Source: Land Administration Authority, Lesotho.

11.The high number of women who register land can be attributed to the Land Administration Reform project that gave birth to the Systematic Land Regularisation project that was piloted in 2011 and 2012. Furthermore, the registration of land by females was also made popular by the Legal Capacity of Married Persons Act 2006 and the Land Act 2010 which were publicized during the piloting phase.

12.It should be noted that most of the female registered land is owned by single women, widows or women who have inherited it. It is also worth mentioning that most land registrations are done by urban residents.

13.Coupled with this initiative the Government of Lesotho has also put in place Land Courts to accelerate access to justice and promote protection of economic rights. Furthermore, Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) held a series of campaigns on economic rights, particularly land.

14.The Department of Gender in collaboration with Gender Links has been holding and is continuing to hold meetings with Community Councils with a view of making sure that women do not face any challenges about land allocation in the councils. In addition, Centres of Excellence (Community Councils working with the Ministry of Gender and Gender Links) have drawn gender mainstreaming action plans where community councils use their discretion to offer paternity leave and keep records based on sex disaggregated data in relation to land allocation. The Government has further put in place Gender and Economic Empowerment programmes targeting inter alia, commercial banks and financial institutions with sensitisation on the rights of married women to access credit as appears in the LCMPA using land as a collateral where necessary.

Chieftainship

Legislative measures

15.The Ministry of Local Government has also embarked on nation-wide consultations geared towards review of the Chieftainship Act (1968) as a whole and Section 10 forms part of the sections that will be reviewed and this becomes a window of opportunity to push for amendment of Section 10 which differentiates between married women and unmarried women in succession, thereby affording only married women the right to succeed to chieftainship.

16.Besides, the Law Reform Commission is planning to do consultations to review Law of Chieftainship because currently there are no clear laws that females can succeed to chieftainship.

Adoption

Administrative measures

17.National Identity and Civil Registration registers adopted children as per Children’s Protection and Welfare Act (2011).

Polygamy

Legislative measures

18.There are no legislative measures currently taken to prohibit polygamy in Lesotho. There are however remnant cases of polygamy (where one man marries more than one wife who live harmoniously, consulting one another on family matters). Even though there are individuals who prefer to marry more than one wife, it will be observed that most of such marriages are preceded by separation or divorce of the previous wife. The Law Reform Commission is going to include polygamy as a subject of contention on the review of marriage laws.

Administrative measures

19.In order to protect women’s rights especially property rights, public gatherings are continuing to be held to raise awareness about the proper procedures that must be followed in conducting polygamous marriages, some of which procedures involve consultation with the senior wife. Women and Law in Southern Africa conducted a baseline study on polygamy the outcome of which will inform the country on the steps to be taken in relation to the practice.

20.The information collected from the consultations reveals that polygamy is an acceptable customary practice; however, it is on the decline because majority of Basotho are Christians — the religion which condemns polygamy. A few (women and men) who practise polygamy are supported by customary law that safeguards against potentially negative financial and emotional consequences for wives and children by requiring that existing spouses be consulted and that separate property is designated for each household.

Citizenship

Administrative measures

21.The Ministry of Gender has made some strides to advocate for equal and just citizenship acquisition through public gatherings, meetings, workshops and forums. The communities that were contacted were of the opinion that foreign husbands married to Basotho women should be afforded equal treatment of citizenship like the foreign women married to Basotho men. They went further to reflect that their off springs should be treated equally especially when they have equally decided to acquire the citizenship of Lesotho.

Regulations of discrimination against women

Legislative measures

22.Labour Code Wages (Amendment) Act 2012 provides for paid maternity leave for workers in the Clothing, Textile and Leather Manufacturing Sectors and provides that an employee who has completed more than one (1) year of continuous service with the same employer in the Textile, Clothing and Leather Manufacturing Industry shall be entitled to receive two (2) weeks paid maternity leave and an employee who has completed more than one (1) year of continuous service with the same employer other than in the Textile, Clothing, and Leather Manufacturing shall be entitled to receive six (6) weeks paid maternity leave. Over and above the maternity leave period, the new mother can be given a nursing hour for the next three (3) to nine (9) months until the baby is six (6) months old or one (1) year old. This act is a response to Labour Code Order of 1992 which was general, and the Labour Code Wages 2012 specifies work leave conditions in the manufacturing sector which tended to offer unpaid maternity leave.

Conclusion

23.There are no legislative measures taken to implement what has been recommended by the Committee. Only the administrative measures have been in place to address the concerns of the Committee.