Ngwang Shey, a Barrister at Law based in Bamenda, explains the challenges of prosecuting violations of the rights of widows in Cameroon.

An increasing number of widows today are obliged by certain traditions to marry in-laws, cede their inheritance or are even chased from their family homes. Is there no legal protection for these hapless women? 

There is no corpus of law specifically on widowhood in Cameroon. However, a widow is a woman, who through death, has lost her husband. The first premise is that there must have been a valid marriage - be it by customs or statutes - between the deceased and the surviving woman.

Under customs and traditions, the woman is part of the family like any other property and must never desert the home on the grounds of death of her husband. There is always somebody to inherit her and continue to procreate as if it were the original husband. However, there are measures to guarantee her rights as widow under customs. She is still entitled to her right over the property she and her husband acquired during the subsistence of the marriage.

She also has the right to participate in any family matter or community life. For example, she retains the right to be decorated - like in the Nso and Wimbum tribes of the North West Region - as either ‘Yaah,’ ‘Manjuh’ or ‘Ngandong.’ These are influential titles that recognize women as good leaders. Conflict can only arise if the widow embraces Western culture, which in most cases runs contrary to customary law. For example, if she decides to single-handedly sell part of the family land, there will be trouble. Under normal circumstances, it is forbidden to chase a widow from her home. Customary law protects her rights of widowhood.

Meanwhile, under English Law or statutes, particularly Law No. 81/02 of 29 June 1981 on Civil Status Registration - as amended - widowhood status is optional. Her husband’s heirs have no right over her freedom or the share of property belonging to her. Widowhood is optional in the sense that the law in Section 77 (2) provides that she has only 180 days of widowhood and retains her right to remarry. Thus, it is up to her to remain as widow or not after this period.

Also, Cameroon has ratified international conventions that protect widows. Article 1 of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women clearly strengthens the position of a widow against any form of discrimination – the right to property, full attainment of her desires, etc. The same legislation ratified on August 23, 1994, makes it mandatory for the State of Cameroon to enforce these rights.

What are the challenges in enforcing widowhood rights, especially in the North West Region?

The main challenge is from the widows themselves. They know the cultural setting too well and in most cases vehemently refuse to abide by the very cultural practices they embrace. Secondly, there is ignorance about available legislation that gives them these rights. This stems from the inadequate vulgarization of such laws by the State machinery. Thirdly, the cost of access to justice in this country is very high. Moreover, most widows do not have the means to go to court. To hire the services of a legal practitioner to ensure the respect of a widow’s rights costs not less than FCFA 300,000. Fourthly, Cameroon is still a male-dominated society where men in authority - be they traditional or administrative leaders – tend not to see any reason to stand up for widows, especially when the question of who owns what property comes under consideration.

What is the way forward in better protecting the rights of Cameroonian widows, given that some traditions tend to take priority over national legislation?

No traditional practice takes precedence over national legislation. I advise widows to make use of current legislation in order to oblige repugnant customary practices to disappear. Widows should work in synergy. The State should train more social workers and deploy them to all sub-divisions to identify cases and advise accordingly. Heavy penal sanctions should also be meted out on whosoever tramples on the rights of a widow. This is right, for the Bible says that if you make a widow or orphan to cry, God shall cause your wife and children to become widow and orphans. Also, government should empower the clergy to create programmes in various congregations on highlighting the problems of widows and possible ways of resolving them.