AS Tanzania and other countries mark the World Widows Day today, it is important to note that there are about 258 of the world’s population but in many countries widows continue to experience exclusion, displacement and denial of their inheritance rights particularly land and property. This is partly due to deeply rooted customary norms, stereotypes and practices, legal pluralism and lack of protection.

Widows in Tanzania are facing a similar situation. While widows account for 4.7 percent of the country’s population, the law allows for application of formal, Islamic and customary laws on inheritance matters. The latter, when applied often discriminate widows, women, and girls against their inheritance rights.  

“My husband passed on in 2006 and left me with 8 children. Soon after the funeral my in-laws told me that I couldn’t inherit my husbands’ assets because in Maasai traditions women do not inherit property,” says Kijoolu Kakeya from Lusoruti Village in Loliondo District ,   Arusha Region. She had to fight for her rights, employing every means she thought would help to address her problem

“Sometimes I reported the matter to the police so that they could be arrested. I also visited the village government office for assistance. After a long struggle they agreed to let me have the land and other property. Now my children live on the land I inherited from their farther; we have built a house and we keep some livestock,” she adds.

Unlike other regions, Tanzania’s customary laws for tribes following patriarchal systems of inheritance are codified to form the Local Customary Law (Declaration) (No.4) Order 1967, which specifically excludes women from inheriting clan lands. Instead it grants usufruct rights only. The law further, states that widows should not inherit property but should only be trustees and take care of the property for their children. Furthermore girls are considered as a third category after boys have received their shares which is normally bigger compared to what is left for girls. 

These provisions of the customary law are in contradiction with the provisions of the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania 1977 as revised from time to time, on prohibition of discrimination based on gender as per article 13(4). There have been court decisions that declared the law as unconstitutional and discriminatory to women particularly widows. However, the law continues to exist leading widows into destitution. 

Noting that women rights are fundamental human rights, to ensure dignity, worth of human person and equal rights of men and women, the United Nations state parties adopted and signed the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women  (CEDAW) of 1979, to ensure that women’s rights are recognised and protected on  equal basis with men. The treaty requires state parties to take measures to eliminate prejudices, customary and all other practices which are based on ideas of inferiority or superiority of either sex or on stereotype roles for men and women. 

Equally, at regional level the African Charter on Human and People's Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, known as the Maputo Protocol, was adopted. “African governments must eliminate all forms of discrimination and violence against women in Africa and promote equality between men and women,” reads part of the Protocol. 

These global and regional frameworks, to which Tanzania is party, necessitate countries to formulate policies, legislation, development plans and strategies with a gender lens, including undertaking reforms on inheritance laws that discriminate women on basis of gender. The measures aim to promote the overall well-being of women. 

The newly launched National Land Policy of 1995, Version of 2023, quests to ensure gender equality in land rights, enhance land ownership and management systems to ensure equal access to land for all citizens. It further, recognizes that despite of the stronger provisions in the previous National Land Policy, still women inheritance rights were subjected to cultural norms, customs and traditions that often discriminated them and favoured men over women particularly on inheritance of clan lands. 

The policy aims to put in place mechanisms to ensure equal access to land rights, and guarantee women equal opportunities to access land rights. It also calls for continuous public awareness campaigns on gender equality in land and land use.

The New National Land Policy is thus a groundbreaking move to do away with discriminatory provisions in customary inheritance laws that bar widows and other women from inheriting land. However, these policy provisions require legal backing to ensure they are operationalized. The legal reforms on land and inheritance laws have to be undertaken to ensure legal protection of widows and women in the spirit of new policy. 

On the ground, the Stand for Her Land Campaign (S4HL) Tanzania coalition is driving lasting change through collective action and advocacy by closing the implementation gap for women’s land rights: the bay between the strong frameworks in place to protect women’s rights to land, and the realisation of those rights in practice. 

Tanzania works to address entrenched discriminatory cultural norms and practices, and advocates for implementation of stronger legal provisions on women land rights. The coalition has done analysis, developed position papers and made recommendations for stronger legal provisions that safeguard the rights of widows and women. The coalition is positioned to build capacity to grassroots, raise awareness on the policy, and engage with the local and national level government authorities to advocate for inheritance reforms. 

On this International Widows Day, S4HL Tanzania coalition stands with widows from across the country and advocates for inheritance reforms to ensure that widows’ rights are protected including the right to inherit land and other property, elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence against widows and women. 

By Khadija Mrisho