Sixty-four-year-old Maria Aliru, a resident of Ozoo Village, Logiri Sub-county in Arua District, is among the many women in West Nile Sub-region who have for a long time been trapped in an oppressive culture that infringes on women’s property rights, including the right to own land.
However, with the advent of the Ministry of Lands’ certificate of customary ownership programme light has appeared at the end of the tunnel. The certificate of customary ownership grants ownership of customary land to women who previously were allowed to use land but not own it. ‘We have norms that have long restricted the woman from owning land and limiting her rights to cultivation, but not ownership as part of property.
This has been inhibitive and repressive. We need a shift from that bad cultural norm,’ she told Daily Monitor last week. Ms Elizabeth Minala, a widow and resident of Polota Village in Logiri Sub-county, said when her husband died in 2019, her in-laws threw her and her two children out of the family home. They also reportedly grabbed five acres of land and other properties that the couple owned. ‘One of the reasons why I was thrown out of my late husband’s home is because of the greed for property, including land. In our culture (Lugbara), women have less protection by society regarding property ownership rights, including the land. My in-laws wanted to own the land left behind by my husband,’ she said in a sad tone.
She added, ‘They also claimed that I had only given birth to girl children. I believe the new land awareness campaign is a good wake-up call for our communities.’ Under the ongoing land awareness campaign conducted by the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development in conjunction with cultural leaders, local governments, and civil society organisations, women and other vulnerable groups are being facilitated to own land in the sub-region. Ms Paska Aliru, a resident of Polata Village in Logiri Sub-county, explained that women who have not gone to school and are less privileged economically are the most affected by the unfair cultural practice.
What the law says
Ms Esther Kisembo, the programmes coordinator at ActionAid Uganda, said: ‘Uganda’s Constitution guarantees land ownership to every citizen without discrimination based on gender. It is unfortunate that in this particular sub-region the women who form the majority of the population under the farming sector know that they have the land user rights but not the ownership rights.’
What local leaders say
The Logiri LC3 Sub-county chief, Mr John Bosco Odama, said land-related wrangles constitute the majority of community disputes across West Nile. ‘It is also true that the cultural rigidities among the Lugbara community restrict women from land ownership. The women use the land but have no ownership rights. But both the cultural leaders and the community are now realising the importance of customary certificate registration,’ he said.
Response from ministry
The Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development Communications Officer, Mr Denis Obbo, said the customary certificate registration of ownership is part of the government’s effort to reduce land-related disputes in areas where land is owned customary and on communal basis. ‘When families get certificates and have proper land demarcations, the conflicts will reduce. The registration opens the land ownership information gap because women have the constitutional right to own land like any other gender,’ he said.
Cultural institution
The Prime Minister of the Lugbara Kari Cultural Institution, Mr Ismail Tuku, said no woman should be robbed of land that belongs to her. ‘….it is the woman who will till the land, use it for animals, and also when the husband dies, she should be allowed to own it because she has the children to take care of,’ he said. The Lugbara Kari Cultural Institution’s pronouncement on harmful cultural practices, gender-based violence, sexual reproductive, maternal and child health, a document detailing several interventions aimed at empowering its people, clarifies the right of the girl child to education and property rights.