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Outline of the presentation . BackgroundObjectives of the studyThe Office of the AGEstablishment MandatesProcedures Approach to the studyFindings Conclusion . Background . Inheritance is one of the main means of land acquisition in UgandaStatutory laws are perceived to protect women's inheritance and property rightsCap 162 of the laws of Uganda relates to successionSections of the succession Act that were deemed unfair to women were repealed in 2007Cap 157 of the laws of Uganda 29848
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1. The Application of Succession Law in the Realization of Womens Land Rights in Uganda by
Ssonko Nabacwa Mary (PhD Development Studies)
2. Outline of the presentation Background
Objectives of the study
The Office of the AG
Establishment
Mandates
Procedures
Approach to the study
Findings
Conclusion
3. Background Inheritance is one of the main means of land acquisition in Uganda
Statutory laws are perceived to protect womens inheritance and property rights
Cap 162 of the laws of Uganda relates to succession
Sections of the succession Act that were deemed unfair to women were repealed in 2007
Cap 157 of the laws of Uganda provides for the administration of estates of deceased persons by the AGO
4. Background Cont. Three years ago, a study was done to establish whether womens inheritance rights particularly in relation to land were protected by one of the institutions mandated to do so the OAG
This office was enacted in 1933, it constitutes one of the departments in the Ministry of Justice
This law has never been reviewed
5. Objectives of the study To evaluate the effectiveness of statutory laws and practices of the AG office in relation to womens property rights
Ascertaining the volume and number of received and concluded cases by the office of the Administrator General during the period 1986 2005
6. Objectives Cont Establishing proportions of immovable property particularly land awarded to women compared to their male counterparts by AG office
Document the practices of this office in the execution of its duties
7. Mandates of the AGO It is closely intertwined with the Estates Trusts and Succession Laws (Caps 154-165), particularly the SA (Cap 162) as well as Marriage and Divorce Laws
The office facilitates the management of a deceased persons immovable (land, & buildings) and movable properties
8. Procedures The AG Office assumes power to administer a deceaseds estate under 6 major circumstances:
when the deceased has left a will appointing the office to administer his/her estate
when the deceased makes a will and omits to appoint an executor
when the persons named as executors in the will die before the testator or when they renounce that responsibility
9. Procedures Cont When the letters of administration have not been obtained within 2 months from the death of the testator or,
When the deceased died without a will
If/when a creditor brings his/ her claim to the office. Other responsibilities of the AG include keeping and accounting for every estate under his/her jurisdiction
10. Approach to the study 10% of cases reported to the AGO between 1986 and 2005 were selected by simple random sampling.
A structured data extraction form was used to extract details of cases
The Data was analyzed using the SPSS Package to Frequency tables and for divergent or similar gender patterns
Content analysis was used to relate to existing theories in the analysis of gender disparities
11. Study Limitations Scanty and mmissing information information on the files
Poor records storage and retrieval
Indeterminate cases
12. Findings A total of 609 cases were extracted
clients utilized different arbitration levels including:
Local councils (40%)
Family/Clan leaders (20%),
NGOs (Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), Legal Aid)
District offices (CAO)
before and in-between reporting the case and visits to the AGs office as well as the High Court
13. Findings cont
14. Findings cont Out of the 609 deceased 500 (82%) were men aged between 36 and 60 years
HIV/AIDS was the leading cause of death for both males and females
Only 15% of the 609 were reported to be single at the time of death
15. Findings cont 23% of the women made wills in comparison to 16% of the men
50% of the beneficiaries could not directly and/or access the estate
Only 49 (8%) of the 609 cases were indicated to be conclusively disposed
16. Distribution of land and money of non-willed Estates Only 35 non-willed estates over the period of 20 years were conclusively distributed
63% of distribution involved money while 35% was about land
52% of the males and 48% of the females were apportioned land
17. Patterns of Property distribution
18. Property distribution by category beneficiary in willed Estates
19. Conclusion The AG office plays a positive role in restoring womens property including land through:
Adhering to the succession law of equal share in non-willed estate
The case disposal rate is very low 8%
The study helped to create a database for follow-up to document womens retention of the inherited land
20. Conclusion . Findings show that contrary to the dominant narrative that women do not inherit land, this study showed that in fact women benefit much more in willed estates