Acholi leaders tasked to prioritise women in land registration
A woman checks out the features of a land title.
What you need to know:
- Mr Leonard Ojok, the Agago district chairman says the customary land registration recently done in Paimol and Lapono sub-counties has resulted in a significant reduction in conflicts over land.
The Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development has tasked civil and cultural leaders across the Acholi sub-region to prioritize the rights of women, children and vulnerable groups during the ongoing customary land registration campaign.
Speaking at a training for cultural leaders on the issuance of certificates of customary (land) ownership (CCOs) on Wednesday afternoon, Mr Byantalo Hassan Abdallah, a senior lands officer at the Ministry said that leaving the interests of women and children out of the process will worsen the land problem in the region.
“Our women should have unlimited access to the land and the best way to implement it is to ensure that while we register, we include our spouses’ names on the certificates. It is wrong to leave these groups of people in our society out. We need to harmonize our customs with the grand law and if we don’t focus on the provisions of the law, someone is going to court and will sue everybody,” he said.
He also noted that the ministry had received numerous complaints over irregular sales of land by families in which men were sidelining their wives while selling off the land.
Mr Otinga Otto Atuka, the Acholi chiefdom deputy paramount chief admits to the vice saying that the greed for quick financial gains through dubious land sales has resulted in the violation of the rights of women and children on land ownership.
“People today look at land as an asset to be sold and because of that greed, the society now tends to restrain women from enjoying their rights to land ownership.
Since January 2024, the ministry rolled out a mass registration of customary land as a move to tackle the rampant land wrangles in Uganda.
Thousands of CCOs have since 2016 been issued to families and clans across the region specifically in Agago and Nwoya districts.
Mr Leonard Ojok, the Agago district chairman says the customary land registration recently done in Paimol and Lapono sub-counties has resulted in a significant reduction in conflicts over land.
