Who would have thought that after the peaceful transfer of power which could have been occasioned by bloodshed that residents of villages could become so enraged as to take a gun to shoot another villager; which confirms that peace is not attained once and for all.
Peace has to be nurtured by justice. Justice requires institutions, laws and policies aimed at protecting the rights of all. Justice is inclusive; all become safe knowing that no one has the right to violate the right of another. Hence, what is right is known to all. Hence, when one commits wrong one will feel isolated from the rest and it does not become difficult to apprehend such a person subjecting him or her to fair hearing and upon conviction to sentence, with the primary aim of rehabilitating him or her, so that upon attaining freedom the person will never again perpetrate wrong against another.
The land dispute requires the intervention of the State. The State must establish how settlement evolves, what enables people to live in peace, what has derailed the peace, in order to determine what to do to return to the original status quo.
In settling traditional land disputes, persons like former Chief Buah Kinteh should be invited by a council of chiefs in order to come to a common understanding by all the district tribunals on the customary laws regarding land ownership and the transfer of land to settlers. Those customary laws should be discussed on national media so that they will affirm what their rights are and those who encroach the rights of others would be subjected to alternative dispute resolution processes so that the remedies would be provided which would bring peace and mercy into union to ensure a compromise that would not be disadvantageous to any party. This is a way forward.
The state must bear responsibility if it chose to articulate a way forward. The result is to use all the resources to put soldiers in between villages in order to protect national sovereignty or to prevent residents of one village from attacking residents of another village as if one is living in an ‘area’ where there is no State and families protect themselves and engage in revenge as a means of protecting the members from their communities from harm. In a place where there is a State, it must demonstrate that it is there to protect them by ensuring that justice prevails at all times. People surrender their powers to the state. It is to use those powers in the spirit of neutrality and fair play to limit wrong doing to the satisfaction of parties.
