Widows in Tanzania struggle with property grabbing

By Kizito Makoye

IRINGA, Tanzania (AA) - Widows whose husbands died from HIV/AIDS in Tanzania have accused male relatives of stalking and grabbing their land and property after the deaths of their spouses.

It also happens when they refuse to be taken as wives by male relatives in line with local traditions in some areas.

Property grabbing, characterized by forced eviction and harassment, is a form of gender violence affecting women across East Africa, threatening their security and livelihoods, according to women’s rights advocates.

Widows are particularly vulnerable because of weak customary practices and a lack of social safety nets that are used to support widows and their children, a situation worsened by HIV/AIDS epidemic.

For International Women’s Day on March 8, the majority of widows Anadolu Agency spoke with believe their vulnerability to property grabbing is not a result of the cause of their spouse’s death, by HIV/AIDS or otherwise, but just death.

- Male chauvinism to blame

Christina Kapoli, who was kicked out of her home one year after the death of her husband, blamed her misery on a male-dominated system.

“A woman is only valuable when she’s married and her husband is alive, but as soon as your spouse dies you become worthless,” she said.

The 41-year-old mother of six, who lives in Ilula Township in the Iringa region, blames her father-in-law for causing misery in her family when he accused her of causing his son’s death.

“He was telling people that I contracted HIV from extramarital affairs that killed his son,” she said.

Kapoli said attempts to take her property failed after she sought legal help from Tawla -- a local charity working to defend the rights of widows.

“They helped me to file a civil case at a district court. The case dragged on for months but in the end I was declared the rightful owner of all the property,” she said.

- Worsening plight

Her story highlights the worsening plight of rural women subjected to humiliation from male relatives after divorce or the deaths of their spouses.

After the deaths of their husbands, widows in Tanzania usually lose land and property to their in-laws.

Those whose spouses die from HIV/AIDS and are themselves infected, suffer terribly because they are often ostracized and discriminated against by society, said local women rights advocates.

As widows desperately try to defend their rights, in many cases it has cost lives due to physical assaults, while others lose shelters and livelihoods.

In May 2020, Japhet Kulwa, a resident of lunyanywi village in Njombe, was charged by the court for allegedly assaulting and causing the death of his sister-in-law in what appears to be a family feud. The cause is pending.

Property rights are listed in the Tanzania Constitution, which establishes the equality of all people.

Article 24(1) states that “Every person is entitled to own a property and “any deprivation of a person’s property is unlawful unless declared by the law which makes provision for fair and adequate compensation.”

A woman’s right to own property is also clearly stipulated in the country’s land legislation of 1999, which say the right of every woman to acquire, hold, use and deal with land to the same extent and subject to the same restrictions be treated as a right of any man.

Despite the legal provisions, widows are struggling to retain personal effects, including land and livestock, and domestic utensils after the death of their husbands as such laws are hard to implement.

However, women's rights groups are lobbying for parliament to amend the law of marriage and others governing property ownership in an effort to give women an upper hand in key family decision-making.

Lydia Kakola who was still engulfed in anguish after her husband’s sudden death, woke up to a grim reality when her brother-in-law issued a one-month ultimatum for her to vacate the home she built with her husband.

“I think it was very brutal. I was still mourning, they did not have any remorse. Their own interest was to possess my assets,” she said.

The 37-year-old resident of Kihesa in Iringa had been married for 10 years and said her brothers-in-law had been embroiled in a family feud about the distribution of my husband’s property.

“We had built a home, and we were keeping many livestock and had several farms,” she said.

According to her, her brother-in-law forcefully moved into her home with the intent to chase her away and control the property.

“I felt so helpless, but I tried my best to resist pressure so that my rights are not violated,” she said.

Kakola, whose husband’s death was blamed on witchcraft, was advised by a local ward leader to seek legal action after her in-laws had shown an intent to grab her late husband’s property. She succeeded and was declared the rightful owner by a local court.

- Illegal practice

When a man dies in rural parts of Tanzania, his widow is sometimes evicted from the home and land by the husband’s relatives -- a practice that is illegal in most cases. The toll that the dispossession has on women and their children, is amplified by a lack of social safety nets and diminishing family values, according to analysts.

Nasieku Kiambu, a land rights expert at Tawla, told Anadolu Agency that most women have access to land through their husbands but do not own it on their own, that is why after divorce or death, women are often being harassed.

She said women who get married by customary arrangement often lose everything when their spouses die or they are divorced since such marriages are not registered.

“Property grabbing is a symptom of a deepening problem in the society which reflects a fundamental failure of land governance and development policies,” she said.