AFRICANEWS

KENYA

...Or a much-misunderstood one?

Its supporters say widow inheritance is a caring custom that is misunderstood and sometimes misused.

Daggers are drawn: the modern African woman does not approve of being "inherited" by one of her husband's relatives after she becomes a widow.

Widow inheritance, croons its critics, is degrading, exploitative and dehumanising to its "victims". Worse, it is partly to blame for the widespread incidence of AIDS in areas where it is practised.

"Not so," says Pastor Costantine Onyango of God's Last Appeal Church, an African Independent Church (AIC). "It is man's immorality, loose behaviour and prostitution which is primarily responsible for the spread of AIDS".

Pastor Onyango asserts that a widow being remarried within the clan is not against Christianity. Indeed, the practice is supported by the Holy Bible.

He flips through his Bible to Deuteronomy 25:5-6:" If a man's brother dies... his widow must not marry outside the family; instead her husband's brother must marry her and sleep with her. The first son she bears to him shall be counted as the son of the dead brother, so that his name is not forgotten".

This, for Pastor Onyango, is proof - if proof were ever needed - that widow inheritance is a universal Biblical custom and not peculiar to a particular clan or community. Many African communities, he says, practise widow inheritance but the difference lies in the terminology and rituals. What all religions do not condone, though, is flirting around - leading unfaithful, free-wheeling, immoral lives, he adds.

Pastor Onyango believes that to attribute the rapid spread of AIDS in communities that practise widow inheritance is to miss the significance of the custom. And after all, he asks, are there not enough married women who lead adulterous lives as if the disease did not exist? "What about them?" asks the Pastor adding that such are the riskiest group of all.

A pastor in the same church, Pastor Walter, however, cautions that many taboos, customary beliefs and rituals must be dusted down so they do not enslave women.

A senior citizen and lay-leader in the Roho Ruwe Church in rural western Kenya, Mr. Agan 'Bati" Bala, says that Ter - as the Luos refer to widow inheritance - is not an immoral habit. "In actual fact," he points out, "Ter does not mean inheritance. It is Luo word for 'remarriage' and is a way of keeping a widow within the clan."

The rationale behind Ter, adds Bala, is to help the widow and her children. "It is meant to prevent the woman from turning into a harlot and is part of our culture bequeathed to us by ancestors," he says.

According to Bala, the practice is democratic. "It is not imposed by men on women. As a matter of fact, the widow is given the opportunity to choose which in-law she wants to inherit her from within the clan."

Esther Aula, a female pastor in another AIC says that the question of AIDS and widow inheritance has been overplayed.

But Pastor Esther supports Christian widows getting remarried in church - to men of their choice. She says that since it is uncommon in African communities to have a husband who is younger than his wife, most widows inevitably end up becoming second or third wives.

In Luo custom, it is the man who moves to the widow's home, points out Pastor Esther. "Widow inheritance is not confined to the Luo community. Many African communities practise it but the rituals involved differ. Of course widows in other communities do not become celibate after their husbands die, " she says.

What then are the historical, philosophical and social underpinnings of the practice of widow inheritance particularly among the Luo of Kenya?

Years back, the Luo community had their homesteads spread apart in isolated clusters. Then, there were the dangers of war, cattle-rustling and wild animals to be vigilant about. There were the forests to be cleared for cultivation; the hunting sprees in search of animal meat etc.

A male family head was, in these circumstances crucial. The male was the key provider of family needs and protection.

Thus when a husband and father died, a gap was created which immediately called for a remarriage of the widow. Remarriage ensured that the crucial aspects of family life went on smoothly even after the death of a husband.

The late Professor Odera Oruka, a prominent philosopher who taught at the University of Nairobi, told this correspondent: The term widow inheritance is misleading and does not give the true role and meaning of the practise".

The professor added: "The widow was never dictated to - in a normal circumstances - on who to marry. She would be given the opportunity to select a man of her choice. In some cases the man's role would simply be of performing some community rituals. It is absurd that the sex aspect is now being blown up and given undue publicity. That is a misconception - sexual involvement was not necessarily a must. The man's role was, on the whole, ritual."

But Professor Oruka cautioned that African communities need to moderate on the extremes of the practice and to leave out the outmoded aspects of it.

All in all, the anti-widow inheritance crusade remains the domain of the rich, propertied and elitist women. The rural woman - and therefore the majority of women - remain too heavily dependent on their husbands and when they die, that "gap" has to be filled.

But even those who support the practice admit that some men approach the practice with a gold-digger's attitude: intent on taking over the wealth of the diceased. "Those are the exploiters of widows and orphans and should be stopped at all costs", says Pastor Esther.

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