Tribes agree to abide by police orders to ensure safe polling

By ELIAS LARI
MEMBERS of a warring tribe in Western Highlands have agreed to abide by orders from police to allow for smooth flow of election in the province.
The members of Kimka tribe had vowed to respect a truce agreement they signed in 2020 with their enemy Rolgoka tribe by vacating the fighting zone area at Mun to allow for a peaceful election process.
Deputy Asst Comm/ACP Highlands eastern end Joseph Tondop had recently urged the tribes to respect the truce agreement after members of the Kimka tribe returned to resettle at their deserted village in Mun.
They had been chased out of the village by the Rolgoka tribe in a fight which claimed more than 50 lives and properties worth thousands of kina in 2019 in Dei electorate.
Tondop warned the Kimka tribe not to breach the truce agreement by resettling in the fighting zone.
Leader of the Kimka tribe, Peter Rui, confirmed yesterday that they had vacated the area, as per Tondop’s instruction.
Rui said some members of their tribe were trying to resettle but based on the truce agreement and instructions from Tondop, they had now resettled elsewhere.
“We will cooperate and end this fight without disturbance or bloodshed,” he said.
“We will respect what Tondop had stated in The National and will not cause any disturbance.”
Rui, however, said they also wanted members of the Rolgoka tribe to return to their Kimka territory.
He said they would take part in casting their votes at a different venue so election could be peaceful.
The members of the Kimka and Rolgoka tribe had been fighting over the Gumanch coffee plantation since 2019 and the situation is still tense.