During the mediations observed, clients were never cut short because time might be running out. Instead, the mediation was simply extended to a next meeting. It generally takes at least 3 months to resolve a land dispute and approximately one month to resolve a family problem. Between July 1996 and June 1997, new and pending applications for mediation totaled 1737. Agreements are signed by the parties but are never submitted to the court unless the district judge issues a subpoena.
Clients put much importance on documentation and sign the agreements in front of a crowd.
This puts pressure on parties to abide by the agreement. No data is available on how many disputants return to mediation if the settlement is not respected. Anecdotal evidence indicates that a large majority of the settlements are respected because of the fact that they are reached in the full view of the community. The mediation worker is responsible for overseeing the implementation of the agreements. In the case of non-settlement, the mediators will make several efforts to try to resolve the problem before referring it to the next level or to court.