The superintendent of Grand Gedeh County, Peter Solo, Wednesday bemoaned the manner of violence that took place in the county during the Liberia's 14 years civil war even though Grand Gedeans participated in the struggle for liberation.

"We as citizens of Grand Gedeh wounded one another and destroyed our own property. We have reproduced a culture of violence, corruption, nepotism, and inequity. We cannot continue this way.

He acknowledged that Grand Gedeh's records of successive initiatives, combined with deep and fresh emotional wounds from the civil war suggest that the road to national healing, peace and reconciliation will be difficult.

However, he stated that there are opportunities on which any attempt at reconciliation should be anchored including a robust civil society sector and growing public demand for peace.

He said that while forgiveness is painful it is the 'bitter pill' that every Grand Gedeans need to swallow. "We have to swallow our pride for the sake of the survival of our nation," he said. "We cannot unite as people of Liberia without forgiveness.

Commenting on the recent peace and reconciliation road map launched by the government of Liberia, Solo has however cautioned the public to avoid rushing to label parts of the process as "success" or "failure".

He explained that "reconciliation is a long-term process and it will have its ups and downs. "We should experience the bad and good about this whole reconciliation process," he said. "If there is conflict or controversy, it is simply an indication of another area where reconciliation is needed.

Continuing, he added: "We have to let be patient as we move along. Let us all join hands to remove every obstacle from the way of the people."

Solo reaffirmed apology to lawmaker for 'offense'

Solo also called on residents of the county to be "united in order to achieve lasting peace and reconciliation."

The Grand Gedeh County Superintendent made the call days after he publicly apologized to a lawmaker of his county for reasons he refused to disclose to FrontPageAfrica.

Reaffirming his apology to Rep. Alex Grant (MPC district 3), Solo said: "I want to once again apologize to Rep. Grant.I have realized I offended him. To err is human. I hope this will be the starting point in uniting not only lawmakers but citizens of the county."

Solo's apology comes as the result of the intervention of the chairman of the county's legislative caucus Zoe Emmanuel Pennue (Independent district #1)