A Woman & her Land - Uganda Land Alliance

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Case StudiesAs Molly Etap (55) led us to Rufino Alado’s(83) home, and with her arm outstretched,she pointed to the vast piece of land given to herby her late father way back in 1981. At Alado’shome, we were welcomed by the deafening noisefrom the barking dogs, but sooner than later, theentire compound was filled with an aura of joy aswe quickly settled in. Molly then walked straight toMzee Alado, who was having his lunch, and tightlyembraced him as a mark of their renewed friendship.The two live on opposite hills in Chawente SubCounty, Apac District.In 1981, when Molly’s marriage soured up, shereturned to her father’s home. She decided never toget married again [to date]. Her father gave her apiece of land to start a new life, but little did sheknow that several years later she would be involvedin a protracted struggle to retain the same. At 55,Molly did not have any biological child says shetakes care of “uncountable” children and her elderlymother (no record of age). During the interview, wewere surrounded by at least 10 children, all belowthe age of 12.Trouble started in 2004 when one Alado Rufino“started claiming my land. I reported to theLC I and won the case, but he appealed to LC III again won the case at LC II but he appealed toLC III and I still won”.Alado was not about to give up. He proceededto the Magistrate’s Court of Apac and Molly wassummoned. However, after 6 years of struggle in theformal courts punctuated by repeated adjournments,and after both parties spending so much in termsof money and time, Mr. Rufino requested that heand Molly seek an alternative form of resolvingtheir long standing conflict. Molly accepted thesuggestion and the two presented their case beforethe Uganda Land Alliance in conjunction with theLango Traditional Leaders Association that calledfor a meeting with the parties.At the meeting, “We started with prayers, and theelders read for us a verse from the Bible. They thenasked us to go out and negotiate. Rufino requesteda share of the land. I said I would only give himon condition that he admits the land doesn’t belongto him.” According to Molly, Rufino admitted andthe two returned to the meeting with a wide smileand broke the news. The entire mediation processis said to have lasted about 2 weeks. According toMolly, Mr. Rufino who owns another piece of landelsewhere was tempted to snatch Molly’s land afterthe death of her two brothers.“After I won Rufino, it came to my mind thatit would be very bad to remain enemies with himsince we stay in the same village. I consulted myfamily and decided to give him a piece of land.We have been living peacefully since then”.Mr. Rufino told us that;“The conflict was resolved and now we areliving together with no problem.”Rufino walked to his house, picked out a file andshowed us copies of documents verifying that thecase had been settled. One of the letters, Reference,CL/D/2010 dated 10th/March 2010, indicated that21 people had participated in inspecting the landbefore the case was rested.10
Molly Etap shows her piece of land at Chawente Sub-County, Apac district. (and with her armoutstretched, she pointed to the vast piece of land given to her by her late father way back in 1981)Molly Etap poses for a group photograph with her family after the interviewat her home in Chawente Sub-County, Apac districtMolly Etap digging in her garden at Chawente Sub-County,Apac district11Case Studies
Page 1 and 2: A Woman&her LandA Ray of Hope Beaco
Page 3 and 4: Copyright © 2011, Uganda Land Alli
Page 5 and 6: AppreciationThe Uganda Land Allianc
Page 7 and 8: Executive commentEsther ObaikolExec
Page 9 and 10: Background to Women’s Land Rights
Page 11 and 12: Contextual Background from the fiel
Page 13 and 14: Amelia Kabayaga (65)from Butiiti Ky
Page 15 and 16: Betrayed by a friend she loved so m
Page 17: Case StudiesApacDistrictMolly Etap
Page 21 and 22: Esther Aciro may not have lived to
Page 23 and 24: Case StudiesGULUDistrictLease of Li
Page 25 and 26: Case StudiesHOIMADistrictDespite th
Page 27 and 28: Case StudiesMwebaze and Co. Advocat
Page 29 and 30: Case Studiessurrounding land was gi
Page 31 and 32: Case StudiesMUBENDEDistrictHow the
Page 33 and 34: Case StudiesJuliet Kusemela’s mot
Page 35 and 36: Even when her brother in-law threat
Page 37: The Uganda Land Alliance Secretaria

A Woman & her Land - Uganda Land Alliance

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