'Ringfence 30% of local govt contracts for businesswomen'

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The Government has been urged to ringfence 30 per cent of public procurement contracts for businesses run by women.

Women leaders in local governments and civil society have urged to make this call during the Second Women’s Parliament on March 3, 2025, at the Parliament of Uganda.

They also asked for a policy shift that would see women participate in government procurements as a way of uplifting their incomes.

According to the 2022 Uganda Bureau of Statistics Report, women are breadwinners in 55 per cent of households around the country.

Women leaders during the 2nd women parliament session. (Credit: Maria Wamala)

Their call was premised on the persisting barriers that women face in their bid for economic empowerment as premised in articles 32 and 33 of the 1995 Constitution.

“While women empowerment and economic participation in Uganda has improved and is currently at 39 per cent, women continue to face structural barriers such as discriminatory socio-cultural norms, limited access to productive resources like land, credit and formal employment opportunities,” Jennifer Kengaju (Chairperson, Bunyangabu District Women Council) said.

Speaker Anita Among. (Credit: Mariah Wamala)

Strengthen policies

These calls were part of a motion urging the Government to strengthen policies and initiatives for women’s economic empowerment and financial independence.  

The Second Women’s Parliament was presided over by the chairperson of the National Women Council, Hajjati Faridah Kibowa, who assumed the speakership role through a public vote by show of hands.

With over 500 participants, the women observed that whereas there are several government livelihood programmes that can benefit women economically, most of them lack requirements for access and utilisation.

Keller Angiru from Amolatar district said that empowerment of women should not be limited to only those in urban areas: “We do not have access to loans such as the GROW project which requires a woman to have a land title which most of our women do not have”.

The chairperson of the Women’s League in Mityana district, Harriet Ntambi, said men tend to dominate marketing of lucrative crops such as coffee with women who may have contributed to the labour having no share in the proceeds.

“We have a lot of coffee but men are killing their wives because of coffee. Let the Government intervene to ensure that at least the legally married women share on coffee proceeds and land ownership,” Nambi said.

(Credit: Mariah Wamala)

Sensitisation needed

Gender minister Peace Mutuuzo said there is a need for education of the masses about the amended laws on succession and land ownership that allow women to inherit and acquire land.

Minister of State for gender and Culture, Peace Mutuuzo . (Credit: Maria Wamala)

Mutuuzo added that a percentage of government procurement contracts in the districts should be earmarked for women since they have demonstrated the potential as they now run and own 44 per cent of business enterprises.

“The proposal that sh20b at each district be reserved for women makes me ask what is micro about women that they cannot manage money which is even bigger than that?” Mutuuzo said adding: "we need to uplift that policy to empower women and other interest groups such as the people with disabilities".

The Second Women’s Parliament had 29 resolutions from the four motions on climate change, economic empowerment, women’s involvement in education and politics.

Speaker of Parliament Anita Among pledged to have the resolutions debated and adding that she will also present them to President Yoweri Museveni.