A Desk Review of the Law Relating to Women's Right to Property in Uganda
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Date
2013-07
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Kampala International University; School of Law
Abstract
This dissertation examines the laws on women's rights to property in marriage and upon divorce, death of a spouse in Uganda, highlighting the problematic aspects in both the state-made (statutory) and non-state-made (customary and religious) laws. The Constitution of Uganda guarantees the right of every person to own property either individually or in association with others. On the one hand this implicitly confirms women's equal right to own property, but on the other hand confirms a husband's right to own property already registered in his name. It argues that, with the exception of the 1995 Constitution, the subordinate laws that regulate the distribution, management, and ownership of property during marriage, upon divorce, and death of a spouse are discriminatory of women. It is shown that even where the relevant statutory laws are protective of women's rights to property, their implementation is hindered by customary law practices, socialization, and the generally weak economic capacity of many women in the country. The dissertation delves into the even weaker position of women's rights to matrimonial property at customary and religious laws. In many homes, wives provide labor to support their husbands without having a stake in the use or monetary benefit from it. Under Islamic law regulating intestate succession to property, the entitlements for widows fall short of the constitutional standards on equality and non-discrimination. Polygamy is widely practiced by Muslims implying that the widows share the one eighth whenever there are children or one fourth in cases when there are no children. Women lack information about their legal rights and access to mechanisms to enforce them. Reliance on the Local Council Committee system to resolve commercial disputes puts women at a particular disadvantage because of traditional attitudes and the application of customary law. Radical reforms such as adopting an immediate community property regime instead of the present separate property regime are inevitable if women's rights to property are to advance.
Description
A Dissertation Submitted to the College Of Law in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the A Ward of A Bachelor of Laws of Kampala International University
Keywords
A Desk Review of the Law, Women's Right to Property, Uganda