Bishop Stephen Reichert of the Mendi Diocese, and Bishop Clarence Kapali from the United Church said they both felt obliged to do something to discourage fighting and promote peace mediation in the Southern Highlands. In separate interviews they described their efforts to solve the tribal fight in Mendi. The subsequent truce in Mendi was a credit to the two of them, but also to Francis Awesa, the former premier. In a separate interview he said that something had to be done about the state of affairs in the province. Awesa was particularly concerned that, as a local leader from Mendi, he had an obligation to assist the peace process. Along with the two church leaders, he helped organise the first surrender ceremony, which was witnessed by hundreds of warring clansmen. The ceremony was hailed as a success, though Awesa admits spending his own money to get the process under way. He also enlisted the tribal leaders and acknowledged their courage and willingness to stop the fighting. However the initial impetus, and the fine work done by the two churchmen, assisted government agencies to sustain the peace efforts. Both Bishop Reichert and Kapali have been held up or threatened by raskols a number of times. However they have persisted and as a result Mendi is slowly getting back to normalcy.

Tari is also experiencing some problems, but it is hoped that the presence of police will improve the situation. Former Tari police station commander, Simon Nigi believes people are willing to assist the peace process. He says the challenge is for leaders to bring themselves down to the people’s level so that they can understand how the challenges are being met. Police are working around the clock and Simon Nigi has travelled extensively and talked with people, hoping that, by understanding the people, he can devise practical means to deal with the challenges.

Prominent Southern Highlander and former diplomat Dominic Diya believes the absence of competent administrators in the province has had negative results (personal interview 2001). He is adamant that unless competent administrators are on the job, the province cannot prosper. Diya, who was once provincial administrator, argues the province can be managed with limited funds, if professionals are appointed to the top posts. However, people have become used to getting handouts. The Southern Highlands desk within the Finance Department is having a nightmare sorting invoices and claims amounting to hundreds of thousands of kina.

As Whiteman (1984:38) argues: ‘culture changes when the ideas that people hold in common change. Change begins with individuals and their ideas and as these new ideas spread throughout society culture begins to change’. People have aligned themselves with the governor or politicians in order to gain something for themselves. During his tenure, Mune promoted this. It has made for a difficult transition.