Chiefs

The Chiefs have a number of high-level and formal responsibilities in the process, and are the ultimate authorities behind the certification. Their participation in the issuance of formal notices, and in ensuring that the customary leadership is involved, is indispensable. This is particularly the case in the TGCC project because of the fact that there are only some villages in the chiefdom where the certification is going ahead. The villages that will not be included will need to be informed by the Chiefs about the reasons for this, rather than hearing through informal means, in order to reduce the potential for misunderstandings and conflict.

Indunas

The indunas, as part of the customary leadership of the Chiefdom, will play an equally important role in raising awareness and communicating messages between the Chiefs, the VLCs and headpersons, the project and the CDLA.

Headpersons and the VLCs

The VLCs and headpersons are the key local institutions responsible for managing the certification process. It is these people that will undertake the registration of the claims as part of the provisional adjudication process (see Module VIII). In this task, they have a level of authority in respect to ensuring the application of locally-accepted customary norms and practises, and it is within their remit to accept or decline an initial claim. They will be required to do this in accordance with objective criteria that are established in the operating procedures, and to do so in an open and transparent manner.

The VLCs will also oversee the demarcation of the parcel boundaries and act as the first mediators in cases where there are disputes. They will be the managers of the village register and be responsible for ensuring the safekeeping of all the maps and other documents that are produced during the process.

Community Surveyors

The community surveyors are providers of a technical service within the certification process and they do not have any decision-making powers. They are community members that are chosen from the various participating Chiefdoms, but that act on behalf of the project and the CDLA to perform the particular task of identifying the parcel boundaries and marking these clearly on a map. They are also responsible for the allocation of parcel numbers and the issuance of Receipts to all the claimants in the field, and for providing assistance to the VLCs in the registration process.

Local District/Ward Authorities

It is hoped that the certification processes in each of the Chiefdoms will be accompanied by representatives of the district and ward authorities, enabling them to observe the process and make contributions. The CDLA is tasked with ensuring that adequate communication with these authorities takes place, and that they are systematically invited to be present at the initial notification meetings in each village and the final issuance of the certificates.

CDLA/PDLA Field Coordinator

The CDLA Field Coordinator is responsible for overseeing the whole process throughout the participating Chiefdoms, and has particular responsibility for:

  • Ensuring that the community surveyors and the VLCs have the appropriate equipment and tools at all times;
  • Ensuring that all the logistical needs of the certification process in any particular area are communicated to the CDLA management in a timely fashion;
  • Ensuring that the data generated in the villages is safely transmitted to the CDLA Data Team and archived in an appropriate way.

CDLA/PDLA Community Facilitators

The Community Facilitators (CFs) from CDLA work in the villages in support of the Community Surveyors (CSs) and the VLCs. They have a range of important roles, including:

  • Acting as the ‘senior’ community surveyor in a particular village, identifying the parcel boundaries in the areas assigned to them;
  • Providing support, on-the-job training and guidance to the community surveyors;
  • Supporting the VLCs in all the tasks that they have to perform in claims registration, etc.;
  • Supporting the Chiefs, indunas, headpersons and VLCs in communicating the aims, objectives and procedures of the certification process to potential claimants and others;
  • Supporting the CDLA Data Team to resolve issues where the data from the field is not clear or comprehensive;

CDLA/PDLA Data Team

The CDLA/PDLA Data Team is responsible for preparing the material that is needed for capturing and processing all the certification data. The responsibilities include:

  • Preparing the Village Map Index and Village Map Catalogues for each village, and ensuring that they are printed in A3 format and organised in an appropriate way for the community surveyor(s) responsible;
  • Receiving the data from the marked-up maps, made during the demarcation process, (hard copy or scanned) and capturing this, by digitisation of the boundaries, into the GIS;
  • Transferring textual data from the ODK Forms into the Certification Database;
  • Producing the Village Parcel Maps and Village Parcel Indexes for display in the villages as part of the Objections, Corrections & Confirmation process;
  • Receiving and transferring the data from the Objections, Corrections & Confirmation process into the Certification Database;
  • Updating the GIS data with boundary changes made during the Objections, Corrections & Confirmation process;
  • Producing the final Village Parcel Maps and Village Parcel Indexes;
  • Printing the final Customary Land Certificates for delivery to the Chief.

CDLA/PDLA Management

The CDLA/PDLA Management Team are tasked with ensuring the overall coordination and consistency of support to the certification process, including the availability of funds, transport and other logistical needs.

The Management Team also bears a particular responsibility for the ‘political’ management of the process, ensuring that the local government authorities are clearly informed about the purpose and nature of the work overall and are kept aware of all activities in the field. The Management Team must also serve as the communication link with the Chiefs and their indunas.

Finally, the Management Team have a knowledge management role to play, ensuring that the lessons learned from the process are captured and communicated to the broad range of stakeholders that are closely watching the progress and impact of the project.

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