By Witness Radio team.
Civil society groups working on land-related issues and women land rights defenders from different communities in Uganda are meeting in Kampala to devise ways to strengthen women’s participation and decision-making in land governance.
Women generally are not meaningfully involved in land governance, their interests have been ignored, and their rights to the land and resources have been weakened or lost.
Women’s meaningful participation goes beyond mere presence at a meeting, and many of them who happen to speak out about land or environmental injustices in their communities are often threatened or attacked.
A reference case (s).
Namuganza Esther has been living on her land for more than a decade. However, on June 18th, 2024, hell broke loose when six workers of a Multinational Company owned by two American investors in the Kiryandongo district sided with her husband and evicted her from her land without any court order or clearance from the Resident District Commissioners (RDC) office.
During the eviction, her two houses were demolished under the watch of company officials guarded by two Saracen guards, a private security company. The multinational company claimed that she no longer had rights to the land.
Esther’s family of eleven (11) people was fully enjoying ownership of their sixty (60) acres of land, but Agilis Company has now grabbed 53 acres of them leaving her family with 7 acres. On the fateful day, the company wanted to fully drive her from her land to assume full control of the entire piece of land.
According to Namuganza, the company claimed that it had sought clearance for the eviction from her husband, but this did not deter her from resisting the forceful eviction.
She said in an interview with Witness Radio, “Whatever they say they dealt with William (my husband) is their concern because I was not involved and never given a chance to be heard as a woman in a family. I am resisting the land eviction. Even William hid this information of colluding with the company from me. Many women have lost their livelihoods, families got separated, and family land has been grabbed at gunpoint in Kiryandongo district.”
Another case took place in Mubende district, where wounds caused by the New Forests Company (NFC) through a forceful land eviction to over 10,000 residents of Kanamire, Kyamukasa, Kigumya, Kyato, Kisita, Mpologoma, and Bulagano villages in 2010 have never healed.
According to a woman land rights defender, Ms. Sarah Ahowurinze, the company forcefully and violently evicted them from 14844.679 hectares of their land without consultation, compensation, or resettlement.
“Many of us, (women), young girls, youth, and men, continue to suffer. We have struggled to live with our families since 2010, and providing for them is a challenge since our source of livelihood was the land from which we were evicted. People are dying, and we have nowhere to bury them. Many young girls have gotten pregnant since they stopped school,” she revealed in an interview with Witness Radio.
According to Sarah, women continue to bear the brunt as many families have been torn apart. “The evictions have not only made us poverty-stricken but also separated many families. Men are abandoning their families because they can’t afford to provide for them,” Sarah added.
Experts in land matters have revealed that women’s access to land justice remains a critical issue due to the intricate and often discriminatory legal landscape adding that, the presence of progressive laws and policies intended to safeguard women’s land rights, implementation, and enforcement is hindered by cultural norms, inadequate legal knowledge, and systemic challenges.
In response, Witness Radio, the National Land Coalition (NLC-UG) in collaboration with Stand for Her Land Campaign (S4HL) are organizing a national dialogue on July 30th, 2024 themed “Role of Land rights defenders in advancing women’s access to land justice” at Hotel Africana focusing on reinforcing grassroots women’s participation, amplifying their voices and fostering agency in matters related to land justice and increasing awareness on policy and legal framework on women land rights by rights holders among others.
The event will feature a maximum of 40 participants, including representatives from various ministries, civil society organizations, land rights defenders, media, and other stakeholders to engage openly, examine social and cultural issues, build consensus to advancing women’s land rights, in management of natural resources, and address the challenges women face in accessing land justice in Uganda.
The dialogue will also highlight the gains achieved through complementary interventions on land management and administration by multiple stakeholders in Uganda and identify opportunities for synergies among government departments/ministries, media, research institutions, and development partners or/and civil society organizations CSOs working on land rights to strengthen collaborations and partnerships and to explore how Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) can drive change in the ongoing transfer of rights and interests on land.
Witness Radio and members of the National Land Coalition in UG, through their experience and consultations, developed issue briefs and undertook studies highlighting some of the concerns underpinning women’s disproportional effect of illegal land evictions from the affected communities in the Midwestern, Central, and Eastern, Northern, and Karamoja sub-regions of Uganda.
According to the organizers, the dialogue will be informed by the local experiences and lessons in the issue briefs and study findings to influence national-level actions.
The organizers also mentioned that there will be the development of a collaborative action plan and joint advocacy engagements to address identified challenges and promote women’s land rights and a strengthened partnership between NLC-UG members, other organizations, and key government and private sector stakeholders.
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