Widows who reject inheritance don’t understand tradition

The widows are part of a home. This is why, among the Luos, there is no equivalent word for divorce.

This is why Luos burying their deceased wives even if they had run away to live elsewhere.

On widow care, which many erroneously term “wife inheritance”, the purpose is to be on stand-by for cultural fulfilment.

The purpose is to take care of the wife, and where mutually agreed, perpetuate the lineage of the husband. The ghost of the dead ensures continuity.

Readers should note that there is nothing like mandatory sex. The widow has to consent. Care is taken even for a woman of 80.

If the widow is young, she may need more children to extend the lineage of her late husband.

When there is the risk of Aids it is upon the two to take precaution, just like other people in society who have not been inherited do with their partners.

Cultures change over time. Luos, for example, have abandoned the practice of removing six lower teeth.

They did not need the Press, particularly the foreign Press, to tell them to stop.

Many other ethnic groups now practising male or female circumcision — which is not a cultural practice among Luos — will also not need an outsider to tell them to stop when the time comes.

Luo customs are good and bond the community together, if followed and applied with respect to the changing environment and times

FELIX OWAGA OKATCH,
Gem Nyawara