The Monitor (Kampala)
Cissy Makumbi
30 June 2009
Gulu — Ms Imelda Nabukwasi, 47, lost her husband five years ago to a strange disease while they were living at Opit camp, about 20 kilometres from Gulu town.
His death, she says, left her confused and helpless.
"My husband's death devastated me and left me defenceless," Ms Nabukwasi, a mother of four, told this reporter.
The widow, however, now faces a new challenge of where to live with her children.
This is because as a woman, she owns no land yet in this part of the world land translates into power.
Even after her husband Lawrence Okello died in 2002, Ms Nabukwasi and her children at the time were only worried where they would get their next meal, since the camp offered them where to sleep. But now, their worries are double edged - where to get food and sleep.
The government in 2006 declared voluntary return for IDPs thus Nabukwasi and her family had to get an alternative place to settle.
"When we left the camp, we had to return to my husband's home with hope of tilling the land to sustain my family," says the widow.
This, however, was later to result into more pain as her late husband's relatives were not willing to help her.
"My in-laws told me to quit with my children to Mbale, where I came from because the person who brought me (my husband) was dead," she explains.
After putting up a brave fight, the in-laws finally gave her a piece of land, which was unfortunately just enough to accommodate a two-roomed hut without extra land to till.
According to Ms Rose Lakot, the area LC III councillor in Tegot, women and orphans have been left helpless, with no land to cultivate, yet it's the only asset they can rely on after the devastating war.
Ms Nabukwasi's condition mirrors the challenges thousands of women face in northern Uganda, especially over land-related matters and the ownership of property.
Ms Sarah Akello, the legal officer of Fida--Uganda in the north, says the dependence syndrome among women has exposed them to Gender Based Violence (GBV).
"Women are looked at as property of men, that is why they have suffered all sorts of abuses," Ms Akello observes.
"Low literacy levels among communities, means former IDPs also have little knowledge about the law," the lawyer says.
But community leaders say abject poverty in the return sites has also hindered justice especially to the women.
LCII and LCIII courts, which were given the mandate to help resolve such disputes are accused of favouring those who offer them bribes.
Lakwana Sub-county boss Milton Munu agrees that women and orphans have been the most affected victims of GBV.
"Children are vastly affected because they do not know the clear demarcations of the parents' land, having been born in the camps," he observes.
As a result, Munu notes that the frustrated youth have now resorted to rape and defilement.
This month, three defilement cases were reported in Alulumya Village in Para Parish. Unless, women are empowered, GBV will continue.
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