Source: Daily News Tanzania
ON Monday, this week, the Draft Committee of the Constituent Assembly (CA) completed its work and officially presented the corrected version of the new Constitution for endorsement through voting.

The draft contains different contentious issues such as rights of farmers, fishermen, artisans, livestock keepers and small-scale miners.

It also contains sections on the formation of both central and local governments, basic education required for persons interested in seeking parliamentary seats and the need to establish an organ that shall be responsible for fighting corruption.

The great revolution that the Draft Committee has included in the proposed Constitution is the right for women to own land, as well as giving women the 50/50 representation at all decision-making bodies.

For years, women were fighting for such rights and the fact that such sections have been included in the basic law of the land is a revolutionary decision that has been achieved by both men and women. One of the persons deeply touched by this achievement is Prof Ruth Meena who argues that to a large extent, the Draft Constitution has included gender issues as proposed by 'Women and Katiba' activists.

The Draft Committee, which was under the chairmanship of Mtemi Andrew Chenge has included some sections in the Draft, for example, the determination to build a country that does not have segregation of any kind, for instance, gender based violence. Such inequality is well defined in good governance principles.

According to Prof Meena, equality basic principles as outlined in the Draft can promote good governance, politics and social services. The Draft insists that Constitution is the basic law, so other by laws, traditions, cultures and other beliefs that go against that major law should be treated as null and void.

"Women rights have been improved and safe motherhood has also been included, as well as the right for women to own land, their equal rights in employment opportunities and right for women to get maternity leave," she says.

Former Executive Director of Tanzania Gender Networking Programme (TGNP), Ms Usu Mallya insists that the section that speaks about the right for women to own land has been well written because it outlines the right for a woman to get, own, use and develop land, just like their men counterparts may do.

"Women have been given equal citizenship rights, including the rights for their children to become citizens of Tanzania. Above all, a child age is now recognised to below 18 years and that is the better system of safeguarding their rights that may help them avoid getting married before attaining that particular age," she says.

Ms Mallya insists that rights for people living with disability have also been well identified and the rights to get assistance to enable them associate with others have also been identified in the draft constitution. CA member, Ms Doreen Maro, who presents livestock keepers is contented that the Draft Katiba has set avenue for women livestock keepers to benefit more from their work.

We have the reason to smile because our interests have been taken into consideration in the proposed constitution, she says. She says that for years, there have been challenges that have prevailed, for example, the persistent and increasing burden of poverty on women especially in rural areas, inequalities in arrangements for productive activities and in access to resources, inequalities in the sharing of power and decision-making.

There has also been lack of respect for and inadequate promotion and protection of the human rights of women, inequalities in managing natural resources and safeguarding the environment. The proposed Draft Constitution also addresses the widespread marginalisation of the girl child in different spheres of life, including education and the total exclusion caused for many by early and forced marriage.

Gender-based violence is prevalent and according to a 2005 World Health Organisation (WHO) survey, 41 per cent of ever-partnered women in Dar es Salaam have experienced physical or sexual violence at the hands of a partner. The Draft Constitution has put in place a comprehensive strategy and effective legislation to eliminate practices that discriminate against women also modify or eliminate cultural practices and stereotypes that discriminate against women, says Ms Maro.

More than 50 per cent of women in rural Tanzania are agricultural producers who do not have control over the benefit of the land. It is the husbands and clan heads who have the final say on control over the land. "The majority of Tanzanian women making more than 50 per cent have no rights to own land.

Another problem, according to land rights experts, has been the inadequate analysis of the gender aspect of changes in land tenure system," she says. In the customary land law, she adds, women have been caught between cultural and traditional restrictions which deny them independent land ownership rights.

Like all other Tanzanian citizens, says Ms Maro, women have the legal right to own land under the 1998 Land Act. However, due to lack of independent financial resources and traditional gender role, women rarely buy land, either independently or jointly with their husbands and household land is commonly titled only in the name of the male head of the household.

Women living in household that own land often access to land but rarely have legal ownership rights to that land. According to a report issued in Maputo recently, women's access to and ownership of land needs a proactive stance that favours awarding land rights to women by governments, followed by rigorous evaluation policies, programmes and projects to promote greater gender equality in control of conjugal land.

Key ingredients to improving access to land among women in Africa include legal recognition elevating women's secondary land rights to equal those of men, legal recognition of women's inheritance rights and joint registration of spousal land rights.

Supporting elements include conducting education, awareness and information campaigns highlighting women's land rights, providing for adequate representation of women in programme implementation teams and having an open and accessible appeal system to address the concerns of any aggrieved parties.

Studies have shown that although women contribute more than seven per cent of agricultural labour, they own only 1-2 per cent of land in Africa, with most of them only accessing land through male relatives. Experts also report that security of tenure can encourage women to invest in the land, adopt sustainable farming practices and take better care of agricultural land.

Currently, however, women in Africa especially in rural areas remain vulnerable to land tenure insecurity because of intra-community customary norms. The Maputo report says that women's land rights tend to be fluid and subsidiary relatives to men's which leaves vulnerable and tenure insecure.

In most instances, women must depend on a male to access land and does not control inherit land. Moreover they also trend to lack financial resources to buy land.

Despite positive steps toward reforming land laws and policies in Africa women's rights to land have yet to became fully realised and the reality for women is still characterised strongly by entrenched patterns of exclusion and the proposed Draft Katiba might be exemplary to the rest of Africa in granting women equal rights in the society.

• Tanzania