Issues in Women's Land Rights in Cameroon

Summary

xi Summary Land rights in Africa are governed by legal pluralism animated by statutory, customary, and Islamic laws which, instead of complementing each other, tend to contradict, particularly in the management, acquisition, ownership and disposal of a piece of land. In Cameroon, land rights are regulated by statute, customs and informal arrangements which follow this trend. While the statutory laws informed by the 1996 Constitution, the 1974 Land Ordinances and the subsequent ministerial circulars are gender neutral, customary practices driven by patriarchy are gender biased and discriminate against women. The principle that statutory laws automatically take precedent over any other law in cases where there is conflict between laws seems to remain on paper here. In fact, when it comes to land, informal and customary arrangements dominate and custom is seen to be powerful, authoritative and even unshakable! Very few people, especially in the rural areas, are aware of land statutes and thus do not care to officially register land acquired through customary means. One of the arguments for this entrenched gender bias that has continued for decades seems to be that we live in a ‘man’s world’ where patriarchy inherent in most customs can often directly influence the process of making and implementing laws and policies. In this case, land laws and policies that are intended to be gender neutral unfortunately end up discriminating against women during implementation. This implies that without major policy and practical reforms that are consciously directed towards women, the predicament of women is unavoidable because they live in a society in which custom is gender discriminatory. It is therefore difficult for gender neutral laws to ensure gender equality in such an environment no matter the good intention of the laws or policies. This is what this book is all about. Issues in Women’s Rights to Land in Cameroon explores the customary, social, economic, political and rights issues surrounding access, ownership and control over land from a gender perspective. It combines theory and practice from researchers, lawyers and judges each with tracked records of working on women’s and/or rights concerns to identify and analyse these issues from a multidisciplinary and multi-country perspectives. The outcome of these analyses have been reduced into eight chapters, which will appeal to students, researchers, activists, policy makers, and ordinary readers in any xii field, but particularly those in the field of Gender, Geography, Law, Political Science, Sociology, and other Social Sciences. The uniqueness of the book is found in the fact that the various contributors have approached gender and rights issues surrounding land tenure from diverse perspectives while, at the same time, maintaining a central focus. In so doing, the contributors have not only been able to diagnose and analyze the problem, but they have also proposed solutions based on critical conclusions. Each chapter introduces something new while also adding more clarity to the debate on gender issues in land rights. Ngwa’s introduction to the book conceptualizes the question of land from where the various authors have been inspired. It is an in-depth overture that relates the issue of women’s land rights to customs, agricultural sustainability, natural resources and biodiversity conservation, decentralization, and space management. The author highlights the context of the book in this introductory chapter by framing the question of women’s land rights in a global context. He holds that globalization and liberalization have come along with many opportunities for investments in land and security of tenure which enable women to either be a part or to be losers of the global trend. Land ownership therefore is not only about rights but also about power and control as Fonjong sustain. Fonjong’s paper discusses the concept of power and equality in order to demonstrate that gender equality over land as provided by the law does not necessary translate to equal land rights for men and women in the field because of patriarchy, which gives men enormous power over resources. Land laws and policies should therefore be designed and implemented from the premise that the playground is not level for men and women. Even though customs may play a significant role in the current discrimination against women, the solution to discrimination is more than just instituting land reforms. It should rather include regular capacity building in mainstreaming gender for top level management and legislators, and increased sensitization in all facets of the society. This action, according to the author is purely political and thus requires a political will from those...