Uganda: In Uganda, Legal Aid Supports Widows to Reclaim Their Land

What the report says

AllAfrica, republishing a Spotlight Initiative report dated 30 July 2026, describes how legal aid helped a widow in Uganda’s Kitgum District regain access to land after a long-running family dispute. The woman, identified by the pseudonym Alice to protect her privacy, is a mother of five from Mucwini East Subcounty whose husband died in 2008. According to the report, her late husband’s relatives increasingly blocked her from using family land, undermining her ability to farm and support her children.

The article says local clan mediation did not resolve the dispute and that tensions worsened over the years, including arrests involving her children. In 2025, Alice reportedly heard a radio message about a Spotlight Initiative-supported legal aid project focused on improving women’s access to justice. She then sought assistance, and her case moved through mediation and court-related processes, despite distance and transport difficulties.

The court later sent the matter back to clan leaders for settlement with legal guidance, according to the report. In December 2025, Alice and her children were granted 20 hectares of land, allowing the family to resume farming and rebuild their livelihood.

The case is presented by Spotlight Initiative as an example of how legal support can help widows and other vulnerable women assert property rights. While the report focuses on one individual case, it points to a wider challenge in parts of Uganda and elsewhere: widows may face exclusion from land controlled through family or customary systems, making access to legal information and dispute resolution important for household security and poverty reduction.