Liberia: District #8 Peace, Reconciliation Tournament Unveiled

Rep. Gray: “I want to call on youths, women, elders, religious leaders and others to form part of the festivity in a bid to unite and reconcile.”

 

... Presents sporting materials to participating communities

A peace and reconciliation football and kickball tournament which is aimed at uniting residents of Montserrado County’s Electoral District #8, has kicked off with 25 participating communities. 

The tournament, which is being supported from the pocket of the mighty Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) Montserrado County District#8 lawmaker, Representative Acarous Moses Gray, is under the theme; “Unity Through Sport”.

Representative Gray, who presented the sporting materials to the participating communities, told the residents that their present suggested that they were prepared to host the peace and reconciliation tournament in the district. 

The CDC lawmaker disclosed that the holding of the tournament forms part of his legislative engagement with his constituents.

 “I want to say thank you very much for being here in your numbers today. Your presence suggests that we are prepared to go into a free and fair tournament to unite together. This tournament is void of political affiliation and will unite you not as a community, but individuals also. There is no social stratification in this tournament because; you do not have to be a CDCian or an opposition to participate”.

This tournament, he said, is not based on being a member of the CDC to participate, not opposition but on the basis of being an inhabitant of this District and it doesn’t matter who you support. 

He vowed to continuously engage his constituents during this Easter Break to help alleviate and address some of the mountainous challenges confronting his people.

He further pledged to continue to provide scholarship, empowerment and loan opportunities to students, and marketers on a regular basis. Rep. Gray added that the sanitation, health, and other economic needs of some of his constituents will be addressed during this period.

He used the medium to call on youths, women, elders, religious leaders, representative aspirants, and others to form part of the festivity in a bid to unite and reconcile.

Going forward, the CDC lawmaker of District#8 disclosed that at the end of the tournament, the first place winner in the soccer tournament will be awarded L$500,000; also the second place winner will also be awarded L$150,000 as well as trophies and medals for both winners.

In the kickball category, the first place winner will be awarded L$250,000 and the second-place winner will carry L$100,000.

He also announced a scholarship for the MVP in the female and male category a two-full year academy scholarship to any school in District#8 be a university or high school and also Most Discipline player of the male and female because my responsibility is to help educate the young people of the district.  

However, Gray will also provide scholarships for all the captains of the 25 teams containing 50 captains both male and female to get a full one-year scholarship and tuition.

He presented about 50 sets of jerseys, several footballs, and L$75,000 to the participating communities for preparation and promised live radio commentaries for the opening, semi, and final matches of the tournament. He, however, stressed the need for discipline, unity, and good sportsmanship among the participants of the tournament.

“We want nothing less than a peaceful tournament. If there is any misunderstanding; we want you to be very reasonable and peaceful. We don’t want any chaos or disturbance. We want to do our best and we want the message to go across that Montserrado County district # 8 is a very peaceful and organized district void of our political differences”.

Representative Gray urged community leaders to continue to preach the doctrine of peace in their respective communities during and after the holding of the event. 

Earlier, Zulu Millers, organizing committee chairman, who spoke on Thursday, April 14, 2022, at the presentation ceremony of sporting materials to the participating communities by District Representative Gray, will give young people the opportunity to become patient with each other. 

According to him, the tournament will begin with a street parade from the G.W. Gibson to the Slipway Sports Patch and Johnson Street Community V.S Slipway officially open the match in both kickball and football.

“The first phase, which is preliminary, we noticed that we have six-zone and in that zone, two teams will have to qualify each (football and kickball). Third place, which is totalling six teams in the next round and as time goes by, you will find teams dropping and moving on. 

“We try to be very honest to everyone and people will not be cheated. Come in your sportsmanship and let us have a good tournament,” he said.

Also making remarks, District Council Chairman, Matthew Sunday, thanked the CDC Montserrado County District#8 lawmaker and organizers for organizing such a unique tournament in the area. 

He urged residents within the District to make use of the soccer and kickball tournament to unite them as one people, saying that most of them already have problems in the district but with the hosting of the tournament, they should reconcile and understand each other.

Meanwhile, the tournament is expected to kick off on Sunday, April 17, 2022, at the Slipway sports patch.