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Widowhood, Land Wrangles and Social Stigma in the Face of HIV/AIDS in Southwestern Uganda

The social phenomenon of widowhood is as old as the institution of marriage because the latter is the foundation for the former. Even though death is a natural fact, various societies and cultures celebrate it through diverse customs, attaching varying social constructs to the resultant experience of widowhood. Widowhood is a growing social phenomenon in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly due to the rampant civil wars, natural disasters, and epidemics including HIV/AIDS. Events in the social political history of Uganda have yielded a growing number of widows, which is compounded by the rising number of people lost to AIDS.

This article discusses the social struggles that widows encounter on a daily basis in contemporary southwestern Uganda. Ethnographic fieldwork was conducted with groups of widows and widowers, clan elders and cultural leaders in Masaka District. Data collection employed focus group discussions, individual interviews, participant observation of death rituals, levirate marriage and widow inheritance rites, and a survey of cultural ceremonies in the area. Atlas.ti, computer software designed for analysis of large volumes of qualitative data, was employed for data analysis, which was based on the grounded theory (Strauss and Corbin 1998).

Traditionally in Buganda the major rites of passage that were socially recognized are birth, initiation, marriage and death (Bennet, Saxton and Mugalula-Mukiibi 1973; Kyewalyanga 1976). During the death rituals, the widowed spouse was socially elevated to a position of ‘Namwandu’ - widow, or ‘Semwandu’ - widower. The clan had provisions to cater for the welfare of the widowed and the orphaned, namely: levirate marriage, last funeral rites where property was distributed, amalgamation of orphans into the extended patrilineal family by process of adoption by paternal relatives, installation of the heir and caretakers (McGrath, Rwabukwali and Schumann 1990; Olowo-Freers 1991). Levirate marriage, otherwise known as widow inheritance, involves the remarriage of a man’s widow to her brother-in-law. This practice is internally consistent with patrilineal principles whereby the male lineage retains rights to sex, labour and childbearing capacity of wives even after the original husband has died.

Our findings indicate that the traditional institution of widowhood in Buganda is rapidly disintegrating. Due to social stigma attached to widowhood, widowed individuals no longer embrace the cultural titles ‘Namwandu’ or ‘Semwandu’. This is because of the shame and ill social connotations associated with widowhood. Economic and financial constraints have drastically impacted the cultural norms of conducting last funeral rites, adoption and care-giving by the clan, heirs or care-takers. Widows complained that the institution of care-takers locally known as ‘abakuza’ has deteriorated into being a mere symbol, with people put into the position, but they never look into the welfare and provision of the widow and her orphans. Participants claimed that it was only in situations where a widower would be given a female care-taker whom he could marry that this institution ever became practice. However in the case of widows, it was merely a rite that ended with the ceremony. Where widowhood used to be a social experience, it is now relegated to the private and individual sphere, where widowed persons suffer alone in solitude.

Widows lamented that non-governmental organizations, relief agencies and interventions were targeting orphans but there was no single association in the district that was targeting the social category of widows. The widowed discussants reported the invisibility of widows in government programmes, policies or even women empowerment campaigns, yet widows and widowers need support as well.

The advent of HIV/AIDS has greatly coloured the experience of widowhood with many widows and widowers acquiring social labels as HIV carriers even in cases where their spouse died from unrelated illnesses, sudden deaths, natural causes or accidents. These negative labels lead to discrimination and marginalisation by in-laws, the wider community, the press, health officials, and even some development workers. Widows expressed shame about their situation because they were suspected of having the HIV simply because they were widowed. Several reported that they were denied access to the resources of their deceased partner, on grounds that they were suspected to be dying soon.

Unlike widows of the past who were often much older, contemporary widows claimed that they were much younger. As such, many yearned to remarry so as to fulfil their biological obligations of reproduction, or to get a partner to help them in the upbringing and provision for themselves and their dependants who often included orphans. However, the stigma attached to contemporary widowhood, and its association with HIV infection, drastically reduced possibilities for remarriage when one was known to be widowed, due to fears of infection. Therefore, several widowed participants reported that they had shifted from their initial places of residence where their history was known to new places were they were strangers, in order to obtain an unsuspicious sexual partner or marital spouse. Others reported that when potential partners learnt they were widowed, they variously inquired, ‘How many dead partners have you lost so far?’ This assumption presupposes many sexual partners in the life of the widow, dying from HIV/AIDS. One widow even reported that a micro-finance lending institution refused to lend her money on grounds that she was a widow and would either spend the money on hospital bills, medication or she would be dying soon and thus fail to repay the loan. As a result of this ignorance and callousness portrayed by society, the widowed are in isolation. They are not organized into any self-help groups or associations. They lack support networks because of their invisibility which is sustained by the fear of marginalisation. This stretches to widows of war, natural disaster or sudden accident, because they prefer not to be associated with HIV carriers. The stigma is more pronounced in rural than urban areas.

Our focus group discussions were segregated along gender, in order to tease out the different experiences of the widows and widowers. It was evident that gender plays a big role in the plight of widowhood. While the widowers were often left with the property of the deceased, widows were variously denied access to land, refused to inherit and often sent off the male spouse's land particularly in cases where a will was missing. While widowers were either left with other wives in the even of a polygamous union, or could remarry, widows were left either in competition with co-wives for property, or found it more difficult to remarry due to the double standards in this male-dominated patriarchal society. Even though a widower was encouraged to remarry as soon as possible, society ostracized a widow if she did the same. Widowers claimed it was not a problem for them to find a willing marital spouse even when they had orphaned children. However, the widows lamented that it was difficult to find willing male partners, when the widow had orphans because of the added financial and social burden of providing for the new wife and her children. Participants argued that widowers were frequently more financially endowed and thus able to provide for their orphans than widows were, particularly because of gender differentiated income inequalities that are rife in the society. In addition, the patrilineal dictates of Buganda culture meant that a widow was disconnected from the wider clan into which she married, when her husband died. She could even lose ownership of her children because they belong to the patrilineal clan. This while widowers have their clansmen to support them when their partners die, widows lack this traditional support network because the matrilineal ties only participate in the cultural ceremonies and return to their clan of origin.

However, there was consensus that widowers faced the responsibility of bringing up orphans as a challenge, whereas widows could naturally adapt because this is a women’s gender role.

Therefore, the physical loss and resultant loss, solitude and despair during widowhood, though universally experience, is both determined by culture and gender. Relatedly, education level plays a role because participants claimed that a highly educated widow did not suffer as much as an uneducated one because the former is exposed to the law that may protect her, has a better income level to fend for herself, and can challenge the prevailing male-subjugation. However, several of our participants distanced themselves from this empowered category of women, claiming that there was no way in which they could challenge the status quo.

All the widows decried the rampant loss of property (particularly income generating resources) that they had variously encountered. In the absence of a will, clan members and in-laws were reported to divide up the deceased’s property among the orphans, often neglecting the widow. The widows claimed that in-laws and clan members often allocated themselves portions of the property, and that care-takers frequently squandered possessions belonging to the orphans. However, even in the event of a will, participants claimed that property was unjustly distributed many times, outside the dictates of the will. This was common in cases where children from several mothers all belonged to one dead man.

Many of the widows were involved in land wrangles with in-laws; a few had court cases at the time of the fieldwork. FIDA, a women's law body situated in the urban arm centre, was renowned for pleading on behalf of women. However, participants reported that many times they were either unaware of the law, or just could not afford the costs of law suits in the event that they were chased of their later husband’s property. Several women claimed that it was accultural to sue one’s in-laws on grounds of property disagreements. Others believed that the ghost of the deceased would suffer or return to haunt the widow if she disputed with her in-laws. Therefore, widows often yielded to the abuse of their rights on the basis of such myths, superstitions and values which are deep-seated in the cultural rubric of Buganda society.

In patriarchal societies where women hardly inherit property, the widows reported that in the event of land wrangles, the local council courts often supported the powerful male agnates, supporting the driving away of the widow (sometimes including her offspring) from her late-husband's land. There is an urgent need for provision of channels of redress that are relevant to the widows of southwestern Uganda.

The plight of widowhood in southwestern Uganda is aggravated by negative social cultural beliefs and practices. There is an urgent need for provision of interventions, services, support networks, legal protection and revision of social policy, so that widows can enjoy equal rights and achieve their full potential as citizens of Uganda.

Bennet, F.J., Saxton G.A., and Mugalula-Mukiibi. 1973. Kasangati: The Background to a Health Centre. Nkanga 7:15-31.

Kyewalyanga, F.X. 1976. Traditional Religion, Custom and Christianity in East Africa. Klaus Renner Verlag: Hosheschaftlarn.

McGrath, J., C. Rwabukwali and D. Schumann. 1990. Cultural Determinants of Sexual Risk Behaviour of AIDS among Baganda Women. Paper presented at American Anthropological Association Meetings, Washington, D. C.

Olowo-Freers, B. 1991. Cultural and Social Aspects of Sexual Behaviour Practices and Transmission of AIDS in Uganda. Unpublished UNICEF proposal.

* MRC Laboratories, Farafenni Field-Station; P.O.Box 273, Banjul, The Gambia. Email: snyanzi@yahoo.com

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