Second grade magistrate Dumisani Katundu has expressed concern with land wrangles in Nkhotakota Distric.
Speaking on Monday during training on conflict resolutions for Nkhotakota Women Forum leaders that Umunthu Plus organised in Salima, he said the courts receive land disputes almost daily.
presentation. | Lovemore Khomo
Said Katundu: “Many cases come from people living along the border of Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve where people fight with the reserve’s officials over land.
“We also have conflicts between the Fisheries Department and the fishing community along Lake Malawi. However, not all disputes are supposed to come to court as some can be handled within the communities through mediation.”
He encouraged the communities to resolve some of the conflicts themselves to avoid long court processes.
On his part, Umunthu Plus monitoring and evaluation officer Lumbani Mgula said they decided to train women forum leaders following their research which indicated that they had no skills for resolving conflicts.
“So the training will equip them with skills to handle conflicts and help restore peace in their communities,” he said.
Mgula pointed out that conflicts are rampant in communities and they affect people, especially women.
“We believe the participants will share the knowledge with others at community level to resolve conflicts,” he said.
One of the participants, Esther Pasanje from Malengachanzi Women’s Forum said they acquired knowledge to resolve conflicts, including land warangles.
“We want to live in peaceful communities. The skills will help us to ensure land wrangles and other disputes are resolved amicably,” she said
