Women during the marking of the International Widows' Day / HANDOUT
Rights organisations have called on Members of Parliament to fast-track the passage of the Widowed Persons Protection Bill, 2026, saying it would provide long-overdue legal safeguards for widowed persons facing discrimination, property grabbing and harmful cultural practices.
Marking International Widows' Day on Tuesday, Come Together Widows and Orphans Organization (CTWOO) and Equality Now urged lawmakers to enact the proposed legislation before the current parliamentary session ends later this year.
The Bill, sponsored by Rarieda MP Otiende Amollo and submitted to Parliament on May 12, seeks to establish a comprehensive legal framework to protect widowed persons from violations that often follow the death of a spouse.
According to the two organisations, widows across Kenya continue to face widespread abuses, including disinheritance, forced eviction from matrimonial homes, confiscation of property, loss of child custody and harmful traditional practices such as widow inheritance and widow cleansing.
CTWOO Executive Director Dianah Kamande said the proposed law would help close critical gaps in the country's legal framework and protect widows from exploitation.
“Every week, women come to CTWOO after losing their husbands and then their home, their dignity, sometimes even their children. Kenya’s Widowed Persons Protection Bill draws a clear line between cultural practices that strengthen communities and those causing harm. Culture is not static. It can evolve in ways that acknowledge tradition while ensuring widows are afforded the same dignity, equality, and protection under the law as everyone else,” Kamande said.
The organisation said it recorded 139 cases involving widows in May alone, highlighting the scale of the problem and the limited avenues available for redress.
Under the proposed law, it would become a criminal offence to unlawfully evict a widowed person from their home, seize their property, force them into harmful mourning rites, or compel them to participate in widow inheritance practices.
The Bill also seeks to outlaw harassment, accusations of witchcraft and coercive cultural practices targeting widowed persons.
The legislation would further amend succession laws to ensure widows retain inheritance rights even after remarriage and provide greater protection for women in polygamous marriages by allowing them to inherit in their own right rather than as part of a household unit.
Equality Now said the Bill would also establish a Widowed Persons Protection Board to coordinate implementation, investigate rights violations, facilitate access to legal aid and counselling services, and promote public awareness of widows' rights.
Equality Now human rights lawyer Deborah Nyokabi said the proposed legislation could become a landmark law on the continent.
“If enacted, Kenya’s Widowed Persons Protection Bill, 2026, would set a precedent as the first dedicated widowed persons’ rights law in Africa. By addressing legal, social, and economic harms together, it would provide a blueprint for reform in other African countries, where widows face similar discrimination, abuse, and inadequate legal safeguards,” Nyokabi said.
“Kenyan lawmakers can transform commitments under the Maputo Protocol and CEDAW into meaningful protections for widows. Passing the Bill is an opportunity to show that discrimination, dispossession, and harmful practices are not inevitable consequences of widowhood, but rights violations that must be prevented and punished.”
The organisations noted that Kenya has already committed to protecting widows' rights through international and regional instruments, including the Maputo Protocol and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, but argued that gaps remain in domestic legislation.
They urged lawmakers to seize the opportunity to strengthen protections for widowed persons and ensure that widowhood does not lead to discrimination, dispossession or abuse.
"Widowed women are not just survivors; we are leaders, advocates and agents of change. We urge MPs to match our efforts by passing the Widowed Persons Protection Bill, 2026, before the current legislative session ends," Kamande said.
