The Impact of National Land Policyand Land Reform on Women in Uganda

27 October 2010

In 2009, the Centre on HousingRights and Evictions (COHRE), incollaboration with the Uganda LandAlliance (ULA), conducted a surveyin Uganda to assess the gender-sen-sitivity of national land policy andland reform processes and their im-pact on women. The survey was con-ducted in the districts of Kapchorwa,Luweero and Kampala. In total, 60women were surveyed, with 15 in Lu-weero, 20 in Kapchorwa, and 25 inKampala. These included grassrootswomen, married women with andwithout income, single women andsome professionals. In Kampala dis-trict, researchers targeted policy-making and policy-influencing cate-gories of women, including womenparliamentarians, key women landreform activists and other stakehold-ers.

Luweero and Kapchorwa are amongthe districts in which ULA activitieshave traditionally been concentrated.Both districts have distinct land ten-ure regimes - customary land tenureand leasehold land tenure regimes.It is important to consider these dif-ferent tenure regimes in order tocompare the different experiencesthat women have under each system.

Background to Women’s LandRights in Uganda[Background]Before colonialism, most of Uganda’sland was held communally, except inthose areas where a system of feudalismhad begun. Women in the pre-colonialera, upon marriage, had access to land onwhich they had exclusive rights to culti-vation. They themselves owned the fruitsof their labor, namely the crops they pro-duced from the land. However, as a re-sult of the Buganda Land Agreement of1900, which parceled out land in Bugan-da, land control shifted from clans tochiefs, and some of it was retained asCrown Land.

In the late 1990s, major legal reformstook place in the country, starting withthe promulgation of the 1995 Constitu-tion. The Government has focused onthe design of policies and programs thatare gender-sensitive and speak to theneeds of Uganda’s women. Chapter 4 ofthe Constitution (and in particular arti-cles 31–33) provides for equality be-tween men and women, including inrespect to the acquisition and holding ofland. Under Article 31 (1) of the Consti-tution, men and women above the age ofeighteen years are accorded equal rightsin marriage, during marriage and at itsdissolution.

These provisions on equality are furtherstrengthened by the principles of affir-mative action, provided for under Arti-cles 21, 32 and 33 of the Constitution,which seek to remedy the historical dis-

Despite some positive steps at the level of legal reform, women’s rightsto land have yet to become fully realized in Uganda and the reality

for women in Uganda is too often characterized byentrenched patterns of exclusion.

crimination faced by marginalized groups,including women, and redress the socialimbalances that exist against them.

Despite these positive features, Uganda isalso well-known for its 1998 Land Act de-bates, during which time Ugandanwomen’s rights activists and Parliamentari-ans struggled to have a clause on co-own-ership of land included. This clause wasnever realized, as it was technically omittedat the final stage of legislation (becomingknown as the ‘lost clause’). Thus, the lawon land distribution, management and ac-cessibility in Uganda today inadequatelyprovides for women’s access, control andownership of land. However, an Amend-ment to the Land Act (2004) gave someminimal protection to women in that itemphasizes that the consent of a spousemust be given in the event of any transac-tion regarding family land.

[Key Findings]Several key findings emergedfrom the conversations heldwith women across Uganda:

Lack of Information aboutWomen’s Land Rights: Ingeneral terms, while womenwere aware that there are somelaws and policies that protecttheir land rights, they often didnot know the details of suchprotections or where they couldturn to for help. In the ruralsetting, women knew onlyabout the 1995 Constitution,but not any of the other lawsand policies protecting theirequal rights to land. Mostwomen were not fully informedof the Land Act or the ongoingNational Land Policy process.

Only some women knew thatthe Amendment to the LandAct of 2004 provided that be-fore a man can dispose of familyland he has to seek the consentof his wife. However, despitethe consent clause, the realityremains that the patriarchal sys-tem is still entrenched, and menstill dominate the decision-mak-ing in the family. Women notedthat they continue to have‘observer’ status, rather than an

A focus group discussion with married women in Ser-rewo village, Kapchorwa, 8 August 2009. Most ofthese women do not own their land. They only areallowed to cultivate land, but the proceeds from the

harvest are controlled by men

equal role in decision-making when itcomes to family land.

Prevailing Cultural Attitudes thatDiscriminate against Women: Tomost policy-makers and women inmore privileged social positions, thecurrent land laws accords a lot of pro-tection to women; however, it is obvi-ous that rural, illiterate women have notsimilarly benefited from the policiesthat are in place. Women in rural com-munities are still largely at the mercy ofcustomary practices and traditional legalsystems that most often look to men assole owners of property, including land.

Lack of Formal Land Ownership byWomen: Only 8 percent of marriedwomen reported that they own land intheir own right. Among the six womenwho reported that they own land inKapchorwa during the survey, five in-herited the land from their parents,while one purchased it using her savings

from her small business.The majority of women didnot have land in their ownright because in most cases,even when they save moneyto purchase land, landagreements are written intheir husband’s names andthe woman signs only as awitness.

Lack of Participation ofWomen in Land PolicyFormulation: The processof formulating revisions tothe national Land Policyand the Constitution areongoing. These processeshave gone through a seriesof consultations, including

with grassroots communities, to ensurethat these reforms embrace the interestsand aspirations of all categories of peo-ple. Various stakeholders, including civilsociety organizations, have been con-sulted and their views have been con-sidered. The Civil Society NationalLand Policy Working Group was alsoestablished to engage the process. TheGroup is comprised of organizationsthat work towards the protection of therights of vulnerable and marginalizedpeople, including women, and have en-deavored to ensure that women’s inter-ests and rights to land and propertyrights are included. However, the surveyshowed that grassroots women are notadequately consulted on land policy andthat the majority of those participatingdid not have knowledge of the ongoingland reform processes. In most cases,only women in decision-making posi-tions had knowledge of or could reporthaving participated in the reform pro-cess.

A Focus Group Discussion of widows in Bunyenye village Luweero sub-county on 16 July 2009. These widows have mobilized themselves into agroup called “Bwebukya sibwebuziba” to help them jointly improve theirliving conditions and share information regarding their rights as women.

Asked on the source of informationon land matters, a majority of thewomen reported having obtained theinformation from radio. A few of thewomen, particularly in Luweero, saidthey have been getting land-relatedinformation from civil society sensiti-zation workshops and local authori-ties. The civil society organizationsreported to have been active in Lu-weero were: the Uganda Land Alli-ance, Plan Uganda and FIDA –Uganda (Association of UgandaWomen Lawyers). In Kapchorwa, theorganization reported as the sourceof land information for grassrootswomen is the Kapchorwa ParalegalsAssociation (KAPA). Other sourcesof information included newspapersand community meetings.

Exclusion of Women in Matters ofLand Inheritance: Women notedthat the legally-sanctioned ways inwhich land is acquired tend to favormen. Inheritance was a particularchallenge because most often landand property was passed downthrough the male line, reinforcingwomen’s exclusion and lack of eco-nomic empowerment. While forsome segments of Ugandan societythe old traditions are changing, thevast majority of Ugandan womencontinue to be unable to inherit land

and property from their parents.Even in cases where the husbanddies, a woman is not able to retainher marital property or inherit prop-erty acquired by her husband, as thisis seen as inheritance belonging tomale in-laws or to her sons. One sur-vey respondent, Ms. Jane FrancesKuka, of Kapchorwa District, hadthis to say:

When the man inherits land – hewill also distribute it to his ownchildren. The distribution ismainly to the males. The educatedare more sensitized and are nowgiving out land to their daughtersalso. This is a new developmentwhich is beginning to entrench intothe people.

Lack of Access to Justice: Wom-en, particularly rural women, find itdifficult to access and make use ofthe judicial systems because of thechallenges within the justice sectorsuch as bribery and corruption, aswell as the high costs associated withmanaging and bringing cases. Be-sides, as many women emphasized,the court process is slow.

However, it should also be notedthat as a result of this, the land re-form process has come with new

The protection and enforcement of women’s land rights is problematicdue to gender-related barriers in accessing justice, such as the low

degree of gender-sensitivity of both technical and non-technicalofficers in the judicial or land administration system.

structures and systems to supplementthe work of the judiciary. The Land Act,for example, now provides for the es-tablishment of local council courtswhich, among other things, address landissues. The courts are established on thepremise that at least one third of themembers should be women. In additionthere

is also a Land Fraud Department nowestablished under the police force, aswell as the possibility of engaging alter-native dispute resolution mechanisms.

The Domestic Relations Bill, 2007:Since the debate on the Land Bill in1998, women activists have been lobby-ing for a clause in the land law to pro-vide for spousal co-ownership of land(which was not included in the Land Act1998). The consequence of this is that

women in Uganda con-tinue to be excluded fromthe use of property jointlyacquired in marriage orco-habitation because ofthe lack of a legal frame-work to resolve propertydisputes in the event ofthe termination of theirrelationships. This hasalso been raised in thedebates surrounding theNational Land Policy.While the Land Act catersfor the rights of legalwives in marriage, it doesnot protect the land rightsof widows, divorcees andwomen in co-habitation.(Section 153, Draft 4 Na-

tional Land Policy).

Gaps in the Legal System: Theoreti-cally, the Land Act provides for someprotection of women’s land rights byemphasizing that the consent of aspouse must be given in the event ofany transaction on family land, but asnoted above this approach has proveninsufficient to protect women’s rights inpractice. In addition to what has beensaid earlier, this provision only recog-nizes the wife’s rights to have a say inthe administration of family land as longas the marriage persists, but does notguarantee her any rights to land if themarriage should end.

In addition, there are also some ambigu-ities reading the Land Act together withother laws. For instance, Section 3 ofthe Succession Act (Cap 162) providesthat:

A focus group discussion with young women with no income in Bunyenye vil-lage Luweero sub-county, 16 July 2009. The majority of these women stillfeel land should belong to men because they are the ones who belong to the

clan.

[Existing Gaps in the Ongoing Land Reform Process ]

No person shall by marriageacquire any interest in the prop-erty of the person whom she/hemarries, nor become incapable ofdoing any act in respect ofhis/her own property whichhe/she could have done if un-married.

This provision means that anyproperty individually owned priorto a marriage is owned by eitherspouse and is not in any way sub-ject to the control or determinationby the other spouse. This propertyremains individual and each spousehas exclusive rights to enjoy anddeal with it in any way they see fit.

Section 34 of the Succession Act(Cap 162) further provides that: Ifa person whose domicile is not in Ugandamarries in Uganda a person whose domi-cile is in Uganda, neither party acquiresby the marriage any rights in respect ofany property of the other party not com-prised in a settlement made previous tothe marriage, which he/she would notacquire by the marriage if both were do-miciled in Uganda at the time of themarriage. This provision essentiallymeans that any property that bylaw is not guaranteed as propertythat may be acquired by eitherspouse by virtue of marriage be-longs to each spouse individuallyirrespective of the law applicable inone of the spouse’s country of do-micile. Only property included inthe settlement made prior to themarriage shall be considered prop-erty of both spouses to which theyboth have control. There is theneed to harmonize all these laws in

order to provide adequate pro-tection for women and to rec-ognize their equal right to landand property.

Grassroots womenmust be involved and ade-quately consulted and edu-cated on the ongoing landand constitutional reformprocesses, for examplethrough public forums, radiocampaigns, community discus-sions, and durbars for thecommunity on the subject.There is an immediate needfor consultation, awareness-raising and an educationalcampaign on women’s rightsto land and the laws that pro-tect these rights.

The National LandPolicy should fully reflectand embrace women’s rightto equality in access, owner-ship and control of land, andwhen finalized should be usedas a basis to amend and recon-cile other relevant laws so thatthe concerns and interest ofmarginalized and vulnerablepeople, particularly women,are fully and comprehensivelyaddressed by the legal frame-work in Uganda. The LandAct and the Succession Act,for example, should be harmo-nized to provide adequate pro-tection to widows and womenwhose marriages may haveended. These laws should also

[Conclusions and Recommendations]

Recommendations, con’t

www.wllaweb.org

WOMEN’S LAND LINK AFRICA (WLLA) is a joint initiative of organizations dedicated to the improvementof women's land and housing rights in Africa. The purpose of WLLA is not to re-create but rather to enhance andsupport already ongoing work on women's housing and land rights in Africa.

provide for joint spousal owner-ship in the case of married cou-ples, and widows should also beguaranteed ownership or title toland if they lose their husbands.

The State should work in col-laboration with civil societyorganizations to translate theNational Land Policy into in-digenous languages and en-gage community leaders todisseminate it broadly. Thisinformation must be communi-cated in a way that is clear, acces-sible, and easy for grassrootswomen to understand.

very influential in determining theway land and property is man-aged and controlled. As Ugandamoves toward increased formaltitling and individual rights toland, communal and customaryinterests in land should be incor-porated in formulating the laws,but not to the detriment of wom-en. Traditional leaders andgrassroots women should beinvolved in a process to iden-tify cultural practices that sup-port the rights of women, andquestion ones that do not pro-vide adequate protection towomen. This could be done byorganizing community trainings

for leaders, showcasing best prac-tices and peer exchanges. TheState should also help to designand launch national educationalcampaigns that seek to transformwidespread social values aroundwomen’s land rights, promotingwomen’s full equality.

The State and civil society or-ganizations should seeks waysto enhance women's access tojustice, for example by holdingtrainings for women on self rep-resentation and legal aid schemes,as well as trainings for membersof the judiciary, local councilcourts, and legal aide practitio-ners. These trainings should em-phasize women’s rights to landand property under both interna-tional and national law.

The Domestic Relations Bill(DRB) should be passed witha provision on spousal co-own-ership of land, to guaranteethe rights and security ofwomen.

Conclusions and