Romans 12:18 “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone (NIV).
By James Kokulo Fasuekoi/JNB Foundation Comm. Director
There’s no doubt the 14-year-old civil war in Liberia shattered the lives of people across ethnic lines. Even worse still the last presidential race 2023, brought deeper division among Liberians never before seen in Liberia and nowhere was this evident than in Lofa, mainly in the Gbandi Chiefdom which experienced bloodshed due to election violence.
With the war over, and election long gone, the Gbandi People of Lofa County and in the diaspora have embarked upon the task of healing the wounds of the past and re-uniting their people; they are now using a football tournament that involves youths from the three main districts in Gbandi Land-Kolahun, Lukambeh, and Wanhassa to do so.
The first of its kind, the tournament commences this weekend, with a peace conference which took place Saturday in Kolahun itself. The soccer tournament kicks off this Wednesday in the same town which until the civil war remained the regional headquarters for the Gbandi Chiefdom. The events will allow district elders and youths there establish a dialogue, a way to reconcile lingering political differences among youth groups.
To boost this national endeavor, President Joseph Nyuma Boakai’s special appointee, Sports Ambassador Alioune Kebe, on Thursday, walked into the JNB Foundation Rehab Hqs and donated 6 footballs, plus $500.00 United States Dollars as his office’s initial help toward such worthy cause, meant to promote peace and reconciliation among ethnic Gbandis of Liberia.
Initially, the Association of Gbandilanders in the Americas (AGLA), presented youths of the three districts with 3 sets of sports jerseys and 3 trophies to kick off the reconciliation tournament. This became possible when youth groups of the region under the umbrella of the “Gbandi Chiefdom Youth Leadership” wrote AGLA’s designated Liberia Country Representative, Mr. Alonso Ngumbu and pleaded with his organization to assist with cash and material assistance to help facilitate the ongoing tournament.
The idea to stage this weekend’s Peace and Reconciliation homecoming events was initiated by members of this Gbandi Chiefdom Youth Leadership group which comprised all three main Gbandi Districts of Lofa County. It’s said to be the first major reconciliatory meeting among this ethnic Gbandis since the bloody war, and the last October 2023 presidential elections.
On Friday, hundreds began converging on Kolahun for the program. AGLA’s Country Representative Alonso Ngumbu himself appeared in high-spirit, leaving the capital Friday for Kolahun to attend the program.
He told the media prior to departure that he had earlier told the president’s Sports Ambassador to relay the Gbandi Youths group’s message to President Boakai Sr., regarding the tournament, Peace and Reconciliation gathering, and request for a small case to “buttress” their “efforts.”
