Women and Land Ownership in Cameroon: A Tricky Situation

Though the 1974 Ordinance Law of Cameroon allows everyone the right to own land, many customary laws in Cameroon do not allow women own land.

A Registry Administrator, Yaye Njie explains this situation further, “Land in Cameroon is governed by the 1974 Ordinance Law governing Land Tenure. By this law, the state guarantees to everyone having landed property the right to freely enjoy and dispose of land the way he or she desires.
Going by the above, I can say this law provides women with equal rights to property ownership.”

She however highlights the source of the nuance about the womenfolk owning land.

“Customary laws in some parts of Cameroon prohibit a woman from owning land after the death of her spouse. Here, land is considered as a ‘man’s matter’,” she explains.

This is a pretty deplorable situation for women as they are the ones who produce majority of food from the soil but own only a small percent of the land they till.

Since rural communities are greatly influenced by customary laws, this makes it difficult for a woman to own land.

The Registry Administrator expatiates with examples, “In Wum, women are not entitled to own land. Patriarchal management dominates. Also, when a woman is single and has land she can freely use it but when she gets married the land returns to her family of birth. When she is married and her spouse dies, her ‘enjoyment’ of the land depends on the availability or not of children from the union. Sometimes, it depends on her in-laws too.”

All these oppose the 1996 Constitution which gives right to land ownership in spite of sex.

…Unto Ensuring Fair Ownership of Land

The Registry Administrator, Yaye Njie puts forth some recommendations towards ensuring women have the right to land ownership.

– Finding a way to reconcile customary law and common law practices so that women can enjoy land and at the same time take precautions to prevent villages from losing their traditional heritage.

– Behavioural change by men and women vis-a-vis women’s ownership of land has to be encouraged for not only the women’s benefit but also to ensure food security.

– Women need to know and understand the written law that guarantees ownership of land.

– Sensitization to enlighten women about land ownership.

If these and more are put in place, women in Cameroon will certainly be able to enjoy the privileges that come with owning a piece of land.

Eleanor Ayuketah Ngochi

Laisser un commentaire

Votre adresse e-mail ne sera pas publiée. Les champs obligatoires sont indiqués avec *

Ce site utilise Akismet pour réduire les indésirables. En savoir plus sur comment les données de vos commentaires sont utilisées.