The Center for Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding (CECPAP) has planted the seed of peace, reconciliation and unity in the Porkpa District, Grand Cape Mount County.
Porkpa District has always become a hotspot during electioneering period. During the 2020 special senatorial election, the district became the hub for violent acts in Liberia.
Properties such as vehicles and other values were set ablaze while people sustained serious injuries due to the deadly riot that rocked the entire district. Supporters of the incumbent Senator Victor Watson and Mr. Simone Taylor, the two main rivals for Grand Cape Mount County senatorial seat, were the ones going against each other in the riot.
Following the casting of votes In Grand Cape Mount County, Mr. Simone Taylor won the contest to become the county’s Senator. Unfortunately, the act of electoral violence was once again repeated in Porkpa district during the 2023 presidential and legislative elections. The contestation for the district only seat in the House of Representatives was between Ms. Bindu Massaley and the incumbent Representative Bob Shrieff.
The group supporting Mr. Shrieff under the banner of Moifengan (a Mendy word meaning ungratefulness, deceitful, and unappreciative) went against the group named Hard Work that strongly supported Ms. Massaley in the race for the House of Representative. According to reports, the Hard Work group choice to called former Representative Bob Shrieff and supporters moifengans because of his (Shrieff) ungratefulness exhibited against Mr. Idarsah Massaley, a business mogul in the Grand Cape Mount County and father of Porpka District’s lawmaker Bindu Massaley.
As the report goes, during the 2017 presidential and legislative elections, Mr. Shrieff sought and received businessman Massaley‘s financial and moral support to win the district seat in the legislature. Following Sheriff’s ascendency to the House of Representative, he began to pay back Mr. Massaley with the act of deceit and ungratefulness, something that made the business tycoon’s supporters to petition Bindu to contest against Bob Shrieff during the 2023 legislative election.
Even though the elections are over and Ms. Bindu Massaley won the race to become Representative of Porkpa district in the current 55th legislature, notwithstanding the district remains divided. Against this backdrop, the Center for Conflict and Peacebuilding moved into Bamballah Town, Porkpa district headquarter, on last Thursday to plan the seed of peace, reconciliation, and unity.
But, before reaching the decision to trash out their differences and unite, Hard Work and Moifengan supporters benefited from a two-day lecture/training on conflict resolution. Having been highly touched and moved by the training, the former rivals grabbed the vision to reunite for the betterment of the community and the future of their kids.
The women from the two groups vowed to convene a large gathering of women on Friday in Bamballah town to stress the need of embracing peace and reconciliation in Porkpa district. Following Friday’s meeting of females, the women will also go on a tour to all the towns and villages that constitute Porkpa district to spread the message of love, peace, reconciliation and unity.
Meanwhile, addressing the participants at the closed of the two-day reconciliation dialogue session, CECPAP’s Executive Director Charles Crawford expressed happiness over the reunification of the people of Porkpa District and admonished them to keep watering the seed of peace, reconciliation and unity planted in Porkpa District, Grand Cape Mounty.
Mr. Crawford further told the gathering to hold together as brothers and sisters and don’t allow politicians to infiltrate to cause division, adding, the peace and reconciliation that have taken place among your today will make some people, especially politicians, very mad. They want to see your divided and so they will do everything possible to bring division among you guys. They think that when your guys are divided, they will get their selfish goal achieved. Don’t allow them to succeed in their devilish act. Their aim is to use your and get wealth at your expense. They mean no good for you.’
The reconciliation dialogue is being organized and facilitated by CECPAP with funding provided by the UN Peacebuilding Fund. The UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) is supervising the implementation of the project.
