Abstract

This study assessed the effectiveness of village heads in Simatelele Ward, Binga District in resolving conflicts in Zingozo village. The study was from April 2012 to June 2013. Four village heads were sampled using a simple random sampling technique and four types of conflicts common to all the four selected village heads were taken. A mathematical model was developed to assign village heads to cases they can resolve and improve their effectiveness. The four types were divorce cases, conflict of interest, witchcraft and domestic violence. The principle behind was to assign each village head to a single case to resolve so that the overall effectiveness of the village heads at community level is maximized. Ten observations were made per village head per case. The results indicated that, on average, if the village heads resolve the conflicts the same way they are currently doing, they will be 69% effective.  The collaborative approach as suggested by the research indicated that the effectiveness of the village heads in resolving conflicts will increase by 14% translating to approximately 9 cases out of 10 being resolved.  It concludes that the collaborative approach improves the effectiveness of village heads in resolving conflicts hence its recommendation.

Key words: Scheduling, village heads, peace, rural community.