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This paper discusses the ways in which urban widows in Uganda are deprived of home ownership upon the death of their husbands. It is based on a qualitative research conducted in the middle-income areas of Kampala between 2004 and 2007. The results show that the institutional legal framework and the patriarchal customary practices and beliefs deprive widows of home ownership notwithstanding the gender sensitive Constitution. The study also shows that the special ways in which widows are able to inherit the matrimonial home upon the death of their husbands demonstrate the difficulty widows face to become home owners.

Includes abstract. ; Includes bibliographical references (leaves 318-329). ; This study explores the different ways in which married women in Kampala, Uganda are unable to become homeowners during marriage and at widowhood. In the process, the study also explores the special mechanisms through which married women became homeowners through marriage and at widowhood. The study was premised on the assumption that gender inequality in homeownership exists and persists in Uganda in spite of urbanization, increase in information flow, education and income of women. Although married women live in a home with their husband, they do not actually own the home. As a result, women tend to be users rather than owners. Although one would expect statutory law to guarantee married women home ownership rights during marriage, this is not the case. While Uganda's state policy states that every citizen has the right to own property, in particular houses, there is no legal framework that guarantees married women equal ownership rights of the home. The current Marriage and Divorce Acts are not clear on the benefits of the married woman in the matrimonial home during marriage and divorce. At divorce the married woman's benefits in the matrimonial home is at the discretion of the judge who determines the percentage of a married woman's entitlement to the matrimonial home upon proof of evidence the married woman presents. The Domestic Relations Bill that would address the unequal gender relations in homeownership and probably guarantee married women benefits in the matrimonial home has never been passed. Though a number of NGOs and civil society organizations have lobbied Parliament to pass the Domestic Relations Bill, no progress has been made. Similarly, while one would expect a widow to automatically inherit the matrimonial home upon the death of her husband, intestate law of succession guarantees the widow only user rights of the home until she dies or remarries. The matrimonial home belongs to the eldest son of the diseased. Although the Constitutional Court recently declared some of the clauses in intestate succession law unconstitutional, Parliament is yet to come up with a new succession law. The research applied Hirdman's gender system and contract theory to explain the complex gender dynamics in homeownership. The study explores the relationship between married women and their husbands and unmarried women and married male adulterers. The analysis of married women dynamics highlights the different gender contracts that exist between married and unmarried women. Two suburban middleincome areas, namely Banda and Kiwatule were chosen from which urban women were identified and interviewed about the challenges they face to become homeowners in their own right. The study was based on purely a qualitative design. The data were collected through life stories of unmarried women, married couples, and widows. The study reveals that while married men adulterers are not concerned to have their names included on the title deeds of their female lovers' homes, ironically married men ensure that the matrimonial home is solely registered in their names regardless of whether or not their wives contribute to the construction costs. Married women were unable to become homeowners due to lack of regular income, lack of awareness, and patriarchal male cultural beliefs. The study reveals that it is only under special circumstances that married women are able to become homeowners an indication of male dominancy in home ownership. In some cases married women are able to become homeowners when a husband is absent at the time of purchase and registration of the plot of land on which the matrimonial home is built. In other cases married women become homeowners when their husbands need their income as a contribution to the home project or when they are in a financial crisis. Married women with nothing to contribute to the home project find it difficult to negotiate for homeownership rights. Divorce and separation case laws show that married women whose names do not appear on the title deed are at the mercy of the Court for beneficial rights in the home. However, in cases where the married woman moves out and leaves behind the husband in the home, it becomes difficult to evict him even when the court rules in her favour.

Introduction: In search of equality: women, law and society in Africa - Dee Smythe and Stefanie Röhrs. - Chapter 1: Challenges in litigation on gender issues in Namibia - Dianne Hubbard. - Chapter 2: Constitutionalism and the law of inheritance: Recent experiences from Uganda - Florence Akiiki Asiimwe. - Chapter 3: Gender equality in customary marriages in South Africa - Mikateko Joyce Maluleke. - Chapter 4: Enforcing women's rights in Malawi - Maureen Kondowe. - Chapter 5: The justice system and women's rights in Côte-d'Ivoire - Marie Agathe Bahi. - Chapter 6: Ending impunity for hate crimes against black lesbians: An opportunity to create feminist jurisprudence - Wendy Isaack. - Chapter 7: Strategic litigation of women's constitutional rights in Rwanda's changing judicial landscape - Eugene Manzi. - Chapter 8: Associational life and women's constitutional rights in Africa - Ada Okoye Ordor