Old and restless

back

Old and restless

by Dorothy Otieno, the East African Standard

December 3, 2003

Marisela with her grandchildren

Marisela Kivati, like many elderly widows, is a victim of abuse and neglect by close family members.

For the last one month, Marisela Katitu Kivati of Kamutonga Village , Kangundo, has been spending sleepless nights on a worn-out sofa set. The 74-year-old poor, sickly and illiterate widow lives with two of her remaining five children. The widow of one of her sons also lives in the same homestead.

She is afraid that she might lose her three-acre piece of land, on which she has depended since she married Ezekiel Kivati , 60 years ago. Kivati, then a widower, had two sons from his first wife.

It is alleged that in 1965 her stepsons asked their father to share out his land to them and he did.

"But after it was divided, they complained that their share was too small and unproductive and sought their father’s consent to sell it and move elsewhere," Marisela recalls. After selling the land, one moved to Yatta, while the other one migrated to Lunga Lunga in Kwale.

"Recently, my stepsons came home after many years of staying away and demanded part of my land," says Marisela.
Marisela’s two children are illiterate and do not seem to have an idea on what they can do to protect their land.

Their father had not transferred the part which he left to Marisela and their eight children to her name by the time he died in 1984.
"It is cruel for them to come back and harass this old, frail and defenceless woman just because they are aware that their father never transferred ownership of the land to their step-mother," says Phelomena Maingi, a neighbour, who claims to have bought part of the land allocated to the two men in 1965. Col (Rtd) Michael Mutua, another neighbour, confirms that he also bought land from the two.

"The land I bought from them is registered with the Ministry of Lands as No.1485 ," he says.

"My stepsons did not attend their father’s burial so when I saw the older one walk into my homestead, I knew he had something up his sleeves," says Marisela.

He stayed with her for a month, a time in which he was uncharacteristically nice to her.

His intentions became clear when he started prodding her hand over any documents relating to the land. When she refused to give them up, he threatened her with violence, then left, only to return with his younger brother.
"They told me that they had visited the Ministry of Lands and established that the title deed was in my husband’s name. They demanded that I give them a share of the land. When I refused, they took the matter to the Eani clan, to which the family belongs," she says.

When the clan members supported the widow, the stepsons argued that the portion that they had been given was too small.

"Using a tape rule, we measured the land afresh, but it turned out that their portion was bigger," she says.

Records in a book stamped and signed by the clan, dated November 3, 2003, shows that the piece given to the two sons was slightly smaller than that allocated to the widow but when one takes into account that she had to divide her portion among her two sons then her share is smaller. Hers is 1,423 Ft. while the stepsons’ is 1,127 Ft. Unhappy with the clan’s decision, the stepsons left the case with the assistant chief with a promise to return but not before threatening the widow that they were going to obtain a bank loan with the land as security so that it could be auctioned.

Marisela says that the chief has agreed to act on the matter after he got a letter from clan members. But until everything is resolved, she remains worried.

Peter Kioko, one of the local elders, says that no loan should be allowed against that piece of land as long as it is still under dispute.

"Sometimes I pray for strength so that I can walk away and commit suicide so that I do not have to live in fear," says Marisela.

Marisela is, however, lucky to have the Eani clan on her side. That is her only consolation.

Marisela’s plight is not isolated. Many old people are being subjected to harassment violence and seizure of their property.

The trend is worrying as the rights of the aged are being violated by the same people who are supposed to protect them — their children and relatives.

The situation is worse for women as in African communities where a man’s property is passed to his sons or relatives, thus disinheriting the widow.

A recent World Health Organisation (WHO) study conducted in eight countries reveals that older people perceived three categories of abuse. The first is neglect which involves isolation, abandonment and social exclusion. The second is the violation of human, legal and medical rights. Another category is deprivation of choices, decisions, status, finances and respect.

The study was done in Kenya , Canada , India , Argentina , Austria , Brazil , Lebanon and Sweden .

Carers of older people — family members, volunteer carers or professionals — are their main abusers. Old people’s bank accounts are being looted by people on whom they depend.

Cases of the aged living in a nursing homes are on the increase.

Others who live with family members are being physically and emotionally abused or neglected by their caregivers.

Information from the United Nations Programme on Ageing within the UN shows that abuse of older persons, though widespread world-wide, go unnoticed and unreported.

Statistics from HelpAge Kenya indicates that in Kenya , persons aged over 60 years represent four per cent of the total population and most of them live in the rural areas where 56 per cent of the population lives below the poverty line. The rural-urban migration has led to changes in family structures, leaving older persons to manage the economic and social affairs in the rural areas. This has further weakened the traditional support systems, rendering the older persons destitute and vulnerable.
The older woman faces double discrimination, first as an older person and then as a woman. In recent years, older women have suffered the impact of HIV/Aids either as infected or affected persons who are often left to care for their orphaned grandchildren. HIV/Aids is decimating the middle-aged generation across the continent leaving older people, especially women, to carry the burden at a time when both their health and income is declining.

The new responsibility has placed practical and emotional pressure on older persons. Women outlive men and traditional gender roles assign nurturing of children to women. The stigma attached to HIV/Aids often leads to the isolation of members of affected households.

Statistics from HelpAge International indicate that world-wide, 56 out of every 100 people aged 65 and above are women.

Older women are, therefore, taking over the responsibility as primary caregivers to HIV/Aids orphans, against a background of poverty and vulnerability.