In mitigating Localized resource-based conflicts and increasing community resilience in the chiefdoms of Malen and Makpele in Pujehun District, GRC Committee members of Malen chiefdom held their last monthly meeting on Saturday 11th December 2021 in Nga
Malen GRC Meeting
ndorhun Malen village, Lower Pember section in the Malen chiefdom, to discuss updates from the various sections. Committee members drawn from the 9 sections, Farmers Based Organisations (FBO) representatives, were all in attendance. A total of 35 people (14 females and 21 males) were in attendance. In an open discussion, GRC representatives from the various sections of Malen updated committee members on the outstanding issues during past dialogue meetings in Malen and Pujehun towns.Alhaji Bawah, committee member from Lower Pember section thanked Fambul Tok for their intervention in the Malen chiefdom to address conflicts and other emerging issues. He reiterated that there have been so many problems before this time between the company and the community and between stakeholder and community but they are now proud to say they have seen massive improvement in the Malen land conflicts as a result of Fambul Tok’s intervention.
The chiefdom mammy queen Haja Adama Sengeh in her statement said the peace process in Malen chiefdom is in a good footing as so many problems have been resolved like:
- The selection of chiefs by the Paramount Chief is no longer done and all chiefs are now elected according to procedures.
- The swamp land disputes between the Bamba community land owners and Inland Valley Swamp (IVS) workers have been resolved completely
- The court cases have drastically reduced as community members now resolve their issues through alternative dispute resolution mechanisms to avoid expenses and waste of time.
- The construction of the Sinjo road culvert
- Communication gaps among communities have been bridged as community people now interact peacefully
Marian Rogers, FBO, thanked Fambul Tok. She expresses joy that the inland Valley swamps have helped improved the standards of living in Malen communities. Marian continues that the proceeds from the farms across the chiefdom is bountiful, thanks to Fambul Tok and other partners for the peace building process.
Mr. Sama Moriba a committee member said even though the project is about to end, he assured Fambul Tok, UNDP, and WFP that they will continue with their monthly meetings. He concluded that the only challenge, they faced now is with the farm guards security as they still continue to harass community backyards in search of alleged stolen palm fruits. “We plead to FTI-SL to extend the projects for wider sensitization at sectional level”, he ended.
