The war raged between the Kara, Nyangatom and Hamer tribes for 30 years. During that time, many people died in the three tribes. I was a 5th grade student at Kibish Missionary School when war started among these tribes. When I was 14 or 15 years old, we had to break off the connection with the missionary school because of the war so I went to Dimeka Boarding School in the Hamer area.
The war started with a simple theft from the Nyangatom tribe and a man called "Arposi". A Kara man named Lokaley went to collect local honey and while climbing a tree to collect honey from a hive on a tree, Arposi, a young man from Nyangatom tribe, steals his gun. When Lokaley returns to get his gun from under the tree, he does not find his gun. It was stolen. So a Kara young man decided to kill a young Nyangatom man and his plan was to take the gun. It was sad.
The same day... another tragedy happened when a Nyagatom missionary came to Labuk village with a medical team but the two Kara young men were brutally killed in his car and they were innocent people and the Kara made a big mistake in history for the tribe. It was miserable and the war got worse and lasted for almost 30 years.
The government tried to create peace between the tribes but it was not possible and sustainable. The peace did not last long, perhaps a few months after the peace agreement the conflict would escalate and reign again and again for thirty years. For a long time we could not find how to build peace.
But there was a hidden answer from God. God revealed to two young bright leaders Pastor Lale Labuko from Kara and missionary Ekal Nettir from Nyangatom (who were both students at the missionary school). At the beginning of their 40s, God brought two young strong leaders to work together.
How did peace begin? My brother Ekal Nettir invited me to his church, Life Light Church, to share the word of God. When I went there for the first time, the people of the church welcomed me and gave me great hospitality, including my spiritual father and my mentor, Evangelist Abedsa.
We discussed with Ekal Nettir how five ethnic groups can be brought together and united as a nation. We discussed doing this at a church peace conference. I invited a small group of Nynagatom to come and worship at our local church, Life Hope Church, in the Kara village of Dus. We did that and when Ekal and his team came... a lot of Kara people came and welcomed them by the river and it was incredible and historic.
After that we have discussed with educated young and influential elders to host the peace conference in Kara with Nyanagtom, Murle, Hamer and Kewego included. It was a beautiful and powerful event in our lifetime. We have seen the love and unity among our people come to God and the people repented their sin for real and help for reconciliation with each other. It was hard to forgive the revenge and killing of our ancestors for many years and a long time but we asked God to change the people's mind and hearts to forgive each other and show the light of Jesus. However, a few educated people of Kara challenged us not to hold a peace conference; Through the youth elite and the Kara and Nyangatom elders and leaders, we were able to hold a peace conference.
We decided to hold a peace conference in Kara Dus in 2021. Some Kara elites do not agree with the peace conference and their arguments do not create peace through the church and the government should hold this peace conference not the church. We were lucky that by the time the head of the zone administrative was Nigatu Densa. He strongly supported us to do the peace conference through church and church leaders and his support helped the peace conference to succeed. We were supported by Pastor Seid Mohammed of the Omo Valley and regional Church leader and he coordinated many churches to help us and organized a peace conference to end the conflict between the five tribes.
More than 5,000 delegates from five tribes gathered at the peace conference. The people were very happy, they were singing, dancing and worshiping God. You can see the young and the old in tears and joy. They exchange greetings and shake hands, but they are enemies. Enemies become family and friends.
Now the five tribes are brothers and sisters, shaking hands in peace and love. With the gospel of Jesus, the handshake of peace and prosperity broke the darkness that separated them and the generational curse was broken. Every year we celebrate a peace memorial between the five tribes. This year we will be celebrating July 13 at Kibish on the border between Kenya and Ethiopia. Amen.