Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi has said that married women in his country can now own land alongside their husbands.
The country’s land policy did not allow wives to own land if their husbands already had some.
Only unmarried women or the wives of men who did not already own land were eligible.
Because of the policy millions of women could not own lands where they lived and worked.
The land discrimination was criticized by gender activists who called for reforms.
Botswana’s President Masisi said the country’s land policy “did not give married women equal treatment with men and I am happy to report that this discriminatory subsection has since been repealed.
The Revised Botswana Land Policy of 2019 now gives married women the right to apply for land.”
He wrote on Twitter that “Each Motswana will be eligible for allocation of one residential plot at an area of their choice within the country, on both state land and tribal land.”
Last year during our BDP election campaign trail I made a commitment to ensure that the Land Policy is amended so as to give married women the right to apply for land even when their husbands already have been allocated plots. pic.twitter.com/Q945jJYBRt
— Dr. Mokgweetsi E.K Masisi (@OfficialMasisi) September 17, 2020
Rights groups have welcomed the revised policy which they said was long overdue.
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Source: Africafeeds.com
