotiona,l with the families of the late Francis Ona and Late Joseph Kabui present and reconciling with the military arm of the then Bougainville Interim Government (BIG). Both leaders held the post of president and vice-president respectively.
At Panguna last Tuesday, one highlight of the event was the presence of the wives of Ona and Kabui, who was also the president of the first House of Assembly for the Autonomous Bougainville Government.
The attendance of Rose Kabui and Elizabeth Ona at such a high-profile reconciliation process was significant.
Rose Kabui clearly wanted the conflict of the past left behind.
“Our reconciliation must be fruitful. We must be united and let go of the past for a better future for Bougainville,” she said, and thanked all the women of Bougainville for their support in the peace process.
The next day saw the final part of the Roreinang Coup reconciliation rectified with the signing of the Memorandum of Joint Commitment which symbolises a mini-peace agreement.
The day was also highly significant in that it marked Remembrance Day for the fallen heroes of the Bougainville Crisis. The events on that day began with a dawn service led by the Catholic priest of Our Lady of Mercy, Arawa Parish, Father Chris Baria. After a moving service, the former fighters and the soldiers from the Twin Kingdom (Tonu-based Meekamui) led the parade to Independence Oval where breakfast was cooked over an open fire in respect to the many fallen comrades who had died as a result of the crisis on Bougainville.
Dignitaries at the ceremony last Wednesday included representatives of the Australian High Commission, Joanne Stratton and Cameron Darragh, the Chairman of the ABG Referendum Committee Joseph Watawi, MHR, ABG Minister for Department of Bougainville Peace Agreement and Implementation, ABG officials, officers from the Pillar 3 of Bougainville programme, President of the Mekamui Government of Unity, members from the Tonu-based Meekamui and former BRA commanders. School children and the general public also attended.
Again, the highlight of the day was the signing of the Memorandum of the Joint Commitment, signed by former BRA, former BIG, Tonu-based Meekamui and Meekamui government of Unity (MGU) witnessed by DFAT, UNDP and ABG.
These reconciliation ceremonies point towards the certainty of Bougainville unifying in preparation for the vote of Referendum set for June 15, 2019.
Before that, there is still peace-making to be done at district level with these earmarked to be completed before the last day of December next year.