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Issue 00534 |
September 6 - 12, 2008 |
issn 0856 - 9135 |
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Society |
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The Law Defeating the
selfish mind Last week I promised to discuss on how the laws of Tanzania recognize and respect the right of women in land ownership. Women have always been subjected to poor customary laws which most tribes put forward as a tool to suppress female rights. In Tanzania for instance women had no right to inherit clan land. Women could use land for farming activities only and not for sale or disposition. This was a rule in most patrilineal societies. The courts being the source of justice have always tried to create a balance between men and women. The evidence on how the courts have tried to strike a balance between men and women can easily be seen in the case of Ndewawiosia d/o Ndeamtzo .V. Imanuel s/o Malasi (PC) Civ. App. D/80/66;1968 H.C.D. 127 It was held inter alia that the age of discrimination based on sex is long gone and the world is now in the stage of full equality of all human beings irrespective of their sex creed, race, or color. On grounds of natural justice and equity, daughters like sons in every part of Tanzania should be allowed to inherit the property of their deceased father whatever its kind or origin on the bases of equality. To me this may be cited as a landmark case in which women dignity on land ownership gained momentum. The selfish mind of men that women cannot inherit clan land even when she has improved it to her knowledge and capacity has no chance in the modern society. We have witnessed widows being chased away just because their beloved husbands have died and the clan men of her husband wants to take over the land and whatever is available in it. Many women have found themselves homeless because their land and matrimonial home has been taken away from them and no one to help them get back their inheritance. In Tanzania legal service may sound very expensive than the justice itself. Very few women in urban areas can afford to pay for legal service. The situation is worse in rural areas where people think that courts are places of oppression and intimidation. Magistrates in rural areas are considered to be “small gods” and this tendency has extended to Land tribunals. In some tribes women are not allowed to sit and argue with men. The 1994 Presidential Commission’s Report found inter alia that there was unequal access to land and unequal control of land by female. The commission came up with few recommendations which could improve female land ownership rights. The first recommendation was to vest the village Assembly with radical title over the village land in order to eradicate the notion of clan land. The second recommendation was that the certificate given for land ownership should have names of both spouses. The last recommendation but not list is that before consent is given on land disposition, the village land council must satisfy itself that the family will not be left without any means of livelihood as a result of the disposition of the said land. Unlike the Presidential Commission the National Land Policy went further by making an equivocal statements on the female gender The policy stated inter alia ; 4.2.6. Policy Statement (i) in order to enhance and guarantee women’s access to land and security of tenure, women will be entitled to acquire land in their own right not only through purchase but also through allocation. However, inheritance of clan land shall continue to be governed by custom and tradition provided they are not contrary to the constitution and the principles of natural justice. Women whose land has being taken just because they are women can retain back their land. This has been possible because now the land laws recognize women land ownership and much has being done by the parliament of Tanzania to make sure that Tanzania stand as an example in recognizing and respecting women land ownership.
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