Browsing by Author "Nakayi, Rose"

Now showing 1 - 10 of 10
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    The Challenge of Proving Customary Tenure in Courts of Law in Uganda: Review of the Case of Hon. Ocula Michael & Others V. Amuru District Land Board, Major General Oketa Julius, Christine Atimango and Amuru Sugar Works Ltd. HCT-02-CV -MA- NO. 126 OF 2008
    (Retrospect and Prospect, 2008) Nakayi, Rose
    Customary tenure is prevalent in northern Uganda. This system is mainly characterized by a lack of registration of land that is predominantly held by individuals or communities in accordance with custom. The over two decades armed conflict that ravaged this region and the displacement of people from their land that followed, ushered in an era of unique issues in the arena of claims to customary land in that region. Most important, return from displacement brought about increased contestations on land between and among members of communities, yet there was also high demand for land to be used in post-conflict reconstruction and development by investors and the government. This case by Hon. Ocula is illustrative of the above situation. This article offers a review of the facts, evidence and decision in this case. Besides aiming to highlight the precarious situation of claims to customary land in the context of highly imperfect situations characterized by armed conflict and displacement, this article analyses what the case tells us about the general situation and the challenges of proving customary claims to land in Uganda. The analysis shows that currently in Uganda, it is rare that customary claimants will succeed in cases adjudicated in a highly procedural and technical environment of a court of law.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Eastern Africa: a New Oil and Gas Frontier
    (Les Cahiers d’Afrique de l’Est/The East African Review, 2014) Augé, Benjamin; Nakayi, Rose
    The oil and gas industry in Eastern Africa is quite a new sector compared to the Gulf of Guinea where oil was produced from the end of the 1950s onwards. Though some exploration took place earlier on, with companies such a Shell, involved in Kenya in the 1960s or in Uganda in the 1980s1, a new frontier opened up during the last 10 years. Previously, companies were not making much effort to find the precious hydrocarbons in the region. The main reason for this lack of perseverance was that oil, “easy” to get and refine, was flowing elsewhere at that time.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Interrogating Large-scale Land Acquisitions and Land Governance in Uganda: Implications for Women’s Land Rights
    (2017) Ahikire, Josephine; Kanyesigye, Juliet; Nassali, Maria; Nakayi, Rose; Katushabe, Jovah; Pamara, Harriet
    Land is a key asset for the livelihood of the majority of people and is a key ingredient in the constitution of rights, entitlement as well as identity. Land is a key economic resource for agricultural production and accumulation as well as a key signifier in the constitution of social status and citizenship. Equally so, land disputes tend to constitute the largest percentage of conflict at household and community levels. Because of the potentially volatile nature of land, its governance is a critical issue and land issues have been noted as some of those that demand careful management.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Large Scale Land Acquisitions and Land Governance in Uganda: Implications for Women’s Land Rights
    (International development Research Centre, 2016) Ahikire, Josephine; Nassali, Maria; Kanyesigye, Juliet; Nakayi, Rose; Pamara, Harriet; Katushabe, Jovah
    Over 90 percent of Uganda’s population is dependent almost exclusively on agriculture for their livelihood which makes land a vital resource and in the same vein land governance then becomes a significant political question. Over the last two decades or so, there has been a relative land rush by foreign companies as well as national companies and individual investors and speculators. The phenomenon of LSLA in Uganda is quietly on the rise.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    The Legal and Policy Framework and Emerging Trends of Large Scale Land Acquisition in Uganda: Implications for Women's Land Rights
    (Centre for Basic Research, 2015) Nakayi, Rose
    Land holding systems in pre-colonial Uganda were for a greater part premised on diverse customary norms and practices prescribing access and use of land. Crosscutting among majority communities in Uganda was the unwavering right for every member of the community to access land either directly or through an established authority or entity of association. The latter held true for “stratified societies” such as Buganda. In such societies, institutional holding and control of land was largely on the basis of agency for the members of the community. Also important in many of the African settings was the holding of land by the living on agency for the past and future generations. Specifically for Uganda, the prevalent customary modes of holding land could be said to be unknown to the English system. To the British, the customary system required reform to give it currency. A number of legislative and other reforms aimed at the preceding resulted into land changing hands directly and indirectly, in a way that gave some of them characteristics of land grabs such as violation of the human rights. Below is a discussion of some of these.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    The Legal, Policy and Institutional Framework of Land Governance in Uganda: A Critical Analysis
    (Human Rights and Peace Centre., 2017) Nakayi, Rose; Twesiime-Kirya, Monica
    Land rights, access and ownership are among the most controversial and volatile issues facing the country today. They are simultaneously personal and political, social and economic, legal and administrative. Probably more than any other issue, land rights encapsulate the struggles and contestations around Ugandan national identity, gender relations, social status, class struggles and the governance system. Since colonial times, land has always been at the heart of politics in Uganda. Unfortunately, no government has yet been able to craft a lasting solution to the competing interests over land. Several factors have led to an escalation in the confl icts over land, among them a rising population, increased economic production and an increase in the value of land. These factors have made the issue of land justice more pertinent than it has ever been at any time in Uganda’s history. Those who have stood to gain the most have been those with the political and economic muscle to acquire land and secure their rights, while the vulnerable and marginalised, such as women, indigenous groups and internally displaced persons (IDPs), have often found themselves destitute and landless.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Local governance in Uganda: Adminstrative law and governance project, Kenya, Malawi and Uganda
    (IDRC, 2018) Nakayi, Rose
    The paper reviews how principles of administrative law play out in day to day practices of officers at the local governance level in Uganda, and looks at what kinds of citizen participation can shape decision making, outcomes, actions and processes within local government. A constrained financial environment tends to make citizens reliant on central government; the same lack of engagement can justify and feed corruption and bribery of leaders not guided by the people’s will. Judicial review may be a tool for good local governance if it is successfully resorted to, and where people are aware that there is an existing legal mechanism.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Making Cultural Heritage Claims on Profitable Land: The Case of the Ngassa Wells in Uganda’s Oil Region
    (Africa Spectrum, 2019) Nakayi, Rose; Witte, Annika
    In the exploration phase of Uganda’s oil project, controversy arose regarding the drilling of wells on the grounds of important shrines of spirits of the adjacent Lake Albert. While the oil companies and the state looked at the market value of the land, the claimants emphasised its cultural heritage value, building a link to an international heritage discussion. This article argues that, while they have been barred from political influence on the oil project, cultural institutions such as the Bunyoro Kingdom and the claimants in the village near the controversial well used cultural heritage as a vantage point to get their voices heard and to gain negotiating power in the project. The article shows how widening of the definition of cultural heritage – which means dropping a bias for built infrastructure – has put culture alongside politics, economics, and the environment as an important factor to consider in extractive projects.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Marginalized but not Discarded: Customary Land Rights in Post-Conflict Acholiland of Northern Uganda
    (East African Journal of Peace and Human Rights, 2015) Nakayi, Rose
    Customary land rights are regularly marginalized by the actions of a range of actors: from the state and powerful economic actors to the development community. This trend seeps through to the aftermath of armed conflict in Acholiland. The dynamics of marginalization play out at the level of state policies and programmes, and public discourse, amongst others. In Uganda, the dominant development narratives on the protection of land rights tend to privilege land rights embedded in tenures such as mailo, leasehold and freehold, over customary. This strategic marginalization of customary land rights although detrimental to the customary, has not yet led to complete disappearance of the customary tenure in post-conflict Acholiland. This article, therefore, analyses key features of the dynamics around customary land tenure/rights. First, it analyses the way in which this tenure has been weakened by the dynamics of violent conflict and post-conflict transformations. It then shows that law and policy initiatives have to some extent further marginalized customary tenure, instead of fully revitalizing it after the conflict-induced destabilization of the system. Finally, it discusses the reasons for the continued existence and relevance of the system in contemporary Acholi. It concludes by making a case for the need to protect customary land tenure/rights in post-conflict social formations in Acholi.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    The women’s movement in Africa: creative initiatives and lessons learnt
    (East African journal of peace and human rights, 2005) Nakayi, Rose; Twesiime-Kirya, Monica; Kwagala, Dorothy
    The Oxford Complete Word Finder defines a movement as a body of persons with a common object. However, there is no single accepted definition of the ‘Women’s Movement.’ Rather, it can be considered as the whole spectrum of conscious and unconscious individual or collective acts, activities, groups or organisations concerned with reducing gender subordination, which is understood as intersecting with race and class oppression. A movement is not static; it is a process and can be modified as it comes into contact with various aspects of life, including politics and communication, to mention but a few.