CCJP trains chiefs’ tribunals in Phalombe

The Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP) has drilled chiefs’ tribunals from six traditional authorities (T/As) in Phalombe District on how to deal with gender-based violence (GBV).

The two-day training was held under a primary justice project which CCJP is implementing in the district with funding from the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DfID).

Phalombe district council primary justice project officer Osman Bwanali said the training was organised after noting that despite government initiatives to curb GBV in the district, the vice is still common in villages.

“We then decided that for chiefs to ably handle gender-based violence related cases in their village tribunals, we had to prepare them with skills on how to handle such cases,” he said.

In his remarks, group village head Chabe of T/A Kaduya commended the district council and the district implementing agency for organising the training, saying chiefs were passing judgements on cases of GBV without knowing their forms and institutions where they could send victims for support.

In a related development, Phalombe District Council, with support from DfID through CCJP, has also established court users committees at T/A level as one way of ensuring that the battle against GBV is won and gains made are not lost. n