“The land that I owned and which UNRA needs for widening of the road is under customary tenure. I bought my land in 2010 from a female owner, now since deceased. In order for the sale to me to be executed and legitimised, a meeting was called between representatives of the clan of the seller and representatives of the clan of the buyer. When the parties agreed, the agreement was signed/thumb-printed by eight witnesses, by the seller and by the buyer; and it was endorsed and stamped by the LCI Chairman. Thus a total of 11 persons authenticated the sale.”
Norah Owaraga
This real life testimony makes a good case for allowing the evolution of Uganda’s Customary Land Tenure, as opposed to the popular push to eradicate it by converting it to other forms of land tenure that favour neoliberal capitalism. The ePDF of “The Woman Landowner” is available to download free of charge here.
CPAR Uganda Ltd 