We need peace

“COME and sip from the cup of destruction” is a Genghis Khan quote that loosely means that even when a friend does something you do not like, he continues to be your friend.
And that is, we may differ in opinion and clash on how best we run the province and her affairs, but we are Southern Highlanders after all.
It is very warm and welcoming in Mendi this morning (Aug 21) to have leaders in Chief Joseph Kobol and Ps Bernard Kaiku to step out in the cause for peace and reconciliation in Southern Highlands.
No one will bring the peace we desire so we’ve got to champion it ourselves.
Let’s not delve on what has happened but focus on what is best to broker peace in this volatile part of the universe.
A first step in peace and reconciliation is the openness to own up and take responsibility.
Therefore, the two leaders, as strong contenders in this election, to come out is a bold step towards the peace building process.
And this is not admission of guilt but feeling responsible to champion a noble cause. Let’s not mistake the situation in Mendi town as a Mendi versus Mendi or Mendi versus Nipa conflict.
It is actually the spillover of the deep tension in leadership and governance failures and resentment boiling over time.
Directly or indirectly, every Southern Highlander has a stake in this and will drag everybody into it.
Peace has been elusive in our province at large and we all have experiences in every part of the Southern Highlands and now place a great and precious value on it.
It is the object of our hope and the aspiration.
Our hope for peace is marked by an existential tension that makes it possible for all of us to participate and find a common ground.
Of course it is very difficult to bury a loved one in the height of the conflict and then suddenly bury the hatchet.
No human can summon the strength to do that but only we can, given our experiences in war and peace and an understanding that death and destruction are only part of life.
We have seen worse times and today is no different.
To us the difficulties are to be lived and accepted if that leads towards a goal of a greater good, if we can be sure of this goal, and if this goal is great enough to justify the effort of the journey.
Let us summon our five elected MPs representing each district and the provincial candidates, the leaders around Mendi town – Undiri and Kambiri – provincial peace and good order mediators and of course the Electoral
Commission to reach a compromise and an amicable way forward.
The aforementioned leaders are all Southern Highlanders, including the Electoral Commissioner Simon Sinai, and it is important we reach a solution that is good for the province.

David Lepi