Elizabeth Hiyolwa
A 70-year-old widow from Nkurenkuru alleged she was left homeless after her in-laws and stepchildren kicked her out of the marital home she had shared with her late husband.
The woman claimed she was ordered to leave the house a day after her husband’s burial by her stepchildren and some family members.
“I was ordered to leave the house immediately. All my belongings, including personal stuff, were thrown out of the house and I was not allowed to go back in again,” Hilde Kaheke Kangayi said.
The wheelchair-bound Kangayi, who claimed she was forcefully walked out of the house she had lived in for years with her late husband, now lives with her daughter. Her plea now is for her to be let back into the house she acquired with her late husband, as she is old, sick and needs to be close to the hospital, although the house is registered on her late husband’s name. “Where will I go to with my condition? If they wanted me out then they were supposed to do it while my late husband was still alive,” she said. The couple got married out of community of property in 2003. Nonetheless, she feels the treatment she was subjected to was not right and it all started while they were still busy with funeral arrangements. The son of the late accompanied by some family members allegedly also went to the cattle post after the burial without informing her that they were going to separate the livestock of the late from that of the widow.
Meanwhile, the dismayed widow’s family has sought an intervention by the Ukwangali Traditional Authority. However, Bilha Nairenge the stepdaughter of the widow dismissed claims that the widow was chased out of the house. “We didn’t chase her, she left the people in the house and we don’t know where she went. We only locked the house after sunset as the house was standing open and there were still properties in the house so how could we leave it open?” Nairenge denied the claims. Nairenge’s brother, Isai Kangayi, also dismissed the accusations against them, saying: “It was on the day after the burial when we had a family gathering that she left the house by herself.” Isai also said their reason for going to the cattle post was only to count the total number of cattle and goats of his late father.
He added that they have also approached the traditional authority with what they had found at the cattle post concerning the cattle and goats that are not adding up contrary to what the cattle herders had told him.
The chief of the Ukwangali Traditional Authority, Hompa Eugene Siwombe, through his secretary confirmed that the issue was brought to his attention but he was yet to call the two parties in for intervention.