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Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Rose Nabwire, the 28th Guild President of Makerere University Business School (MUBS), will, at the 2nd Symposium on Governance in Kampala later this month, highlight plans for an awareness campaign to educate students and communities, especially women, on their legal rights to own, inherit, and use land.
“As a leader, I will use my voice and position to inspire other young women to claim their rightful space in agriculture and land ownership. I will share personal stories and success stories of women landowners,” she said ahead of the symposium where she will be one of the panelists.
She said in the coming year, she will promote legal literacy and land rights awareness and mentor young women in leadership and agribusiness clubs. “I will lead by example and inspire others,” she said.
Nabwire is a student at Makerere University Business School, pursuing a bachelor’s degree in business administration. She is only the second woman to become guild president. She previously served as the 27th Vice Guild President of MUBS.
“In a nutshell, as a female guild president, I stand for every girl who dreams of owning land, every woman working on soil without a title and every rural mother denied inheritance.
Women and land
Uganda’s laws, e.g., the Land Act 1998 and the Constitution 1995, recognize equal rights for women, but enforcement is weak, especially at the local level.
The Ugandan law will be one of many topics for discussion when the Uganda Parliamentarians Land Management Forum (UPLMF), in collaboration with key partners, hosts the 2nd Symposium on Governance in Kampala on June 27th in Kampala. Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja will be the chief guest.
Building on the inaugural 2024 symposium, which emphasized the critical role of land tenure security in promoting climate resilience and food security, this year’s symposium shifts the focus to women’s land rights, under the theme “Securing Women’s Agricultural Land Ownership: A Political and Development Imperative.”
The symposium will highlight the urgent need to address disparities in land ownership.
According to UPLMF, land remains a foundational resource in Uganda, central to livelihoods, economic growth, environmental sustainability, and social stability. They stress that equitable access and women’s agricultural land ownership are key issues that must be addressed for Uganda to achieve gender equality, food security, and sustainable rural development.
“With agriculture employing the majority of Uganda’s population, particularly women, ensuring equitable access to agricultural land is vital for inclusive development. Women constitute a significant proportion of 70% of the agricultural workforce, yet their access to, ownership of, and control over land remain severely constrained by socio-cultural norms and legal limitations,” organisers of the symposium said in a statement
The symposium, among other things, aims to develop a set of binding commitments for political leaders, including gender-responsive land governance measures. Key participants and stakeholders, including the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), will participate in reviewing existing policies and ensuring that land governance priorities, including women’s agricultural land ownership, are integrated into Uganda’s National Development Plan IV (NDP IV).
Discussions will address critical issues such as land tenure security, land conflicts, women’s land rights and access to agricultural land, and land availability for investment and development.
UPLMF is organizing the 2025 symposium in partnership with several government and civil society stakeholders. These include the Ministry of Lands, Housing, and Urban Development; Parliament; the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry, and Fisheries; the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development; Oxfam; IGAD; KCCA; the Uganda Land Alliance; the National Planning Authority; FRA Uganda; Habitat for Humanity; and Cordaid.
