Land Demonstrators March To Parliament
Apr 29, 2003
LAND rights demonstrators yesterday marched to Parliament demanding for the inclusion of the family land rights clause in the Land (amendment) Bill currently before Parliament.
By James Odong
LAND rights demonstrators yesterday marched to Parliament demanding for the inclusion of the family land rights clause in the Land (amendment) Bill currently before Parliament.
The group from several NGOs, numbering over 100, clad in white T-shirts and carrying banners marched from the Constitutional Square to Parliament.
They were led by Gulu Municipality MP Nobert Mao and the co-ordinator of the Uganda Women’s Network (UWONET) Jackie Asiimwe Mwesige.
The T-shirts and some of the banners read, “Legislate on family land rights now; Family land rights are a right not a favour; Fight landlessness not women; and Come 2006, women vote wisely.
The demonstrators were drawn from UWONET, Action for Development (ACFODE), Uganda Land Alliance (ULA) and ISIS-Women International Cross Cultural Exchange.
In a memorandum presented to MPs in front of Parliament, the family land rights agitators said if women’s land rights were recognised, it would ensure the proper implementation of the the Plan for the Modernisation of Agriculture.
They said it would also facilitate the goals of the Poverty Eradication Action Plan.
Harriet Busingye from Uganda Land Alliance read out the three-page recommendation.
She said, “The institution of bride price renders women property and thus the common saying ‘property does not own property’,†Busingye said.
She said the enactment of the clause would protect the rights of poor men, women and children, thereby promoting gender equality and equity in the family.
The Kasese woman MP who is also the vice-chairperson of the natural resources committee, Loice Bwambale, and the chairperson of the equal opportunities committee, Dora Byamukama, addressed the demonstrators.
Ends
LAND rights demonstrators yesterday marched to Parliament demanding for the inclusion of the family land rights clause in the Land (amendment) Bill currently before Parliament.
The group from several NGOs, numbering over 100, clad in white T-shirts and carrying banners marched from the Constitutional Square to Parliament.
They were led by Gulu Municipality MP Nobert Mao and the co-ordinator of the Uganda Women’s Network (UWONET) Jackie Asiimwe Mwesige.
The T-shirts and some of the banners read, “Legislate on family land rights now; Family land rights are a right not a favour; Fight landlessness not women; and Come 2006, women vote wisely.
The demonstrators were drawn from UWONET, Action for Development (ACFODE), Uganda Land Alliance (ULA) and ISIS-Women International Cross Cultural Exchange.
In a memorandum presented to MPs in front of Parliament, the family land rights agitators said if women’s land rights were recognised, it would ensure the proper implementation of the the Plan for the Modernisation of Agriculture.
They said it would also facilitate the goals of the Poverty Eradication Action Plan.
Harriet Busingye from Uganda Land Alliance read out the three-page recommendation.
She said, “The institution of bride price renders women property and thus the common saying ‘property does not own property’,†Busingye said.
She said the enactment of the clause would protect the rights of poor men, women and children, thereby promoting gender equality and equity in the family.
The Kasese woman MP who is also the vice-chairperson of the natural resources committee, Loice Bwambale, and the chairperson of the equal opportunities committee, Dora Byamukama, addressed the demonstrators.
Ends