How Africa treats its widows

Hadija Nabwami’s life got worse following the death of her husband in 2016.

When I meet her on June 21, 2023, she is warming up herself alongside her son, in a smoky outdoor kitchen constructed using corrugated iron sheets and timber.

Adjacent to it, is an incomplete brick house with worn out mosquito nets hanging from the glassless windows.

She has just returned from work at a nearby farm. It’s an acre of maize plantation, which she weeds for a pay of USh30,000 (Ksh1,206).

“If I don’t do it, my son will have no medicine,” she says at her homestead in Mubende, in central Uganda.

Her farm is less than a quarter an acre. She intercrops maize, beans and cassava for her family of four children. Her husband, a businessman, died before completing the family house.  Hadija has a co-wife who lives in another region.

When he was around, she never worried about the medicine for her youngest son who was born with sickle cell anaemia.

For him to survive, he has to take special medicine that goes for USh30,000 (Ksh1,206), a dose, a month.

The paid farm work is irregular and unavailable during drought. So, she has to beg for help from well-wishers.

“It hurts me so deeply that I cannot provide for my son,” she says.

She is also fighting another painful battle. Her husband had sired children out of wedlock. These children, she says, are claiming the land. They want to push her out.

“We will be homeless if the government fails to protect me and my children. I don’t know where I will go or what I will do. I always don’t want to think about it because I feel like I’m going through a wave of thunderstorms,” she lets out her distress.

Hadija is not alone, thousands of Ugandan widows face similar challenges as elaborated in a 2014 study by International Justice Mission.

The study found that in Mukono District in central Uganda, of 1,806 widows surveyed, a total of 548 had been victims of property grabbing by in-laws, co-wives or step-children.

In Uganda, 37.6 per cent of the 8.9 million households are headed by widows according to Uganda National Household Survey (2019/2020). This translates to 3.2 million households. This means that as of 2020, there were at least 3.2 million widows in the country.

Read also: The digital tool helping Kakamega women access land justice

Uganda has laws protective of widows’ rights. While the Ugandan Penal Code and other statutes do not include a specific offence called property grabbing, the act of stealing land violates numerous criminal statutes.

Attempting to evict widows or unmarried orphans from the home of their deceased husband or father is made criminal by the Succession Act (2022).

Nevertheless, in-laws, co-wives and step-children continue to grab widows’ inherited property and chase away the children.

“Sometimes they are chased away by the in-laws or children of the husband,” Mariam Nagawa, senior probation officer in Mubende District says.

Her department is under the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development.

“We summon them, guide them accordingly and make them aware of what the law says about the rights of widows, widowers and the children. We also teach them about their roles and responsibilities according to the law Succession Act.”

She says the amended succession law offers a higher share of inheritance to both widows and widowers.

“Before the amendment, when a man failed to leave behind a will, widow or widower, would get 15 per cent. Under the amended act, it’s 20 per cent, for those who are officially married,” she says.

For those cohabiting, she says, they get nothing. Only the children benefit.

“The dependants used to get nine per cent, in the amended act, they get four per cent. Five per cent has been added to the widow or widower. For the heir, it remained one per cent and for the children, 75 per cent,” she explains.

“But the percentage changes depending on whether one had children or dependents. If, for instance, the man had no children, the percentage would go to the wife.”

She says they also link the widows to non-State organisations that provide free legal services and shelters.

Land dispossession

The country, however, lacks a credit facility committed to the widows. It, however, provides others accessible to all women including the widows.

Mariam says widows are allowed to form groups and access loans from Uganda Women Empowerment Programme, Youth Livelihood Programme and Parish revolving fund under Parish Development Model, all of which are government funded kitties.

The government also empowers widows through operation wealth creation where they receive free farm inputs, heifers, layers, piglets and fish fry.

In Tanzania too, widows are struggling with poverty worsened by land dispossession.

On a warm Monday in 2013, Francisca Ferdinand bid her husband goodbye. He was on his way to their two- acre banana plantation in Tsuduni, a village in Kilimanjaro region in Tanzania.

The ancestral farm was about 10 minutes away from the matrimonial home. Her husband had gone to check whether the bananas were ready for harvesting and selling.

In the midst of his inspection, goons descended on him with pangas and killed him.

“I reported the matter to the police but they threatened to kill me. For the sake of my four children, I shelved the idea of seeking justice,” she says.

Her husband was a businessman selling farm produce and farm equipment in Tanzania and Kenya. Francisca says that with him, she never worried about the children’s school fees, all of whom were in high school.

His departure meant she had to take over the wheels. Although he left her with no savings, Francisca had access to their farm.

She intercropped maize and beans with the focus of raising enough money to sustain their learning.

The parcel yielded 28 sacks of maize and three for beans. She would sell one sack of maize at Tsh60,000 (Ksh3,493) and beans, Tsh90,000 (Ksh5,239).

“Then I joined 10 savings groups; in some, I contributed Tsh2,000 (Ksh117) or Tsh1,700 (Ksh99) weekly. In others, I saved Tsh12,000 (Ksh699) or Tsh11,000 (Ksh640) every month. With the savings, I secured multiple education loans,” she shares.

All her children have completed secondary school but can’t proceed with higher education because her in-laws dispossessed her of the land three years ago.

Little is different from Bertha Julius, a fellow villager. When her retired teacher husband died in 2013,  she neither had a job or a business  of her own.

But she had five children to raise; the eldest had just finished university and the younger ones were in secondary school.

“I didn’t know where to start from. My husband ran a transport business with one truck he had bought. He met all our needs. I had nothing to worry about: he made sure we had enough food and were well clothed,” she says in some pricking pain.

“Our land is less than an acre, I can’t grow enough bananas or maize for sell. We spend the little I harvest.”

She took over the business and put a distant relative in-charge of the business. One year later, the vehicle broke down and is yet to be repaired due to lack of money.

She also turned to casual farm work, drawing a similar amount as Francisca. She saves Tsh12,000 (Ksh699) in a group every month, from where she receives loans to educate the rest of the children. 

Her firstborn who had graduated with a degree in civil engineering got a job in Dar es Salaam. He chips in whenever she is low in cash, she says.

“How I wish the Tanzanian government provided special grants to widows to start a business. I’d like to start a pig business,” she says.

Mary Emmanuel lost her husband in 2001, leaving behind four children. At the time, he was a businessman in Arusha selling shoes. From his earnings he provided for the family with Mary supporting him to take care of the food expenses.

Back at home at Tsuduni, she reared three dairy cows, selling the milk and looking after their acre of coffee farm.

“His death brought darkness into my life. I was deeply worried about the future of my children. Days later, the reality hit me that my children have only me to depend on, so I had to brave out,” she says.

Amid her strive to cope with the grief, a strange disease struck her cows and they all died.

Class Seven

“I would not depend on coffee since harvesting is seasonal. I had to start working in people’s farms for a pay of Tsh5,000 (Ksh291). I was unable to educate my children. They didn’t go beyond Class Seven,” she says.

Data from Tanzania’s National Bureau of Statistics show an increase of women headed households from 18 per cent in 1991/92 to 25 per cent 2011/12.  The agency attributes the upward trend to the rise in the number of women who are widowed, divorced or separated.

The 2022 census indicates that the country has 14.2 million households, an increase from 9.3 million in 2012. However, it fails to show how many are headed by widows. But going by the 2011/12 figure, 3.55 households are headed by either the widowed, divorced or separated.

In 1987, Tanzania's Attorney General asked the Law Reform Commission to study problems in inheritance law and recommend reforms.  In 1995, the commission published a report recommending among other changes, a measure protecting the widows from losing their property to the late husbands’ relatives. But a review published in Georgetown Law in 2020, says nothing had been done thus far, to implement the recommendations.

In terms of economic empowerment, widows can primarily access government loans through the Women development fund established in 1992, Youth Development Fund was established in 1993/94 and the Economic Empowerment Fund was launched in 2007.

Equal rights

Rashid Njozi, development officer in Masasi, says widows continue to face hostility from in-laws due to the cultural biases that place a woman at a subordinate level.

He says they continue to empower women through the fund to enable them fight for their rights.

In 2015, United Nations Committee on Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, issued a landmark decision regarding two widows referred to as E.S. and S.C. They brought their grievances before the committees after the Tanzanian courts rejected their claim to equal rights to inherit and administer property.

It found that the Tanzanian government had violated these widows’ rights by denying them “equality in respect of inheritance and failed to provide them with any other form of redress.” It also found that Tanzania’s courts had violated their rights of access to justice and an effective remedy.

It recommended that the government compensate both widows for the violation of their rights, and called for constitutional and customary law reforms, and practical measures to eliminate this discrimination.

Kenya has made progress in safeguarding widows’ rights and empowering them economically.

Read also: Eldoret widow wins 20-year court battle over husband's estate 

Mary Akinyi Odhiambo joined Amalo Widows Group in 2015, two years after her husband’s death.

Her life in her home in Akele South village in Rarieda Sub-county, Siaya County had become unbearable. She needed some strength and direction to go on and found it in the group.

“My life turned upside down from the day my husband died. My in-laws wanted to take away my land. Some people in the community were laughing at me. Others came to throw insults at me in my homestead. I wondered, what wrong I had done,” she says.

“This group has helped me heal. Through it, I’ve known my rights. No one can dare harass me anymore. I can defend myself. I’ll report to the authorities anyone who tries to step on my toes unlike before when I’d just cry.”

Sarah Onyango, another a member of the group, feels the same.

“I joined the group in 2011 after my husband’s death. Since then, I have learnt how to be financially stable. We share our day to day challenges and encourage one another. This has helped remain strong and resilient,” she says.

“Whenever we meet, I feel at peace. They are my friends. I can open up to them.”

Even though communities still follow conservative traditions, Amalo Widows group is a proof that an informed widow in a support group can start the end of oppressive cultures.

There are no official figures of either widows who have been violated or overcome the abuse.

A 2020 report by Federation of Women Lawyers-Kenya, however, gives an indication of their status.

Ten out of the 289 gender-based violence cases reported during a three-week period (between April 15 and May 5, 2020) in Western Kenya were of widows evicted from their homes and physically violated by their in-laws, the report showed.

It’s not only in Siaya that women are standing up for their rights. In other counties, widows have united to engage the county leadership in empowering them.

Currently, Amalo group has 28 widows, nearly half of the original membership. Forty eight members constituted the group when it started in 2015.

But the numbers kept dropping over time as the elderly widows either died or ceased membership due to ageing complications.

“Some were in their 60s, others in their 80s,” says Mary Kere, the group’s chairperson.

She has led the group since it was founded long before the death of her husband. He died in 2021.

They offer each other emotional support. They also make sisal ropes which they sell at Ksh40 ($0.29) or Ksh50 ($0.36) depending on the length of the rope.

They then invest the proceeds in table banking, a pool from which they issue loans to the members to pay fees for their children or expand their business. They refund the loans with a 10 per cent interest. Many of the members run groceries and eateries, Mary says. Presently, Mary is the only one selling second-hand clothes.

She says they intend to take a loan from Thamini to boost their businesses.

The special loan facility under the Women Enterprise Fund was launched in 2021, after years of lobbying for the government to be cautious of the special financial needs of widows.

However, the interest-free Thamini (value in English) loan is accessible to widows in a group of at least 10 members, per cent of whom must be widows. The group must also be operating three months prior to the loan application.

Under Section 35(1) (b) and 36(1) (b) of the Law of Succession Act, Chapter 160, a widow with or without children loses her life interest (inherited property from her deceased husband) upon remarriage.

But in September, 2022, the Meru High Court declared these sections unconstitutional. However, the Act hasn’t been amended to reflect this position

Back to Uganda. All Hadija wants is a means to be economically empowered.

“I need something that can earn me a regular income. How will my son survive when the well-wishers get tired of helping me?”

[email protected]