KAMONYI- Local leaders in Mugina sector, Kamonyi district will now focus on mediation as a means of resolving land disputes that make up the biggest percentage of conflicts among residents.

The leaders made the resolve last Friday, at the end of three-day training on basic land dispute management skills, including organic and other land related laws.

"Our community is deeply faced with conflicts emerging from disagreements over land ownership. These skills will aid leaders to better address such issues through mediation and consensus before referring to courts,” Gracien Mwitiyeho, a sector official said.

The training, held at Mbati Secondary School, was organized by the Land Dispute Management Project (LDMP) - a Rwanda Initiative for Sustainable Development (RISD) project.

The training attracted 56 grassroots leaders, with focus on conflict analysis, dispute resolution, expropriation, and mediator laws. The trainees were awarded certificate of participation.

Justin Ndoli, the LDMP project coordinator, called on local leaders to use the skills to educate the Mugina community on proper land use towards and resolving disputes.

"The community will benefit from this training if local leaders can manage and resolve land-related disputes. This will increase land security, land registration, awareness of land rights and ultimately fight poverty,” Ndoli said.

Ndoli also revealed that such training has impacted on communities as land disputes have dropped by 75 % especially in Kayonza, Kigali, Musanze and Kamonyi districts where over 1460 local leaders have been trained.

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