Legal Protection on Women’s Property Rights as Panacea to Poverty Reduction and Environmental Sustainability in Uganda

Abstract

The exclusion of women from owing and inheriting land in Uganda through Customary law and discriminatory practices has continued to generate debates among scholars. The practice has provided basis for women’s economic dependability on men and their exclusion in decision making process in the Uganda society thereby increasing their poverty level and harsh economic condition. The writer relies on historical and content analysis methods to examine the provisions of the 1995 Constitution of Uganda in conjunction with religious ethics, the 1998 Land Act and international human rights norms on women’s property rights. The paper analyses the provisions of law and religion on women’s property rights, the challenges facing women’s property rights and how law and religion can guarantee the protection of women’s property rights. The paper examines how the protection of women’s property rights serves as measure for poverty reduction and environmental sustainable in Uganda. The paper establishes that inclusion of co-ownership clause in the Land Act will promote women’s participation in decision on land matters and that religion practices will guarantee equality of women with men. The paper demonstrates that lack of clear legal definition of women’s property rights and the continued application of outdated laws impede their protection, exposes them to poverty, leads to low agricultural productivity and it creates environmentally unsuitable farming practices in the country.