African Feminism, Land Tenure and Soil
Rights in Africa: A Case of Uganda
Godard Busingye
1 Introduction
The African continent has various forms of land tenure systems, each tenure having
unique characteristics and bestowing specific land and soil rights to the holder. Land
tenure systems in Africa are a creature of western colonial powers and pose serious
problems to land and soil rights of Africans. This chapter uses the lenses of African
feminism, particularly the motherism brand to unpack, repackage and recommend
reconstruction of land tenure systems to benefit all Africans without discrimination.
In Africa, land rights are closely related to soil rights, with no clearly marked
differences. For example, in Uganda there is no difference between the concept of
land and soil.
Among the Baganda in the central region, the word ‘etaaka’ refers to the land and
also the soil; in the western part of the country, the Runyakitara speakers use the
word ‘eitaka’ to refer to land and soil as well.
1 The longevity of land rights under
particular tenure systems is also contemporaneously equivalent to that of soil rights.
Right to acquire land rights under a particular tenure system is, in majority of cases,
determined by right of citizenship. Citizenship may be acquired at birth but may also
be acquired or even lost at much later time. For purposes of this chapter, land tenure
refers to the value of interest a person has in a particular parcel of land while soil
rights refer to the bundle of rights a person gets over land, including the right to
utilize the land and staying on it either as a citizen or alien. In essence, the right to
soil is a theoretical right attached to citizenship, the latter being the determinant
G. Busingye (*)
Kampala International University, School of Law, Kampala, Uganda
1 Runyakitara language unites the people of the western region of Uganda right from the Lake Albert
and River Nile moving southwards up to the borders with the Republic of Rwanda. Ethnicities in
this region include the Banyoro, Batoro, Bakonjo, Bamba, Banyankore and Bakiga.
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
H. Yahyah et al. (eds.), Legal Instruments for Sustainable Soil Management in
Africa, International Yearbook of Soil Law and Policy,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36004-7_8
133
Rights in Africa: A Case of Uganda
Godard Busingye
1 Introduction
The African continent has various forms of land tenure systems, each tenure having
unique characteristics and bestowing specific land and soil rights to the holder. Land
tenure systems in Africa are a creature of western colonial powers and pose serious
problems to land and soil rights of Africans. This chapter uses the lenses of African
feminism, particularly the motherism brand to unpack, repackage and recommend
reconstruction of land tenure systems to benefit all Africans without discrimination.
In Africa, land rights are closely related to soil rights, with no clearly marked
differences. For example, in Uganda there is no difference between the concept of
land and soil.
Among the Baganda in the central region, the word ‘etaaka’ refers to the land and
also the soil; in the western part of the country, the Runyakitara speakers use the
word ‘eitaka’ to refer to land and soil as well.
1 The longevity of land rights under
particular tenure systems is also contemporaneously equivalent to that of soil rights.
Right to acquire land rights under a particular tenure system is, in majority of cases,
determined by right of citizenship. Citizenship may be acquired at birth but may also
be acquired or even lost at much later time. For purposes of this chapter, land tenure
refers to the value of interest a person has in a particular parcel of land while soil
rights refer to the bundle of rights a person gets over land, including the right to
utilize the land and staying on it either as a citizen or alien. In essence, the right to
soil is a theoretical right attached to citizenship, the latter being the determinant
G. Busingye (*)
Kampala International University, School of Law, Kampala, Uganda
1 Runyakitara language unites the people of the western region of Uganda right from the Lake Albert
and River Nile moving southwards up to the borders with the Republic of Rwanda. Ethnicities in
this region include the Banyoro, Batoro, Bakonjo, Bamba, Banyankore and Bakiga.
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
H. Yahyah et al. (eds.), Legal Instruments for Sustainable Soil Management in
Africa, International Yearbook of Soil Law and Policy,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36004-7_8
133