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After Brazen Theft, Ugandan Widow's Land Is Restored
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Tuesday, 12 August 2008

Now secure on her property, IJM client runs successful chicken business

UGANDA—Today, to meet Aisha* — a Ugandan woman running a successful business — it is difficult to imagine the hurdles she has overcome. When Aisha’s husband died of AIDS, she was left to care for their two small children, ages 5 and 2, while battling HIV without treatment. In the years following her husband’s death, Aisha’s virus developed into full-blown AIDS, rendering her so sick she was unable to work or care for her children. Desperate to provide for her family, she sold her two-bedroom home to a distant relative named Jabeli.

I never thought I could get that kind of help.
— Aisha, on the legal assistance she received through IJM Uganda
Aisha wrote up an agreement carefully specifying that Jabeli was buying only the two-bedroom house that stood on a portion of her land and not her whole property, on which she intended to grow crops to support her children and to build several rooms to rent out for income once she recovered. Witnessed and signed by Aisha’s sister and a neighbor, the contract was settled, and Jabeli moved in to the home.

Within a year, Aisha’s sickness deteriorated to the point that everyone — her parents, her family and Jabeli — believed she would soon die. While relatives cared for Aisha’s children as she struggled in the hospital, Jabeli forged a new land agreement, adding Aisha’s entire plot of land to the two-room house he had purchased. Forging her signature and using different witnesses, he submitted the new agreement to the local council for a stamp of approval.


Top: Aisha’s property was restored to her through the intervention of IJM Uganda’s legal team.
Bottom: Aisha now raises chickens (some of which are pictured above) as a source of sustainable income for her family.

With this “new agreement” providing a veneer of legitimacy for his theft, Jabeli began to exercise ownership over all the property he had seized. Aisha’s brother and sister-in-law had been living on her land, and Jabeli demanded that they get off “his” property or he would have them evicted.

While Jabeli’s boldness in his crime grew, Aisha began to regain her health and finally became well enough to leave the hospital. But Jabeli’s deception and threats made it impossible for Aisha to live on her own property or to use it for income-generating activities to support her children. Although her health was improving, the stress of the theft and resulting insecurity left her feeling overwhelmed and powerless.

For a year, Aisha was unable to regain her own property from the man who had stolen it. She thought she had nowhere to turn. But Aisha finally confided her situation to a woman at her church who happened to be a client of IJM Uganda. The friend referred Aisha to IJM, and the legal staff took on her case, committing to bring the law to bear on her behalf.

Though a mediation organized by IJM lawyers, a local official verified Aisha’s right to the disputed plot of land when Jabeli’s deception was laid bare. Speechless, Jabeli relinquished his forged agreement, and Aisha regained her land through a new document that was created on the spot by her local authorities.

As a result of IJM’s intervention and the collaboration of her local officials, Aisha now has complete control over her property, and she is using it to generate sustainable income to support herself and her children. Jabeli resides in the home that he legally purchased in the original agreement, and IJM staff have provided additional mediation to help Aisha and Jabeli enter this new living arrangement.

IJM Uganda’s aftercare program has helped Aisha open a chicken-raising business as a source of sustainable income for her family. Starting with 10 chickens and some seed money, she has been able to save 200,000 Ugandan Shillings and her business continues to thrive.
Now that she is secure on her property, Aisha is planning several improvements to her land, including adding three rooms to a small home on the plot in order to supplement her income by renting them to tenants. Aisha’s health has greatly improved, and she has begun counseling and visiting other HIV/AIDS patients, providing encouragement and hope from her own story.

IJM Uganda’s aftercare program has helped Aisha open a chicken-raising business as a source of sustainable income for her family. Starting with 10 chickens and some seed money, she has been able to save 200,000 Ugandan Shillings and her business continues to thrive. IJM Uganda’s staff are committed to continue to assist women who are victimized by illegal property seizure to live in security as Aisha does today.
 
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