CUSTOMARY LAWS IN KENYA ROB WIDOWS OF HOMES
The plight of widows in Kenya who are often left homeless
and destitute because their property rights have been abused
has been highlighted by a report issued recently by Human
Rights Watch.
The report, entitled “Double Standards, omen’s
Property Rights Violations in Kenya” documents the
experiences of more than 100 widows, many evicted from their
homes, live in poverty and in fear of violent threats from
hostile relatives with their children forced to drop out
of school.
The story of 38 year old Rose Otaye encapsulates the violence
against women. When her husband died of AIDS in 1998, she
was told by her in-laws that she must take part in customary
sexual practices in order to inherit her husband’s
property. First she would be cleansed by having intercourse
with a fisherman and then she would be inherited or married
to one of her husband’s brothers.
When Rose , who is also HIV positive refused, she and her
five children were evicted from their home and left destitute.
These practices are possible because many local cultures
do not guarantee a wife’s right to inherit her husband’s
property upon his death. Traditionally, women were expected
to remain economically dependent on men- widows should be
inherited by a male in-law, wives had to remain with abusive
husbands or return to their father’s home.
Kenya’s constitution prohibits discrimination on
the basis of sex but there are still specific instances
where discrimination is permitted and customary law is supreme.
These laws are unwritten and prone to subjective interpretation
though they are formally recognised in law.
Human Rights Watch has made recommendations to the Kenya
Government to stop the abuses of women, enact a new constitution
which will include provisions on women’s equal property
rights and ensure that cases such as Otaye’s reach
the courts. The Government has also been asked to launch
awareness campaigns to educate the public. Judges and traditional
leaders about women’s property rights to encourage
more women to seek redress through the courts.
