Rona Foundation Blogs

Recently, Siaya County held public participation forums on the Widows Protection Bill, now headed for its second reading. What happened in those crowded halls was historic. Widows, in their hundreds, turned up to demand that harmful traditional practices—long-standing, normalized, and deeply abusive—be outlawed and criminalized.

For too long, practices such as widow inheritance, ritual cleansing, exhumations, witchcraft accusations, and violent attacks have gone unchallenged. But Siaya widows stood tall and declared boldly: enough is enough.

Their stories pierced the silence. In Ukwala, a 42-year-old widow shared how her husband’s body was exhumed, his inner garments stripped and forced upon her to wear—to “prove” she had not killed him. In Bondo, a 52-year-old widow recounted how her right arm was chopped off by a male relative who accused her of murdering their brother.

These are not isolated cases. They represent the sin of omission and commission by the state—decades of neglect and silence, even under devolved governance where counties hold both the power and the duty to protect.

The huge turnout itself spoke volumes. It was not just numbers, but evidence of systemic neglect and the shortened lifespan of men across the lake region. Generations of widows have been left in poverty, stigma, and trauma—some even losing their lives at the hands of oppressors.

As a widow champion for over a decade, I have carried this call almost alone. To witness Siaya widows rise in such numbers, speaking boldly and demanding change, is deeply personal. It is no longer my voice alone; it is a movement embodied.

Siaya’s legislative journey is groundbreaking. If passed, the Bill will be the first of its kind in Kenya. But this must not stop here. Our neighboring counties—Homa Bay, Kisumu, Busia, Migori—must adapt and adopt the same. Counties have the constitutional mandate to protect their citizens. Failure to act is no longer ignorance; it is complicity.

To the widows of Siaya, I salute you. You have turned silence into testimony and pain into purpose. The world has heard you. Now may justice follow.

But to leaders—county assemblies, governors, Members of Parliament, and policy-makers—this is your moment of truth. The widows have spoken. The evidence is on record. The demand is clear. The time to legislate, to protect, and to uphold justice is now.

Let Siaya be the beginning, not the exception. Let Kenya rise to honor its widows, not with pity, but with justice written into law.

Roseline Orwa, a widow champion, and the Founder and Executive Director of the Rona Foundation, a Kenyan widow human rights organization. She tweets @roselineorwa