By Joseph Admin Opio
Okadibong President
Reconciliation should heal a whole community. Not a small circle of elders. Today, what is happening in the Iteso Cultural Union looks like peace for the old and neglect for the young.
When wrangles broke out in ICU, many young people were involved. They were mobilized. They were used. They defended camps. They carried the heat of the conflict. Now reconciliation has come, but it has come without them.
Leaders say the house is united. But which house. The elders are sitting together. The elders are shaking hands. The elders are receiving attention. The youth are watching from outside.
Unity that excludes the young is not unity. It is a photo session.
Young people have needs. They want recognition. They want roles. They want opportunities. They want justice for how they were treated during the conflict. Until these needs are addressed, disunity will remain. Not because the youth love conflict. But because they feel abandoned.
Every reconciliation meeting must involve all ages. Old. Middle. Young. Peace that is negotiated only among elders is fragile. It does not touch the ground. It does not change hearts.
In ICU, reconciliation now looks like a settlement for the old. It looks like packages and positions for those at the top. It does not look like healing for the youth who were part of the struggle.
You cannot build a united institution on a divided generation. You cannot preach peace while sidelining those who carried the burden of war inside the union.
If ICU wants real unity, it must sit with the youth. Listen to them. Include them. Compensate them where necessary. Give them space in leadership. Make reconciliation a process, not an event.
Otherwise, what is called unity today will become tomorrow’s conflict.
Peace that forgets the youth is not peace. It is postponed crisis.
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