Customary land disputes and the commoditisation of rural land in Africa: a case study from eastern Uganda

ABSTRACT

This paper considers a customary land dispute within the context of rising land commoditisation in the Teso region of eastern Uganda. I analyse a statutory court-led mediation hearing of the land dispute, which I observed in October of 2015 in Teso. My analysis of the hearing focuses on how key aspects of the dispute should be understood within the broader context of customary land commoditisation and agrarian change in Teso, exemplifying what Chimhowu calls the ‘“new” customary tenure’ in Africa. In support of an historical approach to understanding land tenure change, I underline the spatial and temporal dynamics of land commoditisation in the region. While the commoditisation of customary land is a trend widely observed across rural Africa, it is less clear how land dispute resolution policies will adapt to this structural shift in customary land tenure.

KEYWORDS:

• Customary land tenure
• land commoditisation
• agrarian change
• Uganda

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 In order protect the anonymity of certain respondents, I have withheld their names. Interview, Magistrate Court Official, Soroti district, 12 October 2012.

2 Interview, Opeded, Soroti Town, Soroti district, 30 August 2015; Interview, Soroti Town, Soroti district, 2 September 2015.

3 Focus Group Interview, Asuret sub-county, Soroti district, 1 September 2012; Focus Group Interview, Kolir sub-county, Bukedea district, 25 October 2012.

4 Filing cost 26,000Ush [7.08USD] in 2015. (This conversion is based on the exchange rate for 15 October 2015. I used poundsterlinglive.com to calculate this rate.)

5 I was unable to acquire information on whether the seller sold the two pieces of land to the buyers at the same time or at different times.

6 I am not proficient in Ateso, so I interviewed the neutral arbiter and the plaintiff’s lawyer immediately after the hearing on the parts of the proceedings that were conducted in Ateso. I also conducted follow-up interviews in 2016 and 2017 with both the neutral arbiter and the lawyer. During the mediation, I strictly observed and did not participate in any way. I was unable to conduct interviews with the defendant or the plaintiff in the case.

7 Focus Group Interview, Asuret sub-county, Soroti district, 1 September 2012.

8 Interview, Soroti Town, Soroti district, 26 August 2015; Interview, Soroti Town, Soroti district, 19 September 2016.

9 Focus Group Interview, Asuret sub-county, Soroti district, 1 September 2012.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by British Academy: [Grant Number NF150510]; University of KwaZulu-Natal: [Grant ID Postdoctoral Research Fellow].

Notes on contributors

Matt Kandel

Matt Kandel is an AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow at the US Department of State. The views expressed in this article are his own and not necessarily those of the US government.