Land ownership rights: A barrier to gender

equality and economic empowerment of

Ugandan women
by Dragica DimovaJanuary 21, 2022
Gender and economic inequalities are still very pervasive within countries across the world.
Despite the considerable progress made on promoting women’s economic empowerment
and reducing gender inequalities through strategies, programs, and interventions, many
countries are still struggling to provide and ensure equal social, economic, and political
participation and inclusion of women.

Uganda is one of the countries where gender inequalities are a crucial barrier to economic
growth. For most Ugandans, the land is a sensitive issue but also a valuable resource of
wealth and a significant part of their identity. According to an article published in 2018 by
The World Bank, 70 percent of the population in Uganda is employed in agriculture, making
agriculture the main and most important resource for livelihood for Ugandans. Even though
the natural resources and agriculture is substantial, women in this country face numerous
cultural and legal barriers that affect their rights and prevent them from fully enjoying their
property and land ownership rights. To understand Ugandan women’s role in society and
their reality better, I have talked to Sarah Kusiima, a lawyer and a women’s rights advocate
living and working in Uganda. Sarah has obtained her master’s degree in Land
Management from the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden, and has
vast experience in land-related matters. Her Master’s thesis was on “Computerisation of
Land Registry: Challenges and Implications for the Mailo Tenure Security and Rights”.
Currently, in Uganda, there are four land tenure systems with the Mailo land tenure system
being the most complex one. In the country, the land market is growing at a high rate,
especially in the Central region of Uganda where the Mailo tenure system is mainly present,
and land registration is impeded by many barriers.

According to Sarah’s research, there is a low efficiency regarding the Mailo land registration
because of using an out-of-date system that prevents many people to register, follow up or
process their land titles. The citizens are not educated on how to register their land and
Uganda’s Ministry of Land, Housing and Urban Development lacks adequate policy and
procedures on land information and registration. Throughout her master’s thesis, Sarah has
sought to assess the land rights status in Mailo land areas and how the analog and
computerized systems of storing land records at the central registry would improve
information storage and land rights accessibility. In her thesis, she aimed at answering two
research questions: “Will reforming the central land registry system of land record keeping
improve the land tenure status of Ugandans?” and “What factors inherent in the land
registry constrain land rights transfer for Mailo land tenants?”. According to Sarah, the
security of tenure is critical for settlement and economic reasons as the Mailo tenure system
covers the most densely populated and highly developed region of the country. Her
research findings indicated that the tracing of the documents in the land registers requires
considerable time and effort which has resulted in duplication of information within registers
or mixing up of land registration documents due to the manual handling of the cases. Other
findings indicated that despite being very vital, the daily case handling processes within the
land registers lacked documented procedures and controls for improving the effectiveness
within the process. Sarah has concluded that land registers in Uganda have been overused,
old, and in a poor state which posed a risk for the land information in the registers to be lost
if the Ministry failed to secure the registers and strengthen the methods of information
capture and storage.

Sarah’s Master’s thesis deals with an important issue that indicates Uganda’s institutional
constraints and is correlated to the issue discussed in this article. Aside from land tenure
and property law, Sarah’s area of expertise includes human rights, especially women’s
rights to land, economic empowerment, food security, and poverty reduction. She has
worked on legislation to advocate for equitable land rights in rural settings and has worked
with the African Union’s Peace and Security Council on a project focusing on transitional
justice and post-conflict land tenure relations regarding women and children’s rights to
land. “Uganda as a country has made significant strides in the advancement of women’s
rights. To reduce gender-based discrimination, the government has stepped up in their
attempts to incorporate and integrate gender into policymaking,” says Sarah. Despite the
efforts and slow progress, the unequal distribution of land and structural inequalities still
prevail and pose a barrier to social, economic, and political development and a threat to the
advancement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Uganda.

The issues at stake 

Equal property rights have been a long-running issue, limiting women’s economic
opportunities, security, and productive potential. The Ugandan women make up the majority
of the agricultural labor force, meaning their contribution to the economic development of
the country is essential and yet, women’s role as crucial contributors is greatly
disregarded. The Uganda Bureau of Statistics’ (UBOS) statistical abstract [PDF] published
in 2020 indicates that while the majority of the working population from 2009 to 2017
engaged in the agricultural industry were females, women were also paid less than men
with notable differences between their monthly earnings. Moreover, the Uganda Economic
Update report published by the World Bank Group in 2021 states that even though women
constitute 75 percent of the country’s population, in the Lango sub-region in Uganda, 70
percent of the land is owned by men while only 5 percent is owned by women. As the
inequalities, vulnerability, and inequity have increased due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this
report emphasizes the importance of women’s access, control, and ownership of land, as
well as empowerment and inclusion of women in economic activities and decision-making
processes.

According to the statistical abstract by UBOS and the report published by the World Bank
Group, it is apparent that the trend of women’s economic disempowerment in Uganda is
persistent. This issue is also acknowledged and thoroughly addressed by the Danish
International Development Agency (DANIDA) as their main objective in the Denmark-
Uganda Partnership 2018-2022 Country Programme Document. Through financial support
DANIDA has been a major contributor to Uganda’s development, aligning their program’s
objectives with the SDGs and the Uganda Vision 2040. Due to Uganda’s economic decline,
it is essential for the issues of economic inclusion and empowerment to be addressed and
requires a multifaceted approach. As Uganda’s key partner, DANIDA has been supporting
the agricultural development of the country, with particular attention to economic
empowerment and inclusion of the marginalized group of women and youth. DANIDA’s
Uganda Programme for Sustainable and Inclusive Development of the Economy (UPSIDE)
prioritizes women and youth as its key target group with the goal to support and increase
their social and economic empowerment.

Ugandan legislation proclaims gender equality and equal opportunities and rights for men
and women but, there is a gap between policies and practice, and the complex land issue is
not completely regulated by law. Despite the progressive legal framework and the fact that
the Constitution of Uganda, Uganda’s Land Act, and the National Land Policy all recognize
and guarantee women’s land ownership rights and equal payment, other discriminatory
laws such as the Succession Act and the Divorce Act negatively affect women’s
empowerment and contribute to further widening the gap in land ownership. The current
Uganda’s Succession Act – a law regulating the property of a deceased person through a
will – discriminates and denies widows from inheriting land as the land is passed to the
closest male relative to the deceased person. This law prevents women from exercising
their rights and deepens the already existing gender inequalities, therefore making women a
particularly vulnerable group. Traditionally, in Uganda, men are considered to have the right
to land and resource ownership, while women are expected to be economically dependent
and are excluded from having control or ownership of land. “You cannot resolve historical
injustice and deeply-rooted discriminatory systems simply by legislative reforms to provide
for a gender-neutral law. You need deliberate economic and social reforms which will target
the empowerment and transformation of the disadvantaged groups,” explains Sarah.

Culture as a barrier to economic equality

Another barrier towards the economic empowerment of women is the persistent cultural
practices and deeply entrenched gender biases that prevent women from equally
participating in society and having equal control and ownership of land as men. The laws
which fail to protect women from discrimination combined with harmful practices and norms
negatively affect women’s livelihoods and reinforce their oppression in the Ugandan society.
According to Sarah, different roles are given to people in Uganda from a very young age.
The young boys have the role of authority, while the girls have a subordinate role and are
responsible mainly for the domestic work. “The issue of patriarchy is quite an intricate
aspect of our day-to-day life events,” Sarah states.

The inability of women to own land creates a series of issues in Uganda’s patriarchal
society. The patriarchal practices affect the economic growth and development of the
country, negatively impact the health, education, food security, and overall well-being of
women and their children as well.

“There are serious significant obstacles to access education for women and girls in Uganda.
The boys are favored to continue with their education over girls and girls have higher drop-
out rates, in part due to early marriage and pregnancy,” explains Sarah. Being less
educated than men, women are often not aware of their rights and are not informed of how
to take legal action to protect their rights. “Cultural and religious norms tend to dictate
access and use of their rights even for educated women,” she continues. As a result of
these cultural practices, women are not seen worthy of owning land and their socio-
economic responsibilities and contribution are often underappreciated, limiting women to
provide for themselves and their children. “Women continue to face severe legal and
cultural obstacles to ownership of property, including land and inheritance,” says Sarah.

New legislation: A light at the end of the tunnel? 

With the effort to fight against discrimination and promote gender equality concerning land
ownership, in March 2021, the Ugandan Parliament passed two Bills. The new Succession
Amendment Bill and the Employment Amendment Bill were passed in order for the country
to ensure equality of women regarding land ownership and to legally protect women from
sexual violence and harassment in the workplace. The Succession Amendment Bill
provides the right for widows to be able to inherit the land after the death of the spouse and
ensures equality of the distribution of property between men and women.

The removal of the legal constraints regarding women’s land rights is a big step towards
safeguarding and enhancing the rights of vulnerable groups. However, the Succession Bill
is not a law yet and according to Sarah, it cannot be speculated whether or not this will help
the widows and regulate their land ownership rights. Even though Uganda does not have
any laws that explicitly prohibit women to access or own land, the state’s institutional
structures struggle with the implementation and enforcement of its pro-gender policies and
regulations. The efforts made by the government to improve women’s land rights and their
role in society could go overlooked if they fail to address the issue by applying an integral
and multi-sectoral approach in order to tackle the prevailing gender inequalities and social
biases. 

“A change of mindset is critical in order to achieve the set targets and we still have a long
way to go,” states Sarah.

The future of Ugandan women depends on the measures taken by the government to close
the policy-practice gap and implement effective national policies, but also on the women’s
attitude towards gender equality because according to Sarah, “Some of the women are still
so much ingrained into cultural and religious beliefs that any legislation outside of those
beliefs is considered as unacceptable and therefore, a no-go zone”. Moreover, effective
implementation of the policies to ensure closing of the gender and pay gap in the country is
needed to accelerate the progress towards the 2030 Agenda and improve the socio-
economic development of the country.

Conclusion

In Uganda, the number of problems concerning land ownership and rights is significant and
land injustice is persistent. From traditional gender roles, patriarchal practices, economic
and opportunity inequalities to legal limitations, inefficiency of the land registry, and lack of
accountability of the land sector, the obstacles blocking women’s advancement are far too
many. Despite the international support and development cooperation, the issue of land
ownership and economic empowerment of women in Uganda needs a much deeper
national approach, effective strategies, and reforms. The intertwined systemic issues create
numerous barriers for women and the harmful social practices prevent them from thriving
and unlocking their full potential. What the future holds for the women of Uganda, and
whether the long-awaited new legislation will bring transformative changes to successfully
lift women out of poverty and strengthen their role in society, remains to be seen. 

Date: December 16th 2015

By Rogers Mugabo 
The women and men in Uganda do not own land on equal basis and there is no consensus as to
whether women ought to own, access and control land or not. 
This is because, effective statutory laws protecting land, inheritance and property rights of
women including the widowed, divorced, separated or those in co-habitation are critically
missing. 
The Government has been very slow to improve legal equality between women and men through
legislating on family laws that would increase gender equality that would in turn increase
women’s access to matrimonial property and inheritance rights. 
Generally, there is lack of clear laws to address equality in land ownership, divorce and marriage
which affects women’s capacity to enjoy equal rights with men, and this affects their women’s
health, economic and social rights. Consequently, women continue to be disadvantaged by
prevailing gender inequalities as a result of persistent negative and discriminatory practices
which affects women’s economic and social well-being. 
Majority of the people in Uganda including some women assert that, traditionally land belongs to
men which in my view are incorrect. For example, the traditional and cultural practices of most
communities in pre-colonial Uganda enabled both women and men to access land. Neither men
nor women owned land; they both had equal access to land and the issue of ownership did not
arise.
It is only when colonialists introduced capitalism that the issue of men owning land was
introduced while women and children were expected to provide free labor in order to maximize
on profits. Land and property were appropriated by men as “bread-winners” surprisingly today,
men continue to be regarded as bread-winners even in circumstances where it is their wives
sustaining the families. 
To this, the assertion that traditionally land belongs to men is a clear evidence of men’s greed
towards property grabbing and money. Different societies in Uganda have conferred different
roles and responsibilities to men and women within the households and in communities. In
general, they have entrusted reproductive chores, food crop production and food processing to
women but resources such as land needed to meet these responsibilities are vested in men.
Women play a critical role in the sustenance of their families, communities and the country’s
agricultural sector and they constitute the largest work force on land where they produce food,
engage in small scale home-based businesses and contribute significantly to the country’s
economy. In spite of the significant scientific and technological advancements in all spheres of
life, land is still a very important resource for the livelihoods especially the rural women. 
However, the extent to which land is owned, controlled and accessed in Uganda remains a highly
male dominated. Tradition long standing discrimination of women through norms and practices
that exclude women from owning, inheriting and controlling land in society continue to deprive
women of land rights, thereby perpetuating women’s economic dependence on male relatives. 
It is this continued economic dependency of women on men that has maintained in part women’s
poverty, prevailing domestic violence, women’s absence in decision-making processes and
continued violation of their property rights. For example, women in the oil and gas region of
Bunyoro have experienced discrimination in land compensation and sales especially where
government acquired land for the oil refinery. 
Compensation of households affected was effected from the unfair and unequal consideration of
household head thereby condoning unequal compensation of spouses with women being almost
excluded from the processes.
Despite the recommendations from CEDAW Committee Concluding observations on Uganda
state report in 2010, Uganda has not done much to address inequalities faced by women. For
instance, Parliament has failed to pass the marriage and Divorce laws and the Succession Bill.
Uganda needs to move a step ahead and fully eradicate formal discrimination between women
and men. 
Uganda also needs to take meaningful steps to address substantive discrimination by persisting
negative cultural practices that has deprived women of land and property. The recent Concluding
Observations and recommendations from the Committee on Economic Social Cultural Rights
(CESCR) to Uganda-2015, reiterates the steps Uganda should take.          
Whereas i recommend some positive developments that have taken place in terms of law and
policy reform in favour of women’s land and property rights such as the National Land policy
2013, I also remind government that the implementation and enforcement of such laws and
policies remains a huge challenge.  
A more holistic approach is still needed to reform all family laws, and to link the gaps in the law
and the practices on ground particularly those related to inheritance and matrimonial property
and land ownership. The Women of Uganda are demanding the government to take action for
meaningful gender equality reforms if they are to realise their land and property rights. 
The writer is a human rights activist and the director of programmes at Centre for Economic
Social Cultural Rights in Africa (CESCRA).