Kparblee District

The district is mainly composed of two ethnic groups, the majority being Krahn and the minority being Gio. The first Commissioner of the District since its declaration in 2003 was Hon. Alexander N. Tenty Sr. from Dewoblee, of the Zodru Chiefdom. He served from July 2004 – 2010. The current Commissioner is Hon. Alexander Tenty, Sr who took over from Hon. Emmanuel N. Kar is from Kparblee town after the 2011 election. The headquarters of Kparblee Administrative District is Youkorway Old Town which has a population of a little over two thousand people. The only security found in the District is the Immigration with their office in Behwalay. A magisterial court was established sometimes in 2014 and is seated in Yourpea New Town. Current, Behwalay is among those rural cities to enjoy city status.

The District is composed of fifteen larger towns with seven smaller villages. Towns within Kparblee Administrative District are:

1. Youkorway
2. Beatuo
3. New Yourpea Town
4. Behwalay
5. Dubuzon
6. Kaylay
7. Dewoblee I
8. Dewoblee II
9. Kparblee Town
10. Zodru Town
11. Gueyea Gbayee-blee
12. Bah-blee
13. Karn-blee
14. Gayeplay
15. Tuzon
16. Yeah-blee
17. Tiah-blee

The first religious group to visit the District and become established is the Mid-Baptist. The missionaries were Teacher Walkins, Teacher Homes, and Teacher Crocmanaul along with Rev Sawi Kpou in the Town of Kparblee during the early 1950s. Due to the missionaries' visit and decision to establish a church in the Chiefdom at the time, all cultural and traditional practices were abolished by the citizens.

Introduction what is now known as Kparblee Administrative District was formerly Kparblee chiefdom. It comprised the Gios and Krahns that coexisted in the past as one family. There was the intermarriage bond that kept them together. Their naming was borrowed from either ethnic group that was so unique. Both tribes bore the traditional names of one another.

As a result of the intermarriage in the past, one could hardly distinguish the Krahns from the Gios in this part of Nimba until the senseless civil conflict. This Krahn-Gio solidarity played a major role in the selection of Coup members of the Peoples Redemption Council of 1980 that toppled the Tolbert Regime. The Council was made up of majority Gios and Krahns It was not until 1989 when the civil war changed the story.

Kparblee District occupies a stretch of land from Beatuo to Kermablee, and shares boundary with the Gios Amalgamated Districts. In this district are Beatuo, Youkorway and Your pea New towns which comprise majority Gios with minute’s section being Krahns. These people prior to the war and even now are intermarried. Similarly, Zodru chiefdom which ends up in Behwallay from Gueyde is occupied by predominantly Krahns.

The leadership evolved through several chiefs. From Gowah to Kraie, Nyonton Paye, Samuel Paye, Thomas Paye and Jimmie Tarlue then. This harmonious relationship continued until December 24, 1989 when the Liberian civil crises erupted through Butuo. The crises which claimed the lives of over one hundred and fifty thousand people left behind many scars as a result of mass destruction of lives and properties perpetrated by actors from two ethnic groups of the same district who are living in the same district but with grudge for each other.

Both groups targeted one another based on ethnic solidarity. For example, forces loyal to the NPFL who drew their strength and command structure from the Gio section of the district burned down Villages and carried gruesome killings of other Krahn sections of the district. MODEL, a revenge force consisting mainly of the Krahn ethnic group also did likewise in their bid to retake Kparblee district. Villages were also burned and lives lost gruesomely. Kparblee district changed hands twice between the NPFL and the Movement for Democracy in Liberia MODEL, with the later coming through the Liberian Ivorian Border. This change in hands caused more damages to lives and properties within the district. Families went against families; children went again parents on opposing sides.

Another rift in the district can be attributed to the unceremonious removal of the District seat to Yourkorway from its original point of Kparblee, without the input of Kparblee citizens. This also has led to resentment and serious unfriendly interactions. Many times Kparblee citizens hold this as conspiracy against them by the planners of the act. There was no hearing at the legislature as such that could authenticate the views of all.

To further authenticate the thoughts of the people from Kparblee, during the Gyude Bryant led administration, series of confidence building trips were made to the district through the Graie Behwallay route. The delegations only stopped in Yourkorway and Behwallay under the pretense that there was no other town beyond here that point and there was no road leading anywhere. The discouragement of the delegation cost Kparblee dearly that today the name of Kparblee is deleted from the map of the district. This is a wound in the hearts of the people from Zodru chiefdom. To the people of Kparblee, this was a revenge targeted at the town since the framers of the new act have succeeded in removing the seat to Yourkorway. Fingers pointed to some members of the leadership at the time which failed to address itself to the matter and has left wounds in the hearts of one section.

Realizing the impediment that these may have on the achievement of the developmental goals of the new leadership under the gavel of Peter Kangbe, a peace building and reconciliation initiative is being proposed as the surest way forward for development in the district. The reason is that this reconciliation will lead the way to the peace and Reconciliation between Nimba and Grand Gedeh at large. This should be the priority project of the present administration which, if achieved will be a plus for the National Government. This is why this project is important if the two sectors must co-exist.

PROJECT OVERVIEW The Kparblee District Development Association (KPADDA) Inc is seeking for a grant of one hundred and sixteen thousand ninety nine hundred and fifty cent United States dollars (USD$116,099.50) for the purpose of reconciliation and peace building in the district. This grant will be used to reunite the people of Kparblee district through series of reconciliation conferences and peace building initiatives in the district. Stakeholder’s conference will be used as a medium to exchange views and to encourage the input of all grass rooters and elders of the district. A District Peace Plan (DPP) will be adopted at the end of the process with a District Peace Council (DPC) put in place. This district peace council will rely on the community peace animators that will work with community conflict management teams that to ensure that the peace plan is followed. The term of reference of the conflict management team will be to reduce litigation in the district and serve as first point of contact for conflicts in the communities. This team will work with the courts in the district to discourage citizens going to court with one another. Reconciliatory feasts and tournaments will be held between town and chiefdoms within the district. All are aimed towards reconciling the people of the district. 552264 STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS The stake holders in this process can be categorized into three segments. The People of Glarlay, Behwallay and Dubuzon are on the one hand, the people of Kparblee, and Youkoway are on another while the Gios and Krahns are on the final hand. The attempted murder of Manniadey from Behwallay led to the killing of Mamadee Fofana, a driver and a popular citizen of Glarlay by an AFL soldier believed to be from Dubuzon. Another version of the saga was one Dennis from Behwallay encouraged the killing of the Gios when he spoke the local vernacular of the fleeing villagers to encourage them to come back only to be killed. Their return resulted in mass death that escalated to the point that the district found itself in revenge killings that has divided this it today. To date these towns still hold it against one another. For example, in 2006 there was a teachers training program organized through the Accelerated Learning Program project. This training was held in Ganta with over sixty teachers from the entire district. To our dismay, teachers from Beatuo and other Gio speaking communities were afraid to sleep with those from the Krahn sector in the hotel rooms. This if not properly curtailed will lead to total collapse of peace in the district.

One critical issue affecting the district also is the unceremonious removal of the district seat from Kparblee to Yourkorway. This has not gone down well with Behwallay and Kparblee citizens. They feel unfairly treated as their town was the original district seat. They believe there was no justifiable reason to remove it, and if there was, the process leading to it was not participatory not just Kparblee but, the people that area fell they were not consulted in the removal of the District seat from Kparblee to Yourkorway. It is strongly believed that the manipulator of this process hails from Yourkorway. No matter what explanation is provided, Kparblee people will find it difficult to accept

As a result of the above, Kparblee citizens feel reluctant for development projects to be undertaken in Yourkorway For example, during the periods Reign of the interim Government led by Gyude Bryant, one major attempt was made by UNMIL and other stakeholders in the peace process as a fact finding mission. This delegation travelled through Graie to Yourkorway.

STRATEGIC GOALS & OBJECTIVES STRATEGIC GOAL: The Strategic goal of the project is to ensure coexistence of the people of Kparblee district. The overall objective of this proposal is to have genuine reconciliation and sustainable peace in Kparblee district (formerly Kparblee chiefdom).

This objective will be achieved through several approaches. Stakeholder’s conferences will mark the beginning of the process. At this conference stake holders will be expected to present their hurts. These stories will then compiled and serve as the agenda for the general reconciliation conference to be held at the district seat. This agenda will consider the input of traditional leaders, opinion leaders, youth, women groups and local Government leader. At the end of the process the Reconciliation agenda will be presented to the leadership of the district for implementation using those traditional approaches. Prepared by Marcus Sawi Kpou

A road was first built in the District in 1975 by Sika and since then has not been rehabilitated. While the transporting of chiefs, messengers and security personnel was still going on in the District at the time it was a chiefdom, the whole idea was discouraged by a young graduate from the BWI called Jonathan V. Dayee from Kparblee Town in 1976.

One of the oldest institutions in the district is Kweyeah Memorial Institute (KMI) in Kparblee. Currently, the District has about nine schools of which two are full Junior High. According to the government MDA 2008-2012, Kweyeah Memorial Institute should be a Full High School while the Samuel Kayon Doe in Youkorway Old Town the Headquarters be a Technical High School.

Prior to the war, Kparblee District was one of Nimba County's strong hopes for agricultural products such as cocoa, coffee, plantains, etc. According to the Commissioner, the district was able to benefit some $100,000 USD in a grant project from the government which is intended for agricultural activities. The project began sometime in February 2012 with Kparblee town benefiting from the entire $100,000.

Kparblee District now forms part of the Electoral District number six in Nimba County after the demarcation exercise conducted by the National Elections Commission (NEC) in 2011. According to the results of the 2011 Voter's Registration exercise, Kparble District registered about 5,741 voters. Other communities which make up the district along with Kparblee are the Boe and Quilla Administrative District, and the Gblor and Gbear Chiefdom. Kparblee shares boundaries with these mentioned communities. Due to the ongoing civil crises in La Cote Ivoire, Kparblee has received a total of six thousand Ivorian refugees.

The citizens of Kpablee Administrative District residing in Monrovia and its environs have once again gathered to move the district forward. According to the Chairman of the Kparblee District Development Association (KPADDA), the organization will be conducting its first general elections with a completed constitution. The organization has set up an Electoral Commission and those on the commission are as follows:

• Hon. Moses B. Zayee Sr. Chairman
• Hon. Ruth J. Barshell Co-Chairman
• Mr. Chris Nyonton Nezzola Secretary
• Hon. Jackson Paye Commissioner
• Hon. Marcus Sawi Kpou Technical Consultant/ Commissioner.

Those on the constitution committee are:

• Hon Steve W. Weah Chairman
• Hon. Chris Nyonton Nezzola Co-Chairman
• Mr. Clarence B. Dennis Secretary
• Hon. Marcus Sawi Kpou Advisor
• Hon. N. Harrison Wondy Member
• Hon. Vera Barshell Member
• Hon. David Wounuah Member.

After the organization conducted its first general election and brought on board the following personalities as leaders: Hon. Peter S. Karngbaye, Sr-Chairman Hon Thompson Z. Gaylah-Co-Chairman Administrator Hon. Dale Rex George-Co-Chairman Operation Mr. Beh Othello Paye-General Secretary Mr. Floyd N. Foirjolo-Assistant Gen. Secretary Mad. Precious Gaye-Financial Secretary Mad. Mama Dennis-Treasurer Evan. William Youdee- Chaplain [1]