The Widows’ Empowerment Program is an initiative dedicated to giving hope, nurturing resilience and fostering independence among the widows who have continued to face increased vulnerability due to economic hardships, social isolation, legal discrimination and emotional distress.
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The rains are about to begin but Consolata Achieng’ is no longer worried of a leaking roof like last year’s wet season when she had to endure cold and flooding in the makeshift hut that almost crumbled down under the weight of unrelenting downpour.
Consolata now has a new house as a result of the Widows Empowerment Programme. Her Rang’wena Women Group is relieved because the 85- year old widow has been theirs to take care of since she lost her husband 35 years ago. The well-wishers also furnished Consolata’s house with furniture, and utensils before handing her money to begin business for sustenance.
Urban growth has also eaten into Consolata’s home that used to be big in the outskirts of Homa Bay Town. She today has a tiny compound with no land to till, following the death of her nine children. Like fellow widows of her group, she’s among thousands of women targeted for empowerment.
“Things began going south when my husband died. I lost land to my in-laws and became a beggar such that when my children died, I could not cope up with the devastation because of the stigma I was facing,” narrated Consolata.
When Widows Empowerment Programme Director Victor Ayugi and other officials visited Consolata last year and built her a new home, it was a big relief and part of journey to overcome cultural barriers that had dominated her life.
“In my culture you cannot do many things without an inheritor if your husband had died. I could not have a new house because no one was willing to build it for me. I felt good when this organisation came to do it for me and fellow widows because our culture dictates that you have to undergo some cultural practices because of getting a new house or going to the farm,” explained Consolata.
Victor Ayugi, the Program’s Director explains that the Widows’ Empowerment Program is an initiative dedicated to giving hope, nurturing resilience and fostering independence among the widows who have continued to face increased vulnerability due to economic hardships, social isolation, legal discrimination and emotional distress.
Ayugi says that the program has adopted a comprehensive intervention approach that encompasses economic empowerment, social support, legal advocacy, mental health services, and community engagement.
“By recognizing and addressing the unique challenges faced by widows, the Widows’ Empowerment Programme is working towards creating a more inclusive and supportive environment where widows can thrive and regain a sense of security and dignity,” Ayugi notes.
The initiative, which was founded two years ago by Interior Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo believes that through some collaborative efforts, they’re building a future where widows are not only supported but celebrated for their strength and contributions to society.
“We select the groups by doing a pre-visit based on the illegible registered certificates they own and the type of activities they indulge in that help them in their daily endeavors and make them fit in the society just like any other person,” notes Ayugi.
According to officials, the program targets 3 widows’ groups per ward across the Nyanza region. So far, according to the program’s coordinator, over 3,500 widows have benefitted from the initiative.
The program’s coordinator pointed out that in their past engagement with the widows, the constant concerns that they want to be addressed include discrimination and stigma. Other notable challenges that the widows are facing, which the program is seeking to address include inadequate shelter, issues around wife inheritance, and the right to own land.
“Customary law demands that widows should marry one of the brothers of the deceased for them to survive. A refusal often leads to all manner of persecutions and other forms of blackmail,” he said.
In a scientific work published in the “Journal of the International AIDS Society” in 2014 titled, “Widow cleansing and inheritance among the Luo in Kenya: the need for additional women-centred HIV prevention options,” by researchers Brian Perry, Lennah Oluoch and others, it was found out that widows must balance limiting their risk for HIV infection with meeting cultural expectations and ensuring that their livelihood needs are met.
It was also realised that sexual abstinence undermines cultural expectations in widowhood while the use of condoms is deemed inappropriate in fulfilling culturally prescribed sexual rituals, and is often beyond the widow’s ability to negotiate.
“Nearly all of the research participants, both widows and inheritors, discussed how inheritance relationships are based on the obligation to fulfil societal expectations and gender roles, both throughout the year and at specific moments in one’s life. Sex was frequently discussed and considered an essential component of fulfilling these roles” notes the research paper.
In the Luo cultural practices, inheritance is considered distinct from marriage. Inheritance relationships are based on prescribed roles rather than the commitment and permanent bonds of marriage. Widows remain “married” to their husband even after their passing. If an inheritance relationship ends, there is no such bond or claim held by the inheritor.
Inheritors are simply “filling in” or playing the role of a “husband.” Inheritors are expected to help the widow comply with sexual rituals and, to a varying degree, provide the widow financial and emotional support.
Aside from the initial cleansing ritual, widows, as well as married women, are expected to observe other sexual norms common in the Luo community. For example, they may be expected to engage in intercourse during the establishment of a home; during agricultural cycles such as tilling the land, planting, and harvesting; and when participating in the funeral or marriage ceremonies of some relatives.
While an increasing number of widows voluntarily choose not to observe the traditions, many still engage in these practices to conform to societal norms or because they are compelled to do so by their husbands’ families, their own families, or the belief that engaging in the tradition will ensure that they or their children will not be ostracized or face illness or other misfortunes.
Though widows acknowledged that engaging in inheritance relationships place them at risk for HIV infection, both widows and inheritors mention that widows need an inheritor to not only help them perform specific rituals throughout the year to ensure their cultural obligations are met but also to help with practical needs, such as building a new home or make necessary home repairs, plough or sow fields, and harvest crops.
In counties located in the Nyanza region, according to tradition, widows are expected to engage in these cultural practices in order to remove the impurity ascribed to her after her husband’s death.
These brutal cultural practices haven’t spared visually impaired 73 – year- old Roselida Atieno, another beneficiary of the empowerment programme in Sota Village, Kochia Ward in Rangwe Constituency.
“No one wanted to come to my compound. I faced unspeakable stigma because I wasn’t helpful to anyone and had to rely on assistance from well-wishers,” said Roselida.
Both practices have been cited as contributing factors to the high HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in the lakeside counties. Cultural practices that have disadvantaged women have accelerated HIV, making the region lead in worrying statistics.
Numerous medical scientific work has revealed how HIV burden is heavier in parts of the county where cultural practices favours spread of the diseases.
In a research paper titled, “Understanding ethnic variations in HIV prevalence in Kenya: the role of cultural practices,” published online in 2020 in the “International Journal for Research, Intervention and Care” that covers culture, health and sexuality in depth, researchers realised that patterns of HIV prevalence in Kenya suggest that areas where various cultural practices are prevalent bear a disproportionate burden of HIV.
According to the National Syndemic Disease Control Council in its Kenya HIV Estimates Portal, the prevalence of HIV in Kenya was 3.3%. in females it was 4.46% while in males it was 2.16%.
The top five counties with the highest prevalence of HIV were Kisumu (11.7%), Homa Bay (10.6%), Migori 10.5%), Siaya (9.5%) and Busia (5.0%). The counties with the highest prevalence of HIV among men were Kisumu, with a prevalence of 8.6%; Homa Bay, with 7.4%; Migori, with 7.1%; Siaya, with 7%; and Busia, with 4.3%.
Among women, the counties with the highest prevalence of HIV were Kisumu at 14.9%, Homa Bay at 13.8%, Migori at 13.8%, Siaya at 12.7%, and Busia at 5.8%.
The total number of HIV-related deaths in Kenya was 20,480 in 2023. Kisumu County recorded the highest number of HIV-related deaths, with 1,761 people dying from the disease. Other counties with the highest number of HIV deaths included: Homa Bay – 1,404, Migori – 1,364, Nakuru – 1,363 and Siaya – 1,202.
Scientists are now seeking to end HIV transmission through harmful cultural practices such as widow cleansing and wife inheritance. In a new scientific research published in the “BMC Medicine Journal” in early 2025 titled., “Mitigating HIV risk associated with widow cleansing and wife inheritance using combined biomedical and structural interventions in western Kenya: a mathematical modeling study,” by Duncan K. Gathungu, Viona N. Ojiambo and other scientists, it is revealed how HIV biomedical and structural interventions could reduce HIV-related harms associated with these practices.
In the research, it was realised that widowed women are a vulnerable population with extremely high HIV prevalence, and that combined biomedical and structural interventions focused on the practice of widow cleansing and wife inheritance have the potential to avert up to one-quarter of HIV infections among widowed women, and a smaller proportion among men participating in these practices.
“Widowed women in western Kenya and other parts of Africa experience one of the highest HIV prevalence rates seen in any global population. Combined biomedical and structural interventions focused on the practice of widow cleansing and wife inheritance have the potential to avert up to one-quarter of HIV infections among widowed women over coming decades, and a smaller proportion of infections among men participating in these practices,” the research indicates.
Widows problems are not only exacerbated by harmful cultural practices but also inability to own land and properties exclusively. Women in Nyanza face significant bias in the ownership and control of land owing to the deeply ingrained patriarchal system also prevalent in many other communities.
Access to finance, food, and water for women is directly tied to their access to land. Ownership and control of land among women surpasses access and encompasses the ability to decide whether to sell, use it for financing, and cultivate it. As of 2021, 12.4% of females were still excluded from financial services, demonstrating the far-reaching consequences of women’s land ownership disparity. Given that women make up 50.3% of Kenya’s population, excluding them from land ownership impacts the country’s economic performance.
Despite these existing legal frameworks to promote property and land ownership among women in Kenya, more than 70% of women do not own any kind of land.
The 2022 KDHS report reveals that 75% and 93% of women do not own agricultural and non-agricultural land, respectively, an increase from 2014 when only 61.3% of women did not own any land in Kenya. Among women who owned land in 2022, 62% and 44% did not have a title deed on agricultural and non-agricultural land, respectively.
Further, data from the Kenya Land Alliance (KLA) 2018 report shows that only 10% of the 3 million title deeds processed by the government between 2013 and 2017 were issued to women. This is a possible explanation for the widening gap of women who do not own land in Kenya between 2014 and 2022.
