By Kyomugisha Lynette
The Deputy Volunteer Coordinator IJM, UCU Chapter
Land
is a very important resource in Uganda, it can be used as a basis for income,
sustenance. This is because of the fact that it is
used for agriculture production which is the largest income earner in Uganda
and source of livelihood taking upto 80% of the country's population.
Right
from the history of Africa, the African Traditional Society has always
viewed women as the weaker sex, marginalizing them and making them the less privileged. This has consequently made
land ownership for them a fallacy. In Buganda, which is in the central region
of Uganda, there is a human face to the problem of women ownership of land.
Very many stories and case scenarios in the judicial system show the plight of
women in many rural areas of Uganda and indicate why women's land rights are
high on the agenda in society. In Uganda, women own only 7% of the land,
leaving 93% with access to land only through a male relation, usually a father,
husband or son this is so because most land is held under customary tenure and
is regulated by customary law and men were perceived to be the only people with
the right to land ownership.
Though
statutory law does not bar women from owning property, the reality within which
they live effectively denies them this right. There are many socio-cultural
practices that discriminate against women, discouraging them from owning land
or sanctioning them for it, among these, is the high value placed on marriage. Ugandan
women are socialized to perceive marriage as a principal life goal and their
ownership of land as incompatible with a happy marriage. Owning land brings
power, and the fact of women having power disturbs social order, stability, and
tranquility. Many Ugandans, mostly men, have argued that women who own land are
"big headed" and the only way to restore them to their proper size is
to take away their land. Certain customary practices, like the giving of bride
price and polygamy, reduce women's security on land, which is another way in
which women are effectively denied their right to land. Bride price is
increasingly viewed as making a woman the husband's property, nullifying any
claims she might have to land and transferring her property rights to her
husband." Even gifts to the wife and property she acquires individually
are viewed as belongings of the husband. Upon customary divorce," wives
are usually sent away from the home with no property at all.” Quite a cruel
world the women live in!
The
socio-economic position of women in general and their inability to access the economy
has hindered women's right to own land. More women in Uganda are illiterate
than men (55.1% of women compared to 36.5% of men). The total primary school
enrollment is 45% for girls and 55% for boys, and it decreases to 35% at
the university level. Attitudes such as
these are often expressed in the media, see, for example, a story written by Ssemujju
Ibrahim Nganda, titled, Families Must Be Built on Love Not Laws, and run in the local daily newspaper,
he says that "Women are perceived as property because among the Iteso [a
tribe in Uganda] once bride price is paid for a woman, she and her offspring
are her husband's belongings. A constitutional law expert Okumu Wengi quotes
an Itesot man in the same story saying, 'I bought her, so whatever she
has is mine. She does not own anything." Most customary divorce in Uganda,
especially where bride wealth is given, consists of the return of the bride
wealth by the woman's family to that of the man all.
Land
in Uganda is normally passed on through inheritance, traditionally through the
male line from father to son. Traditional patrilineal descent remains
especially dominant in the rural areas of Uganda, and is characterized by male
control of decision-making about who will inherit and administer the estate,
and preference for male over female heirs. Indeed, sons or other males (e.g.,
male clansmen) normally inherit any substantial property. This is true even
though the customary heir of a female is another female. Women inherit land
only in exceptional circumstances, like in the legal dissolution of marriage.
All
the above scenarios and explanations indicate the impracticability for women to
own land in Uganda however this notion can be watered down with the role
International Justice Mission (IJM) is playing. IJM has recorded a number of
successes in resolving such land struggles that have deprived women the right
at land ownership.
IJM
is a global Non- Governmental Organization, among whose mandate is to help the
indigent people mostly the marginalized groups the orphans, widows, minors and
the handicapped to see to it that justice is achievable for all. The vision to
rescue thousands, protect millions, prove that justice for the poor is possible
drives all the activities of the organization. IJM has had a tremendous victory
in the area of land and is therefore in a position to help the women in Uganda
to achieve justice of land ownership. With a campus Chapter at Uganda Christian
University, the student community has also advanced the mandate of the organization
through engaging in outreaches.
IJM
has had partnerships with the local authorities for example right from the
district level, with the help of the local council chairman, resident district personnel
and Magistrates Grade One and Two who have usually formed committees and
seminars on the village level to educate the women about their rights to
ownership of property and the procedures to go through to own the land for
instance how to acquire a land title and in case of widows how to process papers
to become an administrator or executor of such property.
The
organization works hand in hand with the judicial system of Uganda to educate
the people about the existence of laws that guard them against deprivation of
ownership of land for instance in the Constitution of Uganda holds that all
people have a right to land ownership under the recognized four land tenure
systems which are freehold, leasehold, Mailo and customary. This right should
not exclude the woman. It also provides that that land should only be taken by
the government if it is within public interest and such persons who own that
property should be duly compensated therefore women need to be aware of the
existence of such laws.
It
also works with other responsible land departments that will help in the provision
of land titles and the certification process to ensure that they secure the
legal and physical property ownership of the individual victims in this case, the
indigent women and the widows who suffer the risk of land grabbers.
IJM
has recorded successes in stopping land grabbing in Mukono by instituting criminal
procedings or involving private investigators through the formal criminal
justice to ensure that the preparators are brought before the courts of law and
to see to it that justice is achieved to the very last bit by ensuring that
they are held accountable. In 2000, a reform project was formed Mukono which
aimed to prevent, deter and respond to property grabbers. It also encouraged
documentation by securing an effective estate administration.
IJM
can also sensitize the women about the preventative measures of land issues for
instance the formalization of a marriage, the need for their spouse to make a
valid will clearly indicating who land ownership and who title has been
transferred to.
Furthermore,
the general public should be enlightened about property grabbing and should be
made to gain confidence in the justice system so that they do not take the
matter into their own hands this is because most women lack legal education and
face a lot of issues due to the violation of their rights.
Conclusively, the success of IJM will advance the cause of equality to make sure
the women and men have the same treatment in respect to land as the law explicitly
lays it down in the statute books and decided cases. Women have right to own
land in Uganda and any deprivation is a violation of the law.
