Kenyan women's fight for their land rights after death of husbands

Kenyan Rebecca Anyango has called her house home for the past 26 years, but now she is wondering how long she will be able to stay there.

As a widow, she has been threatened with eviction for years by her late husband's family, who claim she has no inheritance rights.

This year they filed a lawsuit against her and the 70-year-old has no legal representation.

"This is where I have buried my husband who died 16 years ago. The grave is here. Where do I take the grave? Where do I take my grandchildren," she says.

Anyango is one of thousands of women in western Kenya who face losing their land, unaware that the country’s Constitution guarantees their right to ownership.

In addition, in rural areas, widowhood in some ethnic groups can come with certain cultural expectations or practices that could be considered illegal.

After the death of her husband, Anne Bonareri fought against one of them in which a widow is taken in as a wife by his brother.

"My mother-in-law came to my house and told me that they had talked overnight and they had agreed that my eldest brother-in-law was going to inherit me," she says.

When she refused, armed men were sent to attack her.

“They [the family] took everything, and I was left with one photo of the father,” the 60-year-old recalled, her voice catching.

Bonaneri was left with three children, a fourth on the way, and little else. She says she later did three jobs to earn enough to buy a small piece of land and build a new house.

Women's advocates say the lack of legal assistance is a key challenge. But there is some hope.

In November, the local assembly in Siaya County where Anyango lives, unanimously passed a Widows Protection Bill.

The legislation was championed by county legislator Scholastica Madowo, herself a widow and one of four elected women in the 42-member assembly.

While she was not forcibly disinherited or remarried, she faced opponents' insinuations about her widowhood during her campaign for office, including allegations that she had killed her husband.

"We do not want it to be a conflict of men and women in their communities. We want to empower the communities and enlighten them. That these women, their husbands have died, they have got their rights," she says.

If signed by the governor, the Bill will criminalise the disinheritance of women or their forced remarriage, and establish welfare committees to help widows access legal aid.

Activist Emma Mong’ute is the daughter of Bonareri who lives in neighbouring Kisii County.

In 2019, she founded the Amandla MEK Foundation help women by offering legal advice and connecting them to pro bono lawyers.

Banned like her mother from their land, and unable to visit her father's grave there, she says the disinheritance of widows creates a cycle of poverty for hundreds of thousands of children.

“They are left without anything because once the father dies the mother is stripped of her dignity, the land is taken, they do not have anywhere to call home.”

She says her organisation will consider pushing for a Bill like the one in Siaya County.