In recognition of this problem, and in a bid to address it, the Constitution under
Article 33(1) provides: [W]omen shall be accorded full and equal dignity of the
person with men. By providing for ‘according full and equal rights’ the Constitution
acknowledges first and foremost that there are historical and structural imbalances in
women’s right of access to soil rights under the various tenurial systems in place in
Uganda. Secondly, it insinuates that women must be passive persons in the waiting
room to be accorded such rights and dignity, which Ugandan women through their
agency may not take with ease. Such a legal construction is intended to distort the
motherism paradigm, which if well-articulated, recognizes the right of the mother to
bond with the child without externally constructed constraints. Why women be
granted the rights and by who?
That is the desire of the ideology of patriarchy, so that they remain at the
receiving, purportedly favoured end. In a vague manner, the Constitution under
Article 33 (2) provides: ‘[T]he State shall provide the facilities and opportunities
necessary to enhance the welfare of women to enable them to realise their full
potential and advancement’.
The Constitution, however, does not put in place specific mechanisms to create
opportunities for women to access the land registration services in a much easier
form than men or rich, citizens and non-citizens in order to show commitment on the
government’s undertaking to enhance women’s access to land and soil rights.
Moreover, the land registration services in Uganda remain expensive and difficult
to access largely by the poor.
Indeed, much of the literature on women and land tenure in Africa has viewed the
introduction of land titling, registration, and the privatization of land under colonialism and after independence as a setback for women. It leaves women in a state of
even greater insecurity with poorer prospects for accessing land [and soil].
60 Walby
avers that there are two forms of patriarchy that successively influence lives of
women. The first is ‘private patriarchy’ where women in the home are under the rule
of the father, husband or brother. The second is ‘public patriarchy’ where women
enter public spaces of politics but still remain strongly controlled by men.
61 The
public patriarchy further closes Ugandan women’s chances to have automatic access
to the country’s land and soil, much as it deceptively appears to open up more
avenues for them in that respect.
Other policy frameworks such as the Uganda Vision 2040 equally embody
deliberately or inadvertently deceitful provisions purportedly intended to engender
sustainable development in the economy based on harnessing the soil. Vision 20140
mission statement provides: ‘[A] transformed Ugandan society from a peasant to a
modern and prosperous country within 30 years’. Transforming Uganda from a
peasant to a modern and prosperous economy cannot ignore the fact that Uganda
is potentially an agricultural economy that is dependent on how the country’s soils
are utilized, and by who. Key elements of the Vision 20140 include Uganda
60 Tripp (2004).
61 Benhabib (1993).
African Feminism, Land Tenure and Soil Rights in Africa: A Case of Uganda
149
Article 33(1) provides: [W]omen shall be accorded full and equal dignity of the
person with men. By providing for ‘according full and equal rights’ the Constitution
acknowledges first and foremost that there are historical and structural imbalances in
women’s right of access to soil rights under the various tenurial systems in place in
Uganda. Secondly, it insinuates that women must be passive persons in the waiting
room to be accorded such rights and dignity, which Ugandan women through their
agency may not take with ease. Such a legal construction is intended to distort the
motherism paradigm, which if well-articulated, recognizes the right of the mother to
bond with the child without externally constructed constraints. Why women be
granted the rights and by who?
That is the desire of the ideology of patriarchy, so that they remain at the
receiving, purportedly favoured end. In a vague manner, the Constitution under
Article 33 (2) provides: ‘[T]he State shall provide the facilities and opportunities
necessary to enhance the welfare of women to enable them to realise their full
potential and advancement’.
The Constitution, however, does not put in place specific mechanisms to create
opportunities for women to access the land registration services in a much easier
form than men or rich, citizens and non-citizens in order to show commitment on the
government’s undertaking to enhance women’s access to land and soil rights.
Moreover, the land registration services in Uganda remain expensive and difficult
to access largely by the poor.
Indeed, much of the literature on women and land tenure in Africa has viewed the
introduction of land titling, registration, and the privatization of land under colonialism and after independence as a setback for women. It leaves women in a state of
even greater insecurity with poorer prospects for accessing land [and soil].
60 Walby
avers that there are two forms of patriarchy that successively influence lives of
women. The first is ‘private patriarchy’ where women in the home are under the rule
of the father, husband or brother. The second is ‘public patriarchy’ where women
enter public spaces of politics but still remain strongly controlled by men.
61 The
public patriarchy further closes Ugandan women’s chances to have automatic access
to the country’s land and soil, much as it deceptively appears to open up more
avenues for them in that respect.
Other policy frameworks such as the Uganda Vision 2040 equally embody
deliberately or inadvertently deceitful provisions purportedly intended to engender
sustainable development in the economy based on harnessing the soil. Vision 20140
mission statement provides: ‘[A] transformed Ugandan society from a peasant to a
modern and prosperous country within 30 years’. Transforming Uganda from a
peasant to a modern and prosperous economy cannot ignore the fact that Uganda
is potentially an agricultural economy that is dependent on how the country’s soils
are utilized, and by who. Key elements of the Vision 20140 include Uganda
60 Tripp (2004).
61 Benhabib (1993).
African Feminism, Land Tenure and Soil Rights in Africa: A Case of Uganda
149