By Yamikani Yapuwa

Thyolo, February 8, Mana: It is nine in the morning in the area of Traditional Authority Nsabwe and under some mango trees are a group of men and women listening attentively to one man in front of them.

The man is Martin Andrew, an Agriculture Extension Development Officer (AEDO) for Thekerani North Section under Thekerani EPA and the group comprises members of Catchment Management Committee (CMC), Grievance Redress Mechanism Committee (GRMC), as well as foremen under the Climate Smart Enhanced Public Works Programme (CS-EPWP) under Lisule 1 Catchment.

Andrew is orienting the committees on how to handle and address grievances reported by participants of the programme as well as unpacking safety nets on how they can avoid injuries during work sessions.

“The district team oriented us extension workers on GRM and we are supposed to do the same with these grassroots committees.

“We are orienting them on how they can address issues that come out as participants are working under various components of the programme,” he says and adds that he tells them ways and procedures to be followed to deal with problems and complaints that may rise.

"We know that some complaints can be handled and tackled at community level, others at village head level as well district level.

"All this is to ensure that work under the CS-EPWP is going smoothly thereby achieving its intended purpose of conserving land and bringing back the lost forest glory in the areas," says Andrew.

Andrew explains that it is very important to have this training because the participants work on other people's land and fields and it is very obvious that they will be receiving complaints from the owners; as such, they need to know how they can sort those issues peacefully using right procedures.

"Further to that, the participants come from different backgrounds so disagreements will always arise so long as they are working together hence having such mechanism put in place in case disagreements arise," he explains.

Desk Officer for CS-EPWP at Thyolo District Council, Francis Yohane, says the orientation meetings have taken place in all the 16 catchment areas where CSPWP is being implemented.

"We want to make sure that the GRMC members know their roles and responsibilities for them to be vibrant in handling grievances at community level," says Yohane.

Yohane states that the use of GRMCs in resolving grievances is very cost-effective than litigation hence the need to ensure that the committees are functional in the communities.

District Land Resources Conservation Officer Madalitso Uledi notes that GRMC plays a crucial role in ensuring that disputes related to implementation of social support programmers and interventions are treated separately and given priority.

"Having vibrant GRMC in public works programmes is important as they help to identify and investigate grievances related to the implementation of activities

"Further it also promotes transparency and accountability at all levels during implementation of activities thereby promoting sustainability of the programme," says Uledi.

Group Village Head Kalingende hails GRMCs, saying they have removed the burden of having to mediate on issues coming from participants.

"With these committees, we can now focus on other important development activities in our areas since participants will have to go to the GRMC first before involving us, as it was the case previously," she adds.

Village Head Kabichi under Traditional Authority Nanseta adds that participants now know where to take their concerns, complaints and grievances.

"The committees now know how to take up cases without bias and this will promote oneness in the communities.

"This is also promoting a culture of using proper procedures when aggrieved instead of resorting to violence," says Kabichi.

Beyond the project, Village Head Kabichi thinks that this will instill a culture of peacefully sorting out issues among their subjects.

"I believe that what is instilled in them will even go to their children thereby creating communities that seek redress peacefully," she says.

Apart from relieving the pressure on local leaders, the district council is also already benefiting from the establishment of GRMC.

Attesting to this is the District Commissioner for Thyolo, Hudson Kuphanga, who testifies that the number of complaints that used to come to his office has drastically decreased since people are now able to sort issues in their villages.

"We now have established GRMCs which are playing a huge role in terms of controlling small issues which trickled down from the villages to the DC offices.

"The committees have removed the burden that was there on us as they were solely relying on us to help them solve matters therefore taking most of our time," says Kuphanga.

He adds that the district council is now concentrating on issues of policy and how to bring development initiatives that will uplift the lives of people in Thyolo.

On safety nets, Kuphanga says they will make sure that they include more when planning to ensure that people working in public works programmes are covered.

The Grievance Redress Mechanism is a key component in the CS-EPWP which is being implemented in all district councils with funding from the World Bank and the Social Protection Multi Donor Trust Fund.