Mangochi District Grievance Redress Mechanism (GRM) committee has urged community-level structures to prioritise swift feedback to complainants, stressing that timely responses are key to restoring public trust.
The district’s principal gender officer and GRM committee member Mariana Kanjirawaya said this on Wednesday during a monitoring visit to Traditional Authority (T/A) Lulanga and Sub-T/A Mambo that the Centre for Social Accountability and Transparency (Csat) organised.
She said: “Grievance committees play a pivotal role in ensuring the smooth implementation of development projects.
“When people feel heard and updated on their cases, they are more likely to cooperate and support interventions from both government and non-state actors.”
Csat project field officer Jacob Phiri echoed the sentiments, saying there is need for swift feedback to help deal with various complaints and cases.
“The realisation of the Right to Food project, which our organisation is implementing here, depends on proper grievance handling. If people lose faith in these systems, we risk widening inequalities,” he said.
M’dala Chitenje committee chairperson Lungwana Saidi from Lulanga said most complaints relate to hunger and gender-based violence.
The emphasis on community-driven grievance redress reflects Malawi’s National Decentralisation Policy and National Gender Policy, which highlight grievance handling as central to inclusive governance.
Through funding from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and Welthungerhilfe, Csat is implementing the Right to Food in Africa: From Policy to Plate project in T/A Lulanga and Sub-T/A Mambo in Mangochi
