Widows in Kasese district are not benefiting from programs set up to rehabilitate the area after more than five years of Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebel activity.
The district was greatly affected by the 1996-2003 insurgency. Since the insurgency ended, there hasn’t been any major programme that has been undertaken to address the plight of the widows.
Widows in the district have been left out of the 540 billion shillings Luwero- Rwenzori Development Programme. The programme, which started in June 2010, is aimed at improving the livelihoods of communities which were affected by the 1981-1986 NRA guerilla war and the 1996-2003 rebellion.
In Mukunyu Sub County, most of the widows struggle to earn a living as they take care of their children. The widows live in mud and wattle houses with leaking roofs and some sleep on dry banana leaves because they can’t afford a mattress.
Beatrice Masika 45, a resident of Karambi village, says that her husband was killed by the ADF rebels when they attacked the village in 1998. Masika says that since then, life has been difficult because she has to look after four children and yet she lacks the resources.
Masika says when she heard of the Luwero- Rwenzori Development Programme, she hoped the suffering would come to an end, but she was surprised when she learnt the widows wouldn’t be beneficiaries.
She says that the government should re-design the programme and include the widows because some of them lost husbands who volunteered to fight the rebels.
Faith Kisugu 47, a resident of Nyakasanga in Kasese Municipality says that she has failed to educate her children and buy food since the death of her husband.
Kisugu, who lives in a one-roomed mud and wattle house with her four children, says that she is not engaged in any economic activity. She says that her children walk to and from school every day.
Some of the widows have sought assistance from Kasese War Widows Association, but it’s not forthcoming, because the association also lacks resources to help all the widows in the district.
Statistics at the association indicate there are more than 700 widows in the district.
Teddy Kiswahili, the chairperson Kasese War Widows Association says that the association can’t do much to help the widows because they receive meager resources from NGOs operating in the district.
Kiswahili says that she wrote to the Minister of State for Luwero Triangle requesting to be considered for the Luwero-Rwenzori programme, but there hasn’t been any response.
She says the association is looking for funds to engage widows in income generating activities like tailoring and catering. Kiswahili notes that she has on several occasions requested the district local government to include the association in the district work plans, but the response has been lukewarm.
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In a telephone interview, Rose Namayanja, the State Minister for Luwero Triangle told URN on Wednesday that in the next financial year, widows affected by conflicts will be catered for under a new project.
Namayanja, however, says that local governments under the Luwero-Rwenzori Development Programme can offer assistance to widows, if they want.
In a recently published book – Invisible, Forgotten Sufferers: The Plight of Widows Around the World, there are an estimated 245 million widows worldwide, 115 million of whom live in poverty and suffer from social stigmatization and economic deprivation purely because they have lost their husbands.
