Profile:

Prior to LAWA, Naome worked as the Senior Land Management Officer for the Mukono District Council in Uganda, implementing government land policies in the district and educating the public on land rights. She assisted women in her district to lease and purchase land, receive credit and use land for development. She also worked with women to secure succession and inheritance rights. She has been a member of FIDA-U since 1988.

Naome was Legal Advisor to VEDCO, involved in micro-finance programs in Luweero, Mpigi and Mubende Districts and in 1992, she co-founded the Foundation for Human Rights Initiative (FHRI), an organization that develops and implements innovative human rights advocacy strategies and programs and presses for meaningful law reform and respect for due process of law.

During her fellowship, Ms. Kabanda focused on developing projects that effectively promote women’s property rights in Uganda. She completed her major research paper on “Women’s Access to and Control over Land in Uganda: A tool for economic empowerment,” wherein she discussed legal barriers to women’s inheritance and land ownership.  Following her LL.M., Ms. Kabanda worked on women’s land inheritance rights and other issues in her fellowship internship with the Africa Division at the World Bank.

Following the LAWA fellowship, Naome became the Principal Land Officer in the Ministry of Lands, Housing, and Urban Development.  She has been in charge of policies under the 1998 Land Act as well as various governance issues.  Since 2004, Naome has been involved in the formulation and development of Uganda's National Land Policy as part of the drafting team.  The draft policy was completed through a nationwide consultative process and finally concluded by a 3-day national delegates conference which was attended by representatives of all key stakeholders throughout the country.  The draft national land policy will be sent to cabinet at the end of September, 2010 for approval.  Naome comments: "The development of the national land policy is a key benchmark for Uganda as a country because it will lead to key major reforms in the Land Sector.  The Land Act of 1998 cam into place without a land policy and this has had implications on its implementation.  Many of our land laws which are obstacles will need revision, in addition to parliament enacting some new ones.  Recommendations have been made to speed up the process of reviewing many laws that discriminate against women or demine their land rights.  A full chapter on women and their land rights has been embedded in this new draft national land policy for Uganda."

Naome is also engaged in the training and capacity-building of District Land Boards throught the country.  Under Uganda's decentralized system and the country's constitution, District Land Boards are the institutions put in place to manage and govern land on behalf of the citizens of Uganda.  Uganda has over 100 districts and it is a requirement that each district has a Land Board.  Naome also researches in partnership with civil society research institutions.  She is the current chair and partner with one of the major research organizations, Associates Research.