How Kenyan roads are creating sad community of widows

The most distressing moment in Mary Nyambura’s life was seeing her husband’s mangled body being rushed to the mortuary as the wreckage of his car was towed to the police station.

She taught at a school near Kerugoya town while the husband was an agricultural officer in Kirinyaga, and had recently been promoted.

Nyambura says she left the house a sprightly wife that day and returned in the evening a widow, wobbly and unable to bear the weight of the moment or of what lay ahead.

"It is not easy to go through the unexpected loss of a loved one and especially when the death is not attached to any illness. It is emotionally challenging for the spouse left behind and the children who have lost a parent at a tender age,” she says.

They had been married for only eight years. She never remarried and has raised their four children alone.

She has never healed.

“It was a very tempestuous moment. I had a lot on my plate thus requiring me to be focused and put in a spirited effort to defend what my husband and I rightfully and legally acquired. During my low moments, I turned to prayers for solace because such an overwhelming experience can be an extremely strength-depriving period,” she says.

Nyambura was 32 years old when her husband died at 34 in 1976 in a car crash. Studies show there has been a fourfold increase in road fatalities over the last 40 years.

Today, approximately 4,000 Kenyans are killed in road crashes every year, says Christine Ogut, the deputy director in charge of safety audits and inspections at the National Transport and Safety Authority of Kenya.

Eight of every 10 people who die in road traffic crashes in Kenya are male, NTSA says. 

Part of the reason, NTSA says, is that in such a patriarchal society as Kenya, men typically travel more relative to women, who mostly do housework. 

Men also take more risks on the road, including risky driving practices, not using seat belts, driving while impaired by alcohol, and speeding.

“Most of them are youths and young men. If they’re married it means they leave behind young widows,” Ogut said.

This means thousands of young Kenyan women are being widowed every year, left behind as the sole breadwinners for their families, following the deaths of their husbands through road crashes.

NTSA first released the gendered statistics in 2019, showing road crashes claimed the lives of seven men and one woman, daily.

In total, 83 per cent of the fatalities that year were male and 16 per cent female, NTSA said. The situation has not changed.

Nyambura says her husband’s death led to an extremely difficult journey that tested her courage, patience and endurance.

Just like many other young widows, Nyambura faced a protracted fight for her husband’s property.

While Kenya’s Constitution states that all women have equal rights to own property, fixed properties such as land are mostly owned by husbands in marriage.

The 2022 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey indicates that only five per cent of women in Kenya own a house alone, and 28 per cent own it jointly with their spouse or partner.

"Among women who own a house, only nine per cent have a title deed or any other government-recognised document with their name on it; 73 per cent do not have a title deed or any other government-recognised document," the survey shows.

Further, only three per cent of women own land alone, while 20 per cent own land jointly with their spouse or partner. 

Nyambura says young widows face the accusation they might get married again with a new man taking over the deceased’s property.

“Upon the demise of the breadwinner, disunity and property feuds in the family become common, particularly in instances where there was no written will,” she says. 

“I had a daunting task of solely providing [for] my family's basic needs and putting the young children through school. I worked twice as hard.”

She took loans from the teachers' Sacco and began farming ventures.

She says the soaring number of road crashes is continually depriving families of their breadwinners and must be nipped in the bud.

NTSA data shows that the average age of people killed in road crashes in Kenya is 33, a productive age.

A World Bank study, “The High Toll of Traffic Injuries: Unacceptable and Preventable,” shows there is a direct link between road traffic accidents and economic growth.

The study shows that deaths and injuries from road traffic crashes affect medium and long-term growth prospects by removing prime-age adults from the work force and reducing productivity due to the burden of injuries.

It finds that countries that do not invest in road safety could miss out on anywhere between seven and 22 per cent in potential per capita GDP growth over a 24-year period.

Nyambura wants the state to tighten traffic laws to save more lives.

“If drivers and passengers can be more cautious and obey traffic laws to the letter, deaths related to road carnages can drastically reduce and subsequently lessen family sufferings,” she adds.

“The government should rein in by entrenching stricter policies that will enable the bereaved partners to retain their properties.”

Nyambura regrets that many widows suffer when their in-laws take advantage of their vulnerability by hatching plots to deprive them of their property.

Isabella Maseme’s life took a similar path when her husband Charles Maranga, 42, was hit by a speeding vehicle at Nyataro along Kisii-Kilgoris road in 2019.

Maranga was on his motorbike from Kisii town, where he operated as a bodaboda driver.

His death shattered their plans of taking their two daughters to boarding schools and completing their permanent house.

“We had big plans as a couple for our children but the devil made the same to fail after my husband was involved in a grisly road accident four years ago,” Isabella,  who still appears disturbed, said.

A few days after the burial of her husband, his family members tried to impose his cousin to inherit her as a wife but she refused.

This only brought more problems.

“I was surprised to learn that plans were being hatched by family members to have one of the cousins inherit me. That I refused, thus creating enmity. They tried to expel me from the homestead,” She said.

She started a small business to fend for her daughters.

“My husband was the sole breadwinner in the family but despite all the challenges I faced after he was buried, I decided to start a small business using the little money I had to enable our daughters to continue with their lives even though they miss a fatherly love,” she said.

She appeals to well-wishers to help her take her daughters to boarding schools as was the plan when her husband was alive.

Clinical psychologist and lecturer at Kisii University Dr Rose Otieno says there is a need for young widows to be given peace of mind when they lose they their husbands.

“That mental torture will worsen the problem because the widows are likely to suffer from mental ill health considering the responsibilities which await them after the demise of their husbands,” she said.

Ann Njeri, a 50-year-old widow from Embu County, said she nearly ran mad when her husband died 15 years ago.  The mother of four said her husband, Ndwiga Njiru, a driver, was killed by the same truck he used to drive.

It developed mechanical problems after which Njiru parked it and moved underneath to diagnose the problem. But it appears he did not engage the handbrake properly, so it started moving and ran over him.

Njeri said all four children dropped out of school.

"At first I really strained to finance their education but after some time I could not, they dropped out of school," she said.

No one followed up with the insurance or the truck owner for compensation.

"I've never understood anything to do with insurance and compensation for my late husband’s death. None of his relatives was able to follow up on the matter. The employer remained silent and this made me lack a starting point since I knew nothing about insurance," said Njeri.

Njeri wishes the government can support widows who lost husbands in road crashes.

“The government has the necessary channels to investigate the accident and ensure victims are compensated to benefit their left families.”

“I wish the government can set up a special fund to help the now growing number of widows who are going through difficult times.”

According to the NTSA, a total of 4,432 road users died in crashes between January 1 and December 13, 2022, marking a nearly four per cent increase compared to a similar period in 2021 when 4,271 people died.

Transport CS Kipchumba Murkomen said analysis of past accident reports showed a high number of crashes stemmed from avoidable human factors, including driving under the influence of alcohol, speeding, dangerous overtaking, fatigue and ignoring traffic lights and signs.

“Parliament should think of actual punishment that ensues to those who cause road accidents particularly when it is found that it is actually reckless actions of individuals,” he said. 

However, the World Health Organisation says road users cannot bear complete responsibility for safety.

The WHO says many accidents are caused by bad roads. These include roads with potholes, poor traffic lights, lack of barriers in sharp curves, too narrow roads, poor tarmac markings and signage, lack of proper sidewalks, and blocked storm drains.  

These are the responsibility of the Ministry of Transport, not the road users.

"Road infrastructure is strongly linked to fatal and serious injury causation in road collisions," says WHO's Global status report on road safety 2018.

"The aim is to create a safe road environment, rather than placing the main responsibility for safety on users who fail to deal with the intrinsic dangers of the roads."  WHO is the world's leading global advocate for road safety.