To protect rights, interests: Women’s empowerment minister urges widow associations to legalise status.

The interview was within the context of the commemoration of the International Widows Day on Sunday June 24.

It was celebrated this year on the theme: “Accelerating the achievement of gender equality”.

The minister seized the opportunity to discourage cohabitation, popularly known as “come we stay”, which continues to cause a lot of problems for women in the event of the death of their partner.

“We have witnessed cases where a man and a woman fall in love and start having children without legalising their union. When the man dies, the woman cannot claim ownership to anything despite the fact that she has to continue taking care of the children,” Minister Abena Ondoa stated.

She further encouraged couples to have legal documents that will make it possible for the widow to claim her property rights.

“It is very important because in the past we have dealt with stranded widows. I remember a woman whose husband died and left her with seven children and no marriage certificate. She was kicked out of his house,” Abena Ondoa revealed.

While noting that there are several associations that bring widows together to help them collectively fight for their rights, societal and family abuses, Minister Abena Ondoa regretted the fact that most of these organisations operate informally.

“What we ask these organisations to do is legalise their existence so that they can partner and collaborate more with international and government stakeholders, who can better support them in realising their visions,” the Minister said.

The member of government further encouraged widows and widowers to join associations. She said operating in a group, they can have more impact and change societal patterns that torture widows.

Zooms on plight of widows

The minister remarked that some African and Cameroonian traditions linked to widowhood are quite humiliating and demanding.

“I remember a woman came to me who had worn the black cloth for five years because her in-laws asked her to provide 3 million FCFA. She could not and the in-laws finally understood and left her alone,” the minister said. 

She said a widow is a special and vulnerable person dealing with the loss of a loved one who has psychologically, economically and socially crippled her.

Abena Ondoa, however, added that in some families, as soon as the husband dies, the widow starts suffering because the in-laws have an eye on the husband’s properties and this pushes them to seize all the man's wealth from his wife forgetting that she has children to look after.

Gov’t support to widows

The minister pointed out that at the level of her ministry, there are mechanisms put in place to change the future of widows, get them out of vulnerability and empower them.

“Widows should know they are not alone. When they are faced with abuses in their communities and homes, they can come to our structures and get assistance because the law is protecting them,” Minister Abena Ondoa disclosed.

She added that her ministry works in partnership with the association of female jurists in Cameroon who can help the widows with free legal assistance and educate them on their rights. 

“If they have problems with land acquisition and accessing their deceased husband’s properties, our female jurists can help them,” Abena Ondoa said.

She continued that two years ago, her ministry published a document titled: “Legal Assistance to Widows”, that contains procedures a widow can follow when confronted with difficulty; where to go to and what type of help to seek.

“We are also working on an audio version of the document for people who cannot read and write or visually impaired,” she said.

The minister added that her ministry also offers support to well-structured widow associations through funding for income generating activities but they carryout investigations to make sure that the activities will help elevate the widows from poverty.

Minister Abena Ondoa concluded by saying that Cameroon has several national legislations and has equally ratified international conventions to protect widows like the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, CEDAW.

 This story was first published in The Guardian Post issue No:3149 of Tuesday June 25, 2024