Report of the National Conference: Women's Property Rights ... - FAO

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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 2 and 3: Table of ContentsTABLE OF CONTENTS
Page 4 and 5: LIST OF ABBREVIATIONSCOHRE:ESCR:FAO
Page 6 and 7: 2.0 Welcome and Opening RemarksFlor
Page 8 and 9: 3.0 Legal issues of women’s prope
Page 10 and 11: grabbing. The category of widows an
Page 12 and 13: 4.3 Rights of widows and orphans in
Page 14 and 15: Chieftainess Nkomesha proposed that
Page 16 and 17: I used the pension money from my la
Page 20 and 21: 7.3 Zimbabwe Republic Police Progra
Page 22 and 23: discovered through the Home Based C
Page 24 and 25: Gradually, the marriage became viol
Page 26 and 27: Act has a number of gaps in terms o
Page 28 and 29: move a little, within the same area
Page 30 and 31: • National Gender policy in need
Page 32 and 33: Why these targets?Policy makers•
Page 34 and 35: also traditional land administered
Page 36 and 37: The workshop concluded with partici
Page 38 and 39: Distinguished guests, ladies and ge
Page 40 and 41: • Third, ways must urgently be fo
Page 42 and 43: • Continue sharing experiences•
Page 44 and 45: inspiring testimonies from Uganda,
Page 46 and 47: STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK ON HOW TO MOVE
Page 48 and 49: Annex 3: Workshop Programme and Lis
Page 50 and 51: List of participants, organizations
Page 52: Moreen Mudimba Ntengwe Orphan Manjo

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