Robert Abak the Nebbi Resident District Commissioner signing the land right opinion poll that was launched during the land rights camp. Photo by Marko Taibot
By Marko Taibot
Nebbi: Legal advocates and development partners are offering free legal aid services to help victims of land conflicts and discrimination in West Nile.
Leaders are blaming land conflict for causing farming in Erussi sub-county, Nebbi district, which was a food basket West Nile.
However, Kelvine Adubango of Joel Cox Advocates, revealed that every year, the legal firm handles more than 1000 cases of land conflict in Nebbi, with the majority of the cases involving families.
“Some of these cases have been referred for mediation, others have gone to court, while others have gone to appeal,” Adubango said.
Adubango stated that through partnership with the district local government and other organizations, lawyers in the sub-region have offered pro-bono services to more than 100 people.
Recently, the Eastern and Southern Africa Small-Scale Farmers’ Forum (ESAFF) Uganda together with the Ministry of Land Housing and Urban Development, held a two-day land rights camp in Erussi, to sensitize the victims on their land rights.
Through their Gender Action Learning System (GALS) methodology, ESAFF hopes the participatory process will enable beneficiaries of the program to negotiate their needs & interests to find gender-equitable solutions in their households.
Ronald Bagaga, the policy and advocacy officer of ESAFF Uganda, said the program is aimed at securing land rights for socio-economic development.
“We are implementing the Land rights camp in the districts of Arua and Nebbi, to handle critical land-related issues targeting more than 1000 beneficiaries. We are happy that we managed to reach 50% of the beneficiaries as women,” Bagaga said.
Jimmy Ochom, the land rights advisor of Oxfam, one of the partners supporting the Land rights camp, stated that all is geared towards ending the rampant land conflicts in the greater Alur by empowering the communities to acquire the certificate of Customary of land ownership.
Grace Atimango, who was facing a land dispute, said that the free legal aid gave her the necessary legal representation and advice, which helped her resolve her case successfully.
“I was lucky to get the services of the lawyers, I also got an opportunity to get information on land from ESAFF Uganda and other partners. I am now aware of my land rights,” Atimago said
The Constitution on land ownership
Article 237(1) of the 1995 Constitution of the Republic of Uganda stipulates that land belongs to the citizens of Uganda and Article 21 prohibits discrimination based on gender and accords men and women the same status and rights.
This law, however, has not protected many, especially women, from being denied access to and ownership of land.
The victims of land discrimination and conflict mostly women, cannot seek legal redress, because their services are always not paid for. Those in paid employment, who are sometimes classified as “working poor” do not earn enough to move out of poverty, and also cannot afford legal services.
According to a 2011 policy brief by the Economic Policy Research Center, the average wage of a rural woman can be as low as US$40 (shs 155,000) per month, while 42% of rural women are unpaid family workers.
Scovia Jungiela a resident of Acwera Village Padolo parish is one of the victims of land discrimination, as she was denied land from her parents’ and husband’s home.
Jungiela said she has only an acre of land, which hinders her from growing enough food even if she wants to.
“I don’t know what [land] I will give my children when they grow up, because my husband has abandoned me,” Jungiela wondered.
Charity Amia, another resident of Ulenyi village, Padolo, a parish in Erussi sub-county, said her father did not allocate her any piece of land, and her brothers also refused to let her farm on their land.
“I cannot grow crops that is why I am doing small business at the trading center for survival,” Amia said.
Collins Orom Jalacida, the sub-county chairperson of Erussi, disclosed that the sub-county has become food insecure due to land conflicts.
According to Jalacida, Erussi now produces less than 50% of the food it used to produce, with at least one person killed each year due to land conflicts.
“Our women have been pushed out of agricultural production and yet 80% of the agricultural work is done by women,” Orom said.
“In our culture when a husband dies and leaves a widow behind with orphans most of these widows are always denied access to land. When they are allocating land women are not prioritized,” he added.
The Nebbi district chairperson, Emmanuel Orombi, observed that rampant land conflicts have barred several farmers from joining commercial farming.
“The challenges have been land rights and land usage. Many of our people want to sell the land instead of using it for producing food,” Orombi said.
Robert Abak, the Nebbi Resident District Commissioner, said although his office is not mandated to solve land conflicts, he mediates an average of five land issues and conducts community dialogues on land issues monthly.
Local efforts to minimise land conflicts
Orombi, the chairperson of Nebbi district, said they are instituting local measures including sensitization of the community on land rights, empowering the LC One chairpersons, and building the capacity of the area land committees and the district land committees through training.
“We have just last week trained the district land committees and we want them to expedite the process of land registration, and ensure every two months they issue certificates of customary ownership,” Orombi said.
