the national women's land rights conference - International Land ...

THE
NATIONAL WOMEN’S LAND
RIGHTS CONFERENCE
SPEKE RESORT MUNYONYO – KAMPALA
4th - 6th October 2010
Theme: “Equality is not Equality of Outcomes but
Equality of Resources, Rights and Voice”
1
Organized by: the Women’s Land Rights Movement-Uganda
Enhancing Women’s Land Rights

Contents:
• Executive Remarks 2
• Genesis of the Women’s Land Rights Movement 6
• Keynote Address 7
• Case Studies 8
• Presenter Biographies 13
• A cry for women’s land rights 19
• List of Pioneer members 20
• Pioneer Member logos 21
Dear participants,
Editor’s Remarks
I wish to take this opportunity to welcome you all to this auspicious occasion when over
300 women [and men] join together for the common cause of finding solutions to the biting
women’s land rights concerns. Shout loud, louder and loudest; knock, and knock until
something happens. Women are our mothers, daughters, sisters and friends- their rights to
land, must be realized in our times, in this decade, period. Indeed the time’s now.
I thank all those who contributed in one way or another towards this publication. To you all,
I say, Bravo!
This Booklet is specially dedicated to all the women in Uganda that have lost their lives due
to land related conflicts. May their souls rest in eternal peace.
Wishing you all a memorable experience at the National Women’s Land Rights
Conference.
Tumusiime K. Deo
Tel: 0712-075721
Email: tumusiimedeo@hotmail.com
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Time ACTIVITY RESPONSIBILITY
PRAYER BREAKFAST
SESSION CHAIR
Richard Ssewakiryanga
7:00 – 7:20 am Arrival & Registration
7:20 - 7:40 am Arrival of invited guests,
7:40 -7:45 am Welcome Remarks Agnes Kirabo
Prayers by Religious Leaders
7:45 - 7:50 am National Anthem Bahai Choir
7:50 - 7:55 am -Deputy Mufti of Uganda
7:55 - 8:00 am -Metropolitan Jonah Lwanga
8:00 - 8:05 am -Bishop of Mukono
8:05 - 8:10 am -Patricia Senoga
8:10 - 8:15 am -Pastor Dr. Joseph Sserwadda
8:15 - 8:30 am Background of the Women’s Land Conference Ms. Esther Obaikol
AND Presentation of the Women’s Minimum
Demands
8:30 - 8:50 am Keynote Address State Minister Lands, Hon. Asuman Kiyingi
8.50 - 9:30 am Address by the Chief Guest H.E the President
9.30-10:00am
BREAK
WOMEN AND LAND ADMINISTRATION
SESSION CHAIR
Dr. Abby Zziwa
10:00 – 10:30 am Women in Land Administration, Sarah Kulata Basangwa
10:30 – 11:00 am Effects of a Decentralized Land Framework on Dr. Josephine Ahikire
Tenure Security for Women.
11:00 - 11:30 am Impact of Land grabbing and
Sarah Mujabi Mujusi
Commercialization of land on women’s
security of tenure.
11:30 – 12:00 Impact of culture on Women’s ownership and Prof. Samson Opolot
Access to land
12:00 - 13:00 Plenary Discussion All
13:00 – 2:00 pm LUNCH All
SESSION CHAIR
PROGRAMME
FOR THE NATIONAL WOMEN LAND RIGHTS CONFERENCE - OCTOBER 2010
DAY I – MONDAY 4th OCTOBER, 2010
Dr. Maria Nassali
2: 00 -2:20 pm Food security, livelihood and Women’s Land
Rights: What if Women gave up
2:20 – 2:40 pm The Role of Trade and |Trade Commitments in
Land Policy in Africa, and its Implications on
Land Rights especially for women, Food
Security and Livelihoods”
Elizabeth Kharono
Jane Nalunga
2:40 – 3:00 pm Plenary Discussion
3:00 - 3:45 pm Case studies ULA & VEDCO
3:45 - 4:00 pm Tea break
4:00 - 4:30 pm Discussions :
Dr. Consolate Kabonesa
Gauging the African Union Framework and
guidelines on land policy in Africa. Capturing
WLR in the National Land Policy development
process in Uganda.
4:30 pm End of Day 1 All
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DAY II – TUESDAY 5 th OCTOBER, 2010
Time ACTIVITY RESPONSIBLE PERSONS
8:00 - 8:30 am Registration Volunteers
WOMEN AND LAND JUSTICE
SESSION CHAIR
Mr. Bruce Kyeerere
8:30 – 9:00 am Keynote Address Chief Justice/Deputy CJ
9:00 – 9:20 am Enhancing access to Justice for women Rose Nakaayi
9:20 –9:40 am The role of case law in upholding women’s Lady Justice Anna Magezi
land rights
9:40 - 11:00 am The implications of the provisions of Dora Kanabahita Byamukama
Marriage, Divorce & Separation Laws on
Women Land Rights.
11:00 - 11:30 am Tea Hotel
11:30 - 12 :30 Plenary discussion
12:30 - 2:00 pm LUNCH HOTEL
SESSION CHAIR
Rose Nakayi
2:00 – 2:20 pm THE Role of the Administrator General in Miriam Namutebi
securing women’s rights to land –
Experiences and lessons
2:20 -2:40 pm The Impact of the succession laws on the Ms. Mary Sonko
realization of women’s land rights
2:40 - 3:10 pm Case studies, experience sharing & UCOBAC& FIDA
testimonies
3:10 - 3:40 pm TEA HOTEL
3:40 - 8:00 pm Free Time
8:00 - 10:00 pm Dinner Guest of Honour: The Nabagereka
DAY III – WEDNESDAY 6 th OCTOBER, 2010
Time ACTIVITY PRESENTERS RESPONSIBLE
PERSONS
8:00 - 9:00 am Arrival Volunteers
WOMEN IN THE POLITICAL AGENDA
SESSION CHAIR
Hon. Sheila Kawamala
9:00 - 9:15 am Official opening of the session/Keynote
address
9:15 - 9:40 am Women’s land Rights and Decentralization Livingstone Sewanyana
9:40 - 10:00 am Gender Budgeting Ms. Margaret Kakande
10:00 - 10:30 am How to raise women’s issues on the
Political agenda
Hon. Christine Hellen
Amongin Aporu
10:30 - 11:00 am TEA HOTEL
11:00 - 11:30 am Political parties manifestos Ms. Patricia Munabi
11:30 - 12:00 pm How government intends to implement Racheal Odoi
the transitional justice program for
Northern Uganda
12:00 - 1.00 pm Plenary Discussion All
1:00 - 2:00 pm Lunch HOTEL
2:00 - 4:00 pm Reading of the Declaration
4:00 - 6:00 Pm Tea & Departure Hotel
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Executive Remarks
The Women’s Land Rights Movement-Uganda welcomes all participants in your various
capacities to the National Women’s Land Rights Conference taking place from 4th to 6th
October 2010 at the Speke Resort in Munyonyo Kampala.
We wish to acknowledge the efforts of everyone that contributed in one way or another to
make the National Women’s Land Rights Conference a reality.
Particular thanks to all our Donor partners who ensured that we had the financial support
required to organize such a high profile event. Your usual support is the backbone to our
existence.
The staff at the Uganda Land Alliance, the Core organizing team, volunteers, and Members
of the Working Group must be commended individually and collectively for a job excellently
done. Your contribution to this conference is highly appreciated.
Of course this conference would also not have happened without the women here present
from all corners of the country, who have sacrificed their valuable time to spend four days in
Kampala for this conference. Be assured that your time has not been in vain because this is
the beginning of a huge campaign towards addressing the challenges faced by women over
land across the country.
I wish to thank H.E Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, Honourable Government Ministers, Honourable
Members of Parliament, Members of the Judiciary, the Media, Members from the Academia,
colleagues from Civil Society, Ladies and Gentlemen for finding it worthy to attend this
National Land Rights Conference, the first of its kind in Uganda. Your continued support
towards the Women’s Land Rights Movement is the key to achieve positive returns for
women countrywide [and beyond].
To all our dear guests from abroad, you are most welcome. Join us, work with us and let us
together make women’s land rights a reality.
The Women’s Land Rights Movement-Uganda will be working tirelessly after the conference
to establish an institutional structure with offices and other facilities to support the cause of
women particularly in regards to their land rights. Everyone should pick up a role to play
to make the dream of the hundreds of women gathered at this conference and the Million
others they represent, come true.
Finally I wish you all very fruitful deliberations.
Esther Obaikol
Coordinator, Women’s Land Rights Movement-Uganda
5

Genesis of the Women’s Land Rights Movement-Uganda
Over the past two years, ULA has
increased its activities around women’s
land rights by ensuring that in the National
Land Policy and the review of national laws
on land, the issues of women stand out
prominently.
Despite the successes and the acceptance
of integration of these in policy and law,
the practice has not changed. Women are
still discriminated against in relation to land
access, ownership and control.
The women’s Land Rights Movement
– Uganda is holding its first event – the
National Women’s Land Rights Conference
that will be attended by an estimated
300 participants mostly drawn from the
grassroots, the academia, legal institutions,
and Government.
The Conference will also draw participants
from all regions of Uganda, the East African
countries, Southern Sudan, South Africa,
USA and Asia.
The key objectives of the conference are;
• To raise a common voice for
women to enable them demand
for the realization and recognition
of their rights to land.
• To provide a platform for women
from different regions and status
to share their challenges and
experiences on land;
There is therefore a need to address the
issue from a practice change dimension.
It is against this realization that ULA invited
a group of organizations and Government
departments to rethink the women’s land
rights question in Uganda in a bid to develop
a common agenda and strategy to achieve
practice change towards poverty reduction
and improved household incomes and
nutrition.
The Women’s Land Rights Movement was
thus born on the 2nd June 2010 with four
Government Ministries (Ministry of Lands,
Housing and Urban Development, Ministry
of Gender, Labour and Social Development,
Ministry of Agriculture, Animal industry and
Fisheries, and Ministry of Justice), and 13
Civil Society Organizations working around
women’s issues in Uganda. The first and
major activity of the Movement is the
conference scheduled for October 4th-6th
2010.
• Explore advocacy opportunities
for practice change; and
rejuvenate the women’s
movement on land that has a
stronghold at the grassroots,
spreading its strength to the
national level.
• The output of this conference
is the minimum demands for
women on land in Uganda, which
will guide advocacy and the
roadmap for the women’s
movement in the following year.
After the conference, the Women’s Land
Rights Movement will start wide campaigns
aimed at ensuring the realization of the
key concerns deliberated upon during the
conference.
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• Your Excellency the president
• The Honourable Ministers
present
• Members of Parliament
• Judges of the courts of judicature
• Heads of Civil Society
organizations
• Members from the Academia
• Organizers of this conference
• Guest Participants from outside
Uganda
• Participants from Uganda
• Ladies and Gentlemen, each in
your respective capacities:
I wish on behalf the Honourable Minister for
Lands and on my own behalf, to welcome
you all to this important conference on
women’s land rights. I must say outright,
that this is an important topic that does not
only concern the women here present but
all women [and men] in this country.
While I appreciate the importance of this
conference, I must also note with sadness
that we should be gathering in the 21st
Century to discuss about equality of rights
between men and women, especially over
land. Some of the inequalities we are
witnessing, have a historical background
dating back to the colonial era, but it’s our
duty to change the status of events to suit
our own times. Considering the enormous
role women contribute to our existence,
their rights cannot in any way be a point for
debate whatsoever.
The NRM Government was the first
visionary Government over the years to
recognise the rights of women in Uganda,
by championing the Women Emancipation
campaign. Today, the proceeds of this
campaign do not need further elaboration
7
KEYNOTE SPEECH
KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY THE STATE MINISTER FOR LANDS, HON. ASUMAN
KIYINGI AT THE WOMEN’S LAND RIGHTS CONFERENCE, SPEKE RESORT
MUNYONYO – KAMPALA, 4th-6th October 2010
as you will practically witness during the
course of this conference. Looking though
the programme for this conference, I
can see very powerful women who are
going to discuss various topics-some are
politicians, others academicians, Heads
of institutions, all well learned. I have also
been reliably informed that majority, if not
all the women participants at this gathering
are all not just hailing from the ‘kitchen’ like
was the traditional practice, but are either
representing grassroots organizations
or are privately engaged in various
development oriented activities. This is
how far we have come, and the effort must
be applauded.
As you may be well aware, Government
together with other stakeholders is in
the final stages of drafting the National
Land Policy. The Uganda Land Alliance
and other Civil Society representatives
participated actively in the critical stages of
the drafting process, and I can assure you
that women’s land rights concerns were
prominently captured. Your participation
in this process was a manifestation that
Government cannot work in isolation, but
needs the contribution of each one of you
both collectively and individually.
I know many of you must be wondering
whether the good provisions for women’s
land rights will be implemented. Before you
lose hope, I urge you to appreciate where
we have come from, recognise where we
are, and work with Government as your
main ally to reach where we want to be.
The vision of the NRM of ensuring equal
rights for all citizens has been welcomed
by many who wish this country well.
That’s why each time we have elections,

Ugandans always vote the NRM. As the
2011 elections draw closer, I believe all of
you shall vote the NRM so that we can fulfil
the pending programmes.
I am informed that after here, you are
launching the Women’s Land Rights
Movement. Such a Movement I believe
will go a long way in uniting women across
the country. By virtue of the fact that
already 4 Government ministries are part
of the Women’s Movement; this is already
confirmation that Government appreciates
your effort. Count on us, and we shall
offer you all the support and good will you
need.
With these few words, I take the honour
to wish you the very best of deliberations
during this conference. Please do share
your resolutions with us after the conference
and we shall take the necessary actions.
To our dear guests from abroad, do not leave
without touring Kampala. Feel at home,
enjoy the best weather and hospitality, and
please come again.
I thank you.
CASE STUDIES
When God is sidelined-
Sera recounts her painful ordeal
Mbale: ‘I was cooking sweet potatoes; he
poured the food down and put the sauce
pans on the vehicle. He took all the things
we had in the house. I was left high and
dry! And yet we had been married for 41
years! Later, I learnt that he had sold the
piece of land!’
Sera, 69 lives in Mbale District. She and her
husband had fifteen children, four of whom
are dead. Sera is a small-holder farmer.
She grows maize, beans, millet, potatoes
and cassava mainly for home consumption.
She has one goat, and three local chicken.
She has no income and depends wholly on
her working children for provision of basic
domestic necessities.
Sera recounts that her ex-husband, a
policeman, worked in different parts of
Uganda until 1983 when he retired. “After
his retirement, we bought land which we
lived on for over 23 years. I improved the
land quite a lot. I planted trees, coffee,
beans, maize and bananas. During this
time, my husband used to stay at home
because he was too sick to work”.
In 1992, Sera’s husband became a Bible
teacher at the Church. “One day he
came home and sold all the coffee I had
harvested without my knowledge. I had
gone to the well to fetch water. Worse still,
I did not know what he did with the money.
I told the other “Balokole” about it. He got
annoyed and beat me up badly. Then he
bought a plot of land and left me with the
children. Because he was sick, I followed
and started living with him”. In 1993, my
daughter bought land at in another village
and constructed a house. This is the house
you see now”, she says.
The turning point in Sera’s life, however,
came early this year when her husband
came home in a lorry shouting “pack up all
the things and we go”. Sera says: “I did not
know what to say because we had never
discussed this. She adds, “I was cooking
sweet potatoes; he poured the food down
and put the sauce pans on the vehicle. He
took all the things we had in the house. I
was left high and dry! And yet we had been
married for 41 years!
“Later, I learnt that he had sold the piece of
land which we had bought when he retired
at only 2 million shillings. Imagine 8 acres
of land for only 2 million! Worse still, the
8

people who bought the land cut down all
the trees and the bananas, beans, maize
and groundnuts which I had worked so
hard to plant”.
When I saw all this, I said: “God we did not
steal this land, we got it through hard work.
My husband vowed on our wedding day
that I have given you all that I have. I have
handed this problem to God. It is too much
for me. It pricks my heart to remember this
land which I worked for 23 years! I could
neither eat nor sleep and I became very
thin - as thin as a stalk. I could easily be
blown by the wind”.
“After two sleepless nights, I went to the
church to inform them about my situation.
They were very sorry for me. The Bishop’s
wife gave me a saucepan and a basin.
The next day I went to the police station.
When I told them that we had 11 children,
they advised me to settle the matter out of
court so that we continue looking after the
children”.
“Having received no proper support from
the church and the police, I went to the
Land Tribunal and FIDA. It was the same
story; I therefore decided not to consult the
local council because it would be a waste
of time”
Finally Sera says if she had the opportunity
to meet the President, she would say this:
when husband and wife are buying land,
they decide together. The President should
ensure that before a man sells land; his
wife should consent to it first”.
Abandoned in IDP Camp for a
new catch- Atim tells her story
Amuru IDP camp: Her husband picked up
another wife, and divorced Atim, leaving
her in total disillusion in Amuru camp.
Meanwhile, as a reward for his actions, the
man’s in-laws offered him a piece of land
in Giragira village, where he lives with his
“new catch”!
At the age of 18, Atim lived as a single
girl on 1 Acre of land given to her by her
parents located in Toro Camboo, Amoro
Sub County.
However, when the insurgency of the
Lord’s Resistance Army heightened, Alice,
like many others, was forced to flee into
disarray for dear life. She ended up in
Amuru camp, where she has lived since
1994.
While in the camp, Alice fell in love with a
man, and they married him traditionally. His
name is Akera Jacob. They lived together
in the camp, and have six [6] children:
Aber Proscovia (16), Omona Richard
(13), Achiro Nancy (11), Tekwo Sande (7),
Anywar Maurice (4), and the little one only
named Onegiwu (1). I met 4 of them on my
visit, and the only word I could read on their
faces was; “The future is blurred”.
About a year ago, Atim’s husband who
had by now started drinking himself stupid,
turned into a total monster. He battered her
daily, save for the fact that he was not even
providing the family’s basic necessities for
survival. He picked up another wife, and
divorced Atim, leaving her in total disillusion
in Amuru camp. Meanwhile, as a reward for
his actions, the man’s in-laws offered him a
piece of land in Giragira village, where he
lives with his “new catch”!
9

Now, as other Internally Displaced Persons
(IDPs) continue to return to their former
homes, Atim does not know where to
go. She had offered her 1Acre of land to
her four brothers who presently live on it
together with their relatively big families.
Atim offered the land in good faith and
total sympathy for her siblings, and cannot
attempt to reclaim the land from them as
this would provide recipe for conflict.
Atim cannot even think of returning to her
parents because in Acholi culture, it is
abominable for a married woman to return
to her parents’ home on account of divorce.
Women are always required to ‘hand in
there’!!! Besides, to show that children of
a divorced wife are rejects, they are often
given a nick name “Lutino luk”, which is
summed up to mean disgrace.
Today, the owner of the camp land has
given Atim and others an ultimatum to
vacate the camp, as he plans to utilize his
land for other productive activities. Atim
did not want to squeeze herself on her
former land together with her brothers, but
as things stand, she’s been left with no
option. Even then, she has no idea how to
secure money to construct a moderate hut
to house her dejected family of 7.
As narrated to Tumusiime K. Deo
When the blind woman was
robbed of her land…
Amoyokoma village: Esther Aciro Epicu
(70), a blind widow and mother of 6 from
Amuru district now left with three (3) and
nine (9) grand children, owned a 60-acres
piece of land that her late husband left her
with in Amoyokoma village, Pagak parish
in Amuru Sub-county. However, in her own
testimony, “Two years later and one day, I
just learnt that three meetings were held
about my land to be given to the Amuru
Town Council. The people who attended
the meetings were Mr. Obwoya Maoransio,
Acaye Daniel, Otto Kitara and Elgino Openy
and I was told that in the meeting at the
office of the Town Clerk, they claimed that I
did not own a piece of land in Amoyokoma
and that I had a piece of land in Olik-my
parent’s place.”
Esther adds that in the next meeting she
was invited to attend. It was then that she
learnt of an already existing agreement
with the office of the Town Clerk through
the area LC II Mr. Nono. The land grabbers
had conspired with Kinyera Simon and
Odur Cija-her grandsons, and she was
supposed to only append her signature.
As she was being forced to thumbprint
on the documents, she begun to cry, then
some people helped her to call the LC III
Chairman to come to her rescue. To make
matters worse, when the Chairman LC II
Came the next morning, he only attempted
to convince her to admit the terms and
conditions in the agreement taking
advantage of her blindness.
Esther says that later the Chairman LC III
helped to take her to Court and got her a
lawyer (Donge and Co. advocates) on
realizing that she was left with only a plot.
Donge and Co. advocates begun helping
her but it wasn’t long before the lawyers
were also compromised further making the
blind woman’s life more miserable.
According to Aciro Esther Epicu, poverty
and vulnerability is the worst form of
violence anyone can ever face.
Profile compiled by David Komakech
10

How Florence escaped the
pangs of a “crocodile”
Kampala: While it may be said that
unmarried women ‘suffer due to failure
to legalize their marriages’, experience
indicates that even officially married women
are denied rights
to land due to the
patriarchal family
arrangement in most
parts of Uganda. Like
in the case of Mrs.
Arorwa, an insurance
broker, and resident
of Namugongo an
Urban area 20kms from Kampala city:
Together with her husband, they struggled
to secure bank loans to purchase a piece
of land, and build a residential house, but
registered the properties in the husband’s
names as head of the household. As is the
trend in many families, when the marriage
went sour, Mr. Arorwa got a mistress, and
decided to mortgage the house without
the official wife’s consent. For fear of
“insubordination”, Mrs. Arorwa chose not
to pursue a court case against the husband
but her suffering only took an uglier turn
when Mr. Arorwa sought to evict her from
the house altogether.
Mrs. Arorwa’s situation was only abated
when a lawyer friend, Mrs. Kaweesi helped
her lodge a caveat on the property under
Section 39 of the Land Act, which permits
spouses not being the owners of land to
lodge caveats on the certificate of title
barring any transactions on land without
the consent of the spouse. Mr. Arorwa was
then taken to the police station where an
agreement was reached that he would pay
child support and leave Mrs. Arorwa with
the house lest the law would catch up with
him. He committed to this in writing and at
this point, Mrs. Arorwa was saved from the
“jaws of a crocodile”.
11
Experience at the frontline
of Women’s Land Rights
Advocacy
By Maxensia Nakibuuka Takirambule
Kampala: “In my own experience I have
identified that at community/grassroots
levels, especially among the urban poor,
formal legal systems are not accessible for
most vulnerable groups”
Maxensia is the
founder and the
Chief Executive
Officer of Lungujja
Community Health
Caring Organization
(LUCOHECO) a
n o n - g o v e r n m e n t
o r g a n i z a t i o n
committed to
improving the lives of
community members through subsidized
healthcare and other social services. This
project provides awareness on diseases,
primary healthcare support, land rights
guidance, treatment and advocacy on
human rights, especially for those infected
with or affected by HIV/AIDS.
She observes that for example when
women lose their spouses, many are
ignorant of the existing legal provisions
for their protection. Their status as first
wives or the mere fact that they have
mature children does not seem to always
work in their favor as many have lost their
properties.
Other wives due to some cultural beliefs
think they shouldn’t own any property, land
or housing so they leave it to their husbands
to decide in whose names the property
should be registered. This, coupled with
fear of intimidation by the bureaucracies
involved in the formal justice system, often

suffocates the widows, and their matters
remain unresolved for many years if at all.
A message to the fellow marginalized
citizens of this country: Each one of
you should always carry our burdens
cautiously however heavy they might be,
until nightfall. We should avoid bad thinking
because it leads to tension and nervous
breakdown, but good thinking deals with
causes and effects and it leads to logical
and constructive planning-never give up.
I urge that we should always pray to God
to grant us the serenity to accept things
we cannot change, the courage to change
things we can and the wisdom to know the
difference.
Our government, policy makers, legislators
and dear nationals, has each one of
you ever thought about people who are
suffering and others being deprived of
their rights Because there is a wide gap
between us and others! Please come to
our rescue by devising programmes for
the minorities, revisit laws and norms that
oppress the vulnerable. Remember that
the underprivileged also have a right to life
and well being too.
To the church leaders, time is now to put the
Gospel into practice for the many believers
suffering from different problems and need
spiritual counseling in a holistic manner.
Let us all be good Samaritans.
Civil Society and our development partners,
to you we raise our voices for continued
support to enable us sustain our lives and
families. We are socially and economically
incapacitated with the meager resources in
our developing country Uganda, shattered
by poverty, corruption and wars.
12

PRESENTER BIOGRAPHIES
Dr. Josephine
Ahikire:
Presenter: Effects of
a Decentralized Land
Framework on Tenure
Security for Women
Senior lecturer at the Department of
A Women and Gender Studies, Makerere
University and also a senior research
fellow at Centre for Basic Research,
Kampala. Ahikire has worked in the area of
feminist political theory and has extensively
published works on Politics, labour and
cultural studies. She has led various
research teams on elections, politics of
Access and many other areas connected
with livelihood and social justice. Her recent
publication is a book entitled: Localised or
Localising Democracy: Gender and the
Politics of Decentralisation in Contemporary
Uganda, by Fountain Publishers Kampala,
Uganda (2007). Ahikire is an active member
of the Uganda Women’s Movement and
is also member of regional bodies such
as Council for Development of Social
Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA)
and African Gender Institute (AGI). She is
currently the Executive Director of Centre
for Basic Research.
Sarah Mujabi-Mujuzi
Presenter: Impact of
Land grabbing and
Commercialization
of land on women’s
security of tenure.
Sarah is an agriculturalist and a
community development worker. She
graduated with a Master of Animal Sciences
of Makerere University, and later a Master of
Science in Natural Resources Management
of the Agricultural University of Norway.
Sarah has been a Lecturer in Bukalasa
Agricultural College and for the last 5 years
a field team and Fundraising Manager for a
prominent local NGO in Uganda, working
with livelihoods improvement of small and
medium holder farmers through agriculture.
Sarah has made a string of publications in
the field of agro-production, agro-based
national and international trade, policy and
land grabbing in relation to the plight of
small holder women and men farmers of
Uganda.
A
Professor Samson
James Opolot:
Presenter: Impact of
culture on Women’s
ownership and Access
to land
Sociologist and Educationist by
training, Professor Opolot is. He is
currently a Senior Research Fellow at the
Centre for Basic Research (CBR), Kololo,
Kampala and the Academic Registrar and
Senior Lecturer at the Uganda Pentecostal
University, Fort Portal Uganda. Prof. Opolot
has extensive experience in basic and
action research with interests in human
rights based approaches to development
(HRBD) focusing on equitable social
and governance policy issues in relation
to gender and development, poverty
reduction, health and HIV/AIDS and
democratisation. He was recently elected a
member of the Editorial Board of Journal of
Management of the Uganda Management
Institute, Kampala.
13

Elizabeth Kharono
Presenter: Food
security, livelihood and
Women’s Land Rights:
What if Women gave
up
CLEAR-Uganda is engaged in an action
research process to add impetus to
efforts to increase household food security
through local action in Mbale district to
achieve MDG 1 by 2015. She has been an
active member of the women’s movement,
generally, and the women’s land rights
research and advocacy for over ten years.
Was lead consultant in the 1997 Women’s
Land Rights research which highlighted
women’s interests in land for incorporation
in the 1998 Land Act. Amongst the
researches she has done is a comparative
study of women’s land rights and its impact
of agricultural productivity in Lira and
Mbale districts, which was done under the
auspices of the FAO.
Dr. Consolata
Kabonesa
Presenter: Gauging
the African Union
Framework and
guidelines on land
policy in Africa.
Capturing WLR in the
National Land Policy
development process in
Uganda.
Dr. Consolata Kabonesa is a Senior
Lecturer and Head of the Department
of Women and Gender Studies, Faculty
of Social Sciences, Makerere University,
Kampala Uganda. Dr. Kabonesa teaches a
wide range of courses that focus on human
rights, peace and conflict transformation
from a gender perspective; gender
focused research methodology, theoretical
perspectives on women and gender, and
gender and social representation.
She has thirteen ten years of experience
as a gender analyst and researcher,
gender trainer, and facilitator in areas of
gender, land, health, employment and
human rights. Areas of research interest
include gender, human rights and conflict
transformation; gender employment rights
for women, gender and health particularly
HIV/AIDS, gender and land tenure systems
in Uganda and their effects on women’s
productivity,
She attained a Ph.D. in Human and
Community Development with a minor in
Gender Roles in International Development
(multidisciplinary studies in Social
Sciences), and MS in Human Development
and Family Studies from the University
of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA;
MA in English and American Literature
and Higher Diploma in Education from
University College Dublin, Ireland; and
BA in Liberal Arts from Stonehill College,
Massachusetts, USA.
Rose Nakayi
Presenter: Enhancing
access to Justice for
women
Ms. Rose Nakayi is an Assistant
Lecturer at the Faculty of Law
Makerere University since 2002. During
this period, her duties have included
teaching and researching various areas of
the Law, but mainly Land Law. Other than
that, her past research has been done
14

while consulting for Organizations like: The
Forest Peoples’ Land Rights (London), The
Center for Constitutionalism (Kituo Cha
Katiba), Amnesty International, etc. She
was Project Coordinator of the Uganda
Coalition for the International Criminal
Court (UCICC), at Human Rights Network
Uganda (HURINET- U) from February to
June of 2008.
At this task, she implemen ted projects
to do with raising awareness on the
Rome Statute of the International Criminal
Court, and human rights in the context of
armed conflict mainly in northern Uganda.
Prior to this, Ms. Nakayi was involved in
administration at the Faculty of Law, as Cocoordinator
of the LL.M program in Human
Rights and Democratization in Africa run by
the University of Pretoria (South Africa) in
partnership with over four others in Africa
including Makerere. Ms. Nakayi took part
in a fellowship program of the International
Center for Transitional Justice based in
New York, conducted in Cape Town South
Africa in 2007. She also won the prestigious
Fulbright scholarship from 2008 through
2010 to pursue doctoral research.
Ms. Nakayi is an advocate. She holds
an LL.B from Makerere University and a
Diploma in Legal Practice from the Law
Development Center in Kampala obtained
in 1999 and 2001 respectively. She has an
LL.M degree from Clare Hall, University of
Cambridge (U.K) which she acquired in the
year 2001. Currently, Ms. Nakayi is pursuing
a doctorate at Notre Dame Law School
in Indiana, USA. Her doctoral research
concerns the dynamics of land rights in the
“customary space” in northern Uganda in
the milieu of the ongoing transition from
armed conflict to peace.
15
Lady Justice Anna
Magezi
Presenter: The role of
case law in upholding
women’s land rights
She started work in 1970 at the Attorney
General’s Chambers in Uganda where
she served as a State Attorney working in
Administrator General’s Office. She was
transferred to the Judiciary to administer
justice as a grade one Magistrate and Chief
Magistrate. She subsequently became
a judge in the Industrial Court of Uganda
where she served for 10years while settling
labour disputes. She also chaired the
Labour Law Committee which championed
Labour Law review culminating into the
existing Labour Laws in Uganda. In 1980,
she was appointed a High Court Judge
where she worked in Civil, Family, Criminal
and Land Divisions. She participated in
the founding of the Land Users Committee
which enhances active participation of
stakeholders with land disputes.
Anna Magezi graduated as a Barrister at
Law and was called to the English Bar at
Lincoln Inn London in 1970. In 2009, she
obtained a Masters Degree from Utrecht
University NL where she specialized in
International Law. In between she has
attended short courses on Women in
Development at Sussex University, in the
UK and also at other places in the USA.
As a woman activist, she was a founder
member of the Uganda chapter of FIDA
(The Federation of Women Lawyers), the
Magistrates Association and Chairperson
of the Judges Association of Uganda which
held a successful International Women
Judges Conference in Uganda during her
tenure as Chairperson. In June, 2010, she
was privileged to attend a Reconciliation
and Mediation Course at RIPA in England

which opportunity enhanced her desire to
promote Alternative Dispute Resolution in
Land matters as well as other disputes in
order to access justice to all and especially
the vulnerable such as women.
Hon. Dora Christine
Kanabahita
Byamukama
Presenter: The
implications of the
provisions of Marriage,
Divorce & Separation
Laws on Women Land
Rights.
Professional Skills: Dora is a highly
experienced Advocate; with a Masters
Degree in Law from Georgetown University-
USA, a Post-Graduate Diploma in Legal
Practice from the Law Development Center-
Kampala and a Bachelor of Laws Degree
from Makerere University-Kampala.
She is a 1996/7 Fellow of the Women
and Public Policy Fellowship Program
and participated in the Leadership and
Advocacy for Women in Africa (LAWA)
Fellowship Program located at Georgetown
University-USA.
Politics: Dora is a Member of the East
African Legislative Assembly for the period
2007-2012; representing the Republic
of Uganda in this Regional Parliament.
She currently serves on the House
Business Committee which is in charge
of the management and administration
of EALA, and on the Accounts and Rules
and Privileges Committees. She is also
the Secretary General of EALA Women’s
Forum.
Dora is a member of the National
Resistance Movement (NRM) National
Disciplinary Committee, in charge of the
ruling party discipline.
From 2001-2006 she served as a directly
elected Member of Parliament of the
Republic of Uganda; for Mwenge County
South, Kyenjojo District, Tooro Kingdom.
During her tenure as Member of Parliament,
she served on the Select Committee on
Election Violence; and chaired Committees
on - Legal and Parliamentary Affairs; Equal
Opportunities and a Select Committee on
Industrial Relations.
International Consultant And Expert:
Dora has worked as a Consultant
to World Bank, UNFPA, UNDP,
PriceWaterHouseCoopers and UNIFEM
on various topics:- these include, “Delivery
of Justice in Decentralized Arrangements”;
the impact of culture on women’s rights;
women’s land rights; sexual and gender
based violence, women’s reproductive
rights, labour rights and micro-finance.
Dora also worked as an Expert for
Club of Madrid on the African Women
Leaders Project. The Club of Madrid is
an organization comprising more than 70
democratic former Heads of States and
Governments from 50 countries. Its African
Women Leaders Project provided support
to high level women leaders in Nigeria,
Sierra Leone and Uganda.
She also currently works as a United Nations
Expert on Female Genital Mutilation and
Violence Against Women.
International Representative: Dora is a
nominee of 2009 Class of GlobalPOWER
[Partnership of Women Elected/Appointed
Representatives] which entity creates
sustainable, long-term partnership among
a select group of elected women leaders
from around the world. She is also part of
the Global Women’s Rights Network.
She also serves at Vice Chair on the
E-Parliament Council, where she represents
the Africa Region. The E-Parliament is a
Forum that links legislators and citizens
together worldwide to help solve issues on
climate change, energy and democracy.
Dora is President of the International
Development Law Organization (IDLO)
Alumni Association.
16

Women’s Rights Activist: Dora’s women’s
rights activism spans a period of over 20
years. She is a prolific writer and has
written several newspaper and academic
articles on women’s rights. She has also
made numerous presentations on gender
budgeting; women’s political, economic
and social rights and advocated and drafted
several laws that promote women’s rights.
These, include laws on - on establishment
of the Equal Opportunities Commission,
Sexual Harassment in the World of Work,
Persons With Disability, Trafficking in
Persons Bill, Female Genital Mutilation,
succession, marriage, divorce and
separation, land ownership, labour laws,
micro-finance and reproductive health.
Strategic Litigator: Dora has courageously
and successfully used strategic litigation
to challenge laws and practices that
discriminate against women by petitioning
the Constitutional Court of the Republic
of Uganda. Strategic Litigation serves to
ensure that laws are in conformity with
human rights principles enshrined in
international legal instruments and the
Uganda Constitution. It thus provides
direction for Parliament in the law making
process and contributes to judicial
precedents. Laws and practices challenged
include the Divorce Act; Succession Act; the
Penal Code Act on Criminal Adultery and
the practice of Female Genital Mutilation.
Strategic litigation has been executed
under Law and Advocacy for Women in
Uganda (LAW-Uganda) – for which Dora
serves as a Director and co-founded with
Kulsum Wakabi (RIP) in 1997.
Civil Society Organizations: Dora
has served in the leadership of several
vibrant Civil Society Organizations such
as the Uganda Association of Women
Lawyers (FIDA-Uganda), Uganda Women
Parliamentarians Association (UWOPA) ;
Uganda Women’s Network (UWONET) and
The Human Rights Network (HURINET).
MARY SSONKO
NABACWA (PhD.)
Presenter: The Impact
of the succession laws
on the realization of
women’s land rights
Mary Ssonko Nabacwa is a Senior
Lecturer at Uganda Christian
University, Mukono. She holds a Doctorate
in Development Studies of the University
of Wales, Swansea, UK. Her doctorate
focused on interests and relationships
among gender focused NGOs with special
focus on Ugandan NGOs. She holds a
Masters of Arts, Women Studies degree of
Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda as
well as a Bachelor of Arts, Social Sciences
degree of Makerere University, Kampala,
Uganda. Mary has worked as a lecturer,
researcher and advisor on development
issues especially in relation to gender and
development. She has written a number of
papers and publications.
Mary has worked with key international
development organisations such as World
Vision International Uganda and ActionAid
Uganda. She has undertaken a number of
research projects on gender and women
land rights, the projects including: Statutory
laws and the realisation of women’s
property rights, a case of the office of the
administrator general funded by Uganda
Land Alliance; Emerging land related issues
in the Acholi sub-region; northern Uganda
funded by Makerere Institute of Social
Research; Interests and Relationships
in NGO gender advocacy: A case of
Uganda – doctoral thesis, University of
Wales Swansea, Centre for Development
Studies and Policies and practices towards
women’s empowerment: Policy Advocacy
by gender focused NGOs and the realities
of grassroots women in Uganda funded by
Action Aid Uganda.
17

Mary has theoretical knowledge on a
number of development issues including
the following: lobbying and advocacy;
civil society and development policy;
development policy and planning;
gender and development; the state and
development; civil society networks;
inter-agency (donors, government and
civil society) relations; co-ordination of
international and national NGO development
programmes; community development;
research methods in development among
others.
Human Rights Law-with distinction from
the University of Essex (UK) and a
diploma in Legal Practice from the Law
Development Centre. He is currently
pursuing his PHD in the University of
Cape Town in South Africa.
Margaret Kakande
Presenter: Gender
Budgeting
Livingstone
Sewanyana
Presenter: Women’s
land Rights and
Decentralisation
As an international human rights lawyer,
he has engaged in a vast array of
activities in advocacy and training. He has
previously served as the Deputy Secretary
General of Penal Reform International, as
a member of the International Advisory
Council, HURIDOC, in Switzerland and
currently serves on several boards. He has
completed several consulting assignments
in the areas of election monitoring,
advocacy for policy change, organizational
development and human rights training for
several organizations including the United
Nations Elections Monitoring Group in
Malawi, Human Rights Network’s trainings
in Sierra Leone, the Danish Centre for
Human Rights training in Human Rights
Procedures in Vietnam and the World
Bank’s country cooperation strategy in
Uganda.
Mr. Sewanyana holds a Bachelor of Laws
degree (Hons) from Makerere University,
a Master of Laws degree in International
Over 14 years as Poverty Analyst in
Ministry of Finance, Planning and
Economic Development. Among other
duties, Margaret spearheaded the process
of mainstreaming gender into the Poverty
Eradication Action Plans. Since 2004
she has led the process of gender and
equity budgeting in government at the
national level. Margaret has also written
and published widely; and conducted
consultancy work for various national and
international organizations.
2008- Present: Head-Budget Monitoring
and Accountability Unit, Ministry of
Finance
1996-2008: Head- Poverty Monitoring and
Analysis Unit, Ministry of Finance, Planning
and Economic Development
1992-1995: Social policy Advisor,
Programme for Alleviation of Poverty and
Social costs of Adjustment (PAPSCA)
1991-1992: Social Infrastructure Economist,
Project Monitoring and Evaluation Unit,
Ministry of Finance and Economic
Planning
18

1989-1991: Ag Associate Director, Institute
of Statistics and Applied Economics
Currently, a member of various bodies: Chair
of the Advisory group to the International
Chronic Poverty Centre, Manchester
University; Chair of Council for Economic
Empowerment of women (CEEWA)–
Uganda Chapter; President of the Uganda
Evaluation Association; Board member
for the Centre for Women in Governance
(CEWIGO); AT Uganda; and the Energy
Development Network-Uganda.
Margaret holds a Bachelor of Statistics
(Makerere University); MA Development
Economics (University of East Anglia,
UK); Post Graduate Diploma in
Feminist Economics ( ISS-The Hague-
Netherlands).
Rachel Odoi Musoke
Presenter: How
government intends
to implement the
transitional justice
program for Northern
Uganda
She is responsible for the implementation
of the Sector’s strategic investment
plan and overseeing the reform processes
in reference to these two focus areas. She
is also currently the coordinator of the
Sector’s Transitional Justice processes
under the Transitional Justice Working
Group.
Ms. Odoi-Musoke is a holder of Bachelor
of Laws degree from Makerere University
and a Master of Laws from the University
of the Witwatersrand. She has previously
worked in the areas of human rights
focusing on socio-economic rights and on
environmental law as well as practicing as
an Advocate.
A cry for women’s Land
Rights
By: Esther Obaikol
For decades we have left the issue of
women’s security of tenure at the mercy
of our clans, brothers, fathers, uncles, inlaws.
Generation after generation, we have
blamed culture, tradition and customs for
our plight.
We live in poverty not because we cannot
produce enough but because we do not
control what we produce.
We cannot afford better health and
education for our own children not because
we do not have the capacity to deliver
this, but because we do not control the
proceeds of our labour and make decisions
on our fields to enhance on household
development.
We have been kept at the back of the
debates on land not because we do not
know what to say, but because they will not
let us say.
We are threatened with divorce, death
and violence- a threat that is so engrained
in our minds and lives that we can only
own land through our sons and brothers.
Despite the many international treaties and
the constitutional provisions on equality
between men and women, security of
tenure for women has remained elusive.
We have lost confidence in who we are.
The commonly cited statistics of 16%
women own land 80% and producers have
become rhetoric.
A new day has come for women in Uganda
not as secondary citizens but as primary
citizens of this country, land forms part of
one’s identity and heritage. No longer do we
19

want our land rights to be kept in the private
domain only accessing it through marriage
or male relatives making us secondary
owners and thus less than citizens but to
bring us to the public domain where we
share at the same table as citizens’ equal
in status with men.
Women’s rights to land are human rights and
must be recognised as such. Substantive
land reforms that boldly provide for equality
not in access but in ownership and control
of land by men and women stands out
key for us. This equality should extend to
customary tenure which forms over 80% of
land in Uganda and where most of us live.
Women’s land Rights are Human Rights
and we need not make further justification.
We, the women in Uganda are not going
to continue burying our heads in the sand.
We are claiming rightfully what belongs
to us. We must be recognised as citizens
with equal rights as men, this equality not
being of outcomes but equality of Rights,
resources and voice. We stand up united
with one voice as citizens of this country.
Our land, our dignity.
MEMBERS OF THE WOMEN'S LAND RIGHTS MOVEMENT WORKING GROUP
Name E-mail Phone Organization District
1 Agnes Kirabo agneskirabo@yahoo.com 772564951 VEDCO Kampala
2 Anna Magezi (Justice) anna_magezi@yahoo.com 752700777 High Court Kampala
3 Annet Kabarungi akabarungi@yahoo.com 703205353 Min. of Gender Kampala
4 Debra Musuya clear.uganda@gmail.com 757994353 Clear Mbale
5 Deborah Gasana dgasana.lap@uls.or.ug 774370115 ULS Kampala
6 Elizabeth Kharono clear.uganda@gmail.com 712651673 CLEAR Mbale
7 Emmanuel Kabishanga kabishanga@gmail.com 712717105 New Horizons Kampala
8 Esther Obaikol eobaikol@ulaug.org 414540048 ULA Kampala
9 Elizabeth Nahamya (Justice) 777336024 War Crimes Kampala
10 Federice Nshemereirwe fnshemereirwe@yahoo.com 772387928 Min. Agriculture Kampala
11 Frances Birungi birungifrances@yahoo.com 772926214 UCOBAC Kampala
12 Ignatius Oloyi ignatius_oloyi@yahoo.ca 703042950 LEMU Kampala
13 Judy Adoko judyadoko@yahoo.com 703042950 LEMU Kampala
14 Justice Anna Magezi anna_magezi@yahoo.com 752700777 High Court Kampala
15 Justine Kyarikunda kyaristine@yahoo.com 782705488 NAWOU Kampala
16 J.S Mpagi sanyumpagi@yahoo.co.uk 772516980 Min. of Gender Kampala
17 Maria Gorette Karuhanga mmgorette@yahoo.com 772883232 FIDA Kampala
18 Miriam Ismail bahai.oea@gmail.com 713839925 BAHAI Kampala
19 Monica Birungi monibiru@yahoo.com 712121094 ULS Kampala
20 Santino Dramani dramanisantos@yahoo.com 752658296 Min. Lands Kampala
21 Sophie Kyagulanyi sophie.kyagulanyi@actionaid.org 414510016 Action Aid Kampala
22 Laureen Karayi laureen@uwonet.or.ug 775555478 UWONET Kampala
23 Tumusiime K. Deo tdeo@ulaug.org 712075721 ULA Kampala
20

Contacts & logos of pioneer member
organizations
Ministry of Gender Labour
and Social Development
Ministry of Justice and
Constitutional Affairs
Ministry of Lands, Housing
and Urban Development
Ministry of Agriculture, Animal
Industry & Fisheries
Uganda Land alliance
41-4-540048
ula@ulaug.org
LEMU
77-2-856212
lemu@utlonline.co.ug
Legal Aid Project
41-4-342412
uls@uls.or.ug
Action Aid Uganda
41-4-510016
aaiu.info@actionaid.org
NAWOU
41-4-258463
nawou@uol.co.ug
UWONET
41-4-286539
info@uwonet.or.ug
FIDA
41-4-530848
fida@fidauganda.or.ug
VEDCO
41-4-270598
vedco@vedco.or.ug
New Horizons
71-2-717105
kabishanga@gmail.com
Bahai Faith
772401109
oeabahai@spacenet.co.ug
CLEAR
75-7-994353
clear.uganda@gmail.com
21

23
Coordinating Office
Block 29, Plot 1521 Mawanda Road, Kamwokya,
P. O. Box 26990 Kampala,
Tel: +256-414-540048
Fax: +256-414-540038
Email: wlrm-uganda@ulaug.org