IN July 2004, at their meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, heads of the member States of the African Union made a declaration to promote the implementation of legislation that strengthens women’s land, property and inheritance rights, including their right to housing. Guest Columist HLONIPHILE SIMELANE Since then, however, little progress has been made in either reviewing outdated legislation or implementing the scant progressive legislation meant to strengthen these rights. Of great concern for a majority of women on this continent is their continued struggle to own land — a natural resource meant to be enjoyed by all. A research working paper produced in 2018 by World Bank senior economist Isis Giddas and others reveal that less than 13% of African women between the ages of 20 and 49 have sole ownership of land compared to 36% of African men. In fact, in some African countries, fewer than 10% of women have the privilege. This points to skewed land distribution, which fails to seriously consider the critical role of ownership and its contribution to food security. Although many African countries take pride in improving access to land by women, this does not translate to ownership. Access to land fails to provide the same benefits as those which can accrue from owning. Ownership extends beyond user and control rights, to include “sale or other forms of disposal, backed by formal legal institutions”. Underlying the lag of female ownership — as pointed out by many researchers — is the patriarchy enshrined in both statutory and customary laws. On the one hand, protection of the few rights that women have under the customary tenure system have been compromised not only by colonialism but also by socio-economic transformation. This assertion appreciates that the customary tenure-system only accords user rights and not ownership. On the other hand, the scant quasi-progressive laws and policies supporting land ownership by women are not translated into practice. Worse is the fact that statutory laws in many countries rarely include provisions to allow women to own land independent of men. Gender-neutral laws and policies don’t help Many African countries have adopted gender-neutral laws, policies and practices, which are ill-equipped to strengthen land ownership by women. In East Africa, the Kenya Land Alliance, an organisation advocating for land laws and policies to promote equitable access to land and natural resources conducted an audit which revealed that between 2013 and 2017 the government distributed 163 253 hectares to women, representing a meagre 1,62%, whereas men got 9 903 304ha, representing 97,76%. This anomaly is further elucidated by a Human Rights Watch report, aptly titled When you get out, you lose everything. They found that Kenya’s Matrimonial Property Act of 2013, which grants the same opportunities to men and women, is characterised by ambiguities, undermining the implementation stages and it leaves widows and divorced women disadvantaged. In the West African region, researchers note that the Cameroon b
