Kampala
Women activists are demanding that government legalises cohabitation as a measure to recognise their land rights. Only marriages in church, mosques, marriages presided over by the Administrator General and customary marriage are recognised legally.
“Eighty per cent of women and men in relationships are under cohabitation. In case of death, women are not protected. They do not benefit from these marriages,” Ms Frances Birungi Odong, the Uganda Community Based Association For Child Welfare senior programme officer, said. “We demand government to protect these women. They have a right to land and any other property.”
Ms Odong made the remarks on Saturday in Kampala during a press briefing on the three-day women conference scheduled for Monday to Wednesday 6 October at Speke Resort Munyonyo.
The Uganda Land Alliance executive director, Ms Esther Obaikol, warned that if government does not meet their demand, women organisations will persuade women not to vote for the National Resistance Movement. “We are the largest voters and this time we want to vote strategically, especially on aspects of land. We shall vote for only political parties that support women's cause,” she said.
The conference is organised by the Women's Land Rights Movement-Uganda, a coalition spearheaded by the Uganda Land Alliance in partnership with key government departments, civil society organisations and non government organisations.
Over 300 women, mainly from the rural areas, representing all the regions of Uganda, East African countries, South Sudan, South Africa, the United States of America and Asia are expected to attend. Ms Obaikol said the conference was conceived out of the need to increase national advocacy campaign on strengthening women's rights to land.
