A Woman & her Land - Uganda Land Alliance

Contextual Background from the fieldclaims to land in customary arrangements are muchstronger than suggested by many studies becauseof their embedment in social relations…”Sadly to date in many cultures, land inheritanceremains a preserve of the boy child, while the womenare only allowed user rights. To make mattersworse, even the few women that are chanced toinherit land from either their parents or husbands,later have it grabbed from them by close relativesor in some instances by outsiders-just because theyare women!There are four land tenure systems in Ugandanamely; Mailo, Freehold, Leasehold andCustomary.However, considering women’s torrid backgroundwhere they are just emerging from the “kitchen’,the surest tenure for women to acquire land hasbeen the Customary, and most specifically throughinheritance. This is confirmed by the Africa StudiesQuarterly, which states that “Many scholars havefound elsewhere in Africa that, in reality, women’sMajority of the rural women are very poor and haveno capacity for legal representation, which putsthem at a huge disadvantage when faced with landrelated court cases. However, there is a glimmerof hope as some few scattered women across thecountry have successfully been assisted to fightfor their land rights either through formal courtsystems or out of court settlements. The UgandaLand Alliance visited the districts of Amuru, Apac,Gulu, Pader, Hoima, Kyenjojo, Mubende and Jinjato capture the voices of those successful women,whose cases should serve as an example to othersfacing similar challenges.3