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among female-headed households. The problem with this activity was that it deprivedorphans of the chance to go to school as they spend most of the time collecting firewoodand water for the industry.The study recommends collaborative efforts at community level in projects such asgardening, keeping of small livestock and suggests that such practices create safety netsfor children after their parents’ death. There is need for greater collaboration amongcommunity-based organisations to avoid duplication and for ensuring sustainable use oflimited resources.7.0 Successful interventions to protect women’s property rights byauthorities: Lessons from the region7.1 Widows days at the high court – support to widows on the registration of thedeceased estate: E. Mutasa, Assistant Master of the High Court, ZimbabweThe Master’s Office is a department in the Ministry of Justice Legal and ParliamentaryAffairs, which administers deceased estates. The office caters for grief stricken widows,orphans, relatives and friends. The Master’s Office works with welfare organisationssuch as the Zimbabwe Widows and Orphans Trust, which provides detail on cases byverifying facts and suggesting possible solutions. The Master’s Office has embarked onseveral initiatives that seek to alleviate the stress and trauma that result from propertygrabbing, dispossession and destitution on death of a husband. Every Tuesday, the officegives special attention to very complex problems affecting widows. Key outputs fromsuch meetings generally include registering of deceased estates and referral of widows tothe Ministry’s Department of Legal Aid Directorate for free legal services.A close working relationship has been established with the Ministry of Home Affairsthrough the Department of Births and Deaths. This linkage has facilitated quickprocessing of death certificates upon receiving letters of request from the Master’sOffice. Widows without marriage certificates have benefited from this arrangementwhere previously there was need for obtaining an affidavit from deceased relatives. TheMaster’s Office works closely with the Zimbabwe Republic Police especially when thereis a need to recover assets from relatives as well as restoring widows that have beenevicted from their matrimonial homes. Linkages with financial institutions such as banksand insurance companies have enabled timely access to fundsThe determination and empathy demonstrated by the Master of High Court, Mr CharlesNyatanga demonstrates how political will can be instrumental in building strategicrelationships with organisations in the quest for improving the lives of widows andorphans. Such relationships establish a more holistic rather than fragmented approach inaddressing problems faced by widows and orphans.18
7.2 Customary laws and property rights of widows and orphans in Zimbabwe:H. Mandeya, Chief Magistrate, ZimbabweIn Zimbabwe, there are two types of registered marriages, namely monogamousmarriages under the Marriage Act and polygamous marriages under the CustomaryMarriages Act. Marriages solemnized under the Marriage Act result in relations governedby Roman Dutch Law. Marriages solemnized under Customary Marriages act as well asunregistered marriages, which are contracted in accordance with custom result in theestates of the spouses being administered in terms of Part IIIA of the Administration ofEstates Amendment Act, number 6 of 1997.For widows of polygamous men the position is as follows:• If a man registered his first marriage in terms of the Marriages Act anysubsequent customary union results in the second widow not being recognized asa spouse.• If the man’s first marriage was an unregistered customary union and anysubsequent marriage was registered in terms of the Marriage Act, both widowsare recognized as surviving spouses.• If a man’s first marriage was solemnized in terms of the Customary MarriagesAct and subsequently contracted “monogamous” marriage both widows arerecognized as surviving spouses.After the death of a person one of the relatives registers the estate at the nearestMagistrates Court. In the presence of at least four close relatives of the deceased anexecutor is appointed and given either a certificate of authority or a letter ofadministration depending on the value of the estate. However, this procedure does notapply widows of registered monogamous marriages and widows and orphans of men wholeft wills.The Magistrate is guided by the following principles, which are set out in section 68F ofAct 6 of 1997• One third of the net estate should be divided between the surviving wives in theproportions two shares to the first or senior wife and one share to the other wives• The remainder of the estate should devolve upon A. his child or B. his children inequal shares.Other sections of the Act provide widows with entitlement to receive ownership rightsover the house they lived in at the time of their husband’s death. However in practice,some widows are not recognised as surviving spouses and therefore according to the lawreceive nothing from their husband’s estate. Mr. Mandeya also reiterated the disharmonythat exists between culture and the law. Widows face difficulties from relatives who failto understand that they are entitled to their husband’s estate.19
Page 1 and 2: Justice forWidows and OrphansPO. Bo
Page 3 and 4: 8.3 WIDOWS’ AND ORPHANS’ INHERI
Page 5 and 6: 1.0 Executive SummaryThe context of
Page 7 and 8: justice of women’s rights and par
Page 9 and 10: norms. Some of the tribes are matri
Page 11 and 12: ownership of land through informati
Page 13 and 14: According to the Honorable MP, Mrs.
Page 15 and 16: come and stay with us. I accepted b
Page 17: Ntengwe Community Development in Zi
Page 21 and 22: sensitization efforts. There is nee
Page 23 and 24: and recovery and building resilienc
Page 25 and 26: uilding the capacity of women and g
Page 27 and 28: • Documentation of “best practi
Page 29 and 30: Annex 1: Working Group Deliberation
Page 31 and 32: • Herbal gardens e.g. Moringa, Af
Page 33 and 34: Responsibility: Civil society5. Col
Page 35 and 36: Annex 2: Press release, Opening and
Page 37 and 38: Chairperson, while there are scanty
Page 39 and 40: Women’s Land and Property Rights
Page 41 and 42: collaborative or a mix of both? I
Page 43 and 44: Closing Speech by Mr. Qingsong Dong
Page 45 and 46: In closing, I would like to refer t
Page 47 and 48: OPPORTUNITIESMESSAGETAKE ACTION47
Page 49 and 50: 9:00-9:20 The role of traditional l
Page 51 and 52: Esnart BandaWomen for Field Animato

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