Tanzania’s new laws to uplift women

SAKINA Mzava was still mourning the loss of her husband when her father-in-law kicked her out of her marital home in Vikindu village in Tanzania’s coast region. He also told her to hand over a piece of land she had been using to grow crops.

“I was heartbroken, but I had no other choice than to let it go. I thought it was probably the end of my life too,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Customary law in the village in the Mkuranga district dictates that women gain access to land through their male partners or relatives, and after the death of Mzava’s husband three years ago, his family turned hostile. Her brothers-in-law accused her of causing the death of her husband, who passed away after a short illness, in order to inherit family property and a farm.

“I had to flee with my children and seek shelter at my sister’s home,” the 35-year-old mother of two said. “They took everything.”

Tanzania’s proposed new constitution – handed over to the president yesterday – offers fresh hope to women in a similar situation as it contains language spelling out clearly for the first time that women have the same rights to own and use land as men.

Mzava, who was married under a customary arrangement, lost virtually everything because such marriages are not registered, meaning she is unlikely to regain her property.

Mzava’s story represents the plight of many rural women in Tanzania who, despite shouldering the bulk of family responsibilities, end up with nothing if they divorce or their spouses die.

While formal laws do guarantee equal rights for Tanzanian women to access and own land, customary laws and traditional practices prevent official legal provisions from being applied.

A lack of enforcement and widespread ignorance mean that women, who make up at least half of the country’s agricultural workforce, rarely own the land they farm.

The new constitution, endorsed by parliament last week, is almost certain to become law, experts say, although it will be put to a referendum first.

According to Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda, it is set to be enacted before general elections in October 2015.

Article 22 of the proposed constitution states: “Every woman is entitled to acquire, own, use or develop land under the same conditions as for men.”

Legal experts expect that a constitutional clause enshrining women’s right to own land will change the status quo because it will have higher legal sway than customary laws that are discriminatory yet have equal status in the courts with any other law.

“It is important to recognise women’s rights in order to protect them against a male-dominated system,” Andrew Chenge, the chairman of the Constitutional Assembly’s drafting committee, said.

Societies where land issues were not well governed were prone to persistent land conflicts, Chenge noted. A specific chapter in the new constitution that addresses land issues would help resolve disputes, especially between farmers and pastoralists, many of whom were women, he added.

Women’s rights groups are optimistic that the new constitution will help female farmers enjoy the economic fruits of their labour.

“The draft constitution has well defined the word ‘person’ because in some communities people believe a ‘person’ is a man and not a woman,” Anna Abdallah, a women’s rights activist and member of the Constitutional Assembly, said. “This is the kind of equality we have been fighting for.”

Usu Mallya of the Tanzania Gender Networking Programme said her group was convinced the new constitution would enable women to own land and benefit from other resources.

Women’s right to land tenure was adopted in Tanzania’s national policy in the 1990s. In addition, 1999 legislation generally provides for women’s rights to access, own and control land equally with men, and their right to participate in decision-making bodies. Despite this, experts say most women are still discriminated against or denied those rights.

Some fear the inclusion of women’s land rights in the new constitution may not change the status quo because the country lacks systems to govern land administration. – Reuters

Fonte: http://www.iol.co.za/business/international/tanzania-s-new-laws-to-uplift-women-1.1762308