Where school boys inherit widows

Why would a high school teenage boy inherit a widow four times his age and whose HIV status he knows not?

That is the question some parents in Luo Nyanza are asking themselves.

One such case involved a 50-year-old widow from Kojwach in Homa Bay, who was allegedly found cohabiting with two school boys from Ringa Secondary School.

The widow lives across the school fence and locals claim she is HIV positive and may have infected the boys. According to Isaac Ouma, a resident who was stunned by this odd love affair, the woman formed an association with the boys when she used to hawk food around the school compound.

Hawk food around school Ouma told The Nairobian such relationships have a spillover effect when boys who inherit widows engage in reckless sexual behaviour with girls in the village.

Four students from the school told The Nairobian many sexual relationships between widows and school boys go on undetected and that the women, especially those who hawk food around the school compound, win the boys over with small favours.

“Some boys have sugar-mummies from around the surrounding community whom they visit during school breaks like holidays and half-terms,” said one of the boys who is in Form Four.

In an interview with this reporter, the widow in whose house two boys were found during school hours confirmed it is true she used to sell mandazi and doughnuts to students at Ringa before she was kicked out about three years ago but said although the students were caught in her house, she never slept with them.

“I had no love affair with them as the people alleged because those boys are just like my kids. How could I spoil boys who are the age of my children?” the widow, who is a mother of four posed.

A similar case also involving students from Ringa happened towards the end of last year when four students were arrested in a house located behind a bar in Oyugis town where they were being kept by an unidentified widow. It was alleged that the single woman who lived in the house was sexually exploiting them.

A source, who was a member of the board of management of the school but declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter, said pornographic materials were found in the house. The boys were expelled.

When contacted, Rachuonyo police boss Patricia Nasio denied having records of the cases and indicated it may not have been reported.

Cateress with school boy

“We are not aware of the case and therefore we cannot say it was recorded at any of our police stations,” said the OCPD.

Ringa Boy’s principal Elias Otunga, however, said while such incidents may have happened, they have ceased since he took over the institution four years ago.

In Ober Boys’ Secondary School, which neighbours Ringa, a cateress was found romping a school boy in her house two years ago, according to a local provincial administrator who did not want to be quoted since he was not on duty at the time.

According to the administrator, the cateress was fired but the Form Three boy was taken through a guidance and counselling programme and allowed to continue with his studies.

Eloped with a widow

However, school principal Maurice Muholo said he was not aware of such a case and that it may have happened before he was appointed. A similar case was also reported at Nyatindo Mixed Secondary School, where a Form Four candidate ‘eloped’ with a widow last year and never sat for his examinations. Efforts to interview the head teacher were futile since schools had closed for the April holidays.

Chief Caroline Onyango said there are many widows in the area and that most of them find themselves so desperate that any man is fair game.

She said in the past, cases of boys invading villages to inherit women were many but they have declined over the time due to stringent administrative measures to stop boys from sneaking out of school.

“There were times when boys from local schools used to walk to nearby rivers to bathe or even collect water. And those were the worst times because they could freely mix with locals. But head teachers have tightened discipline and minimised such interactions,” said the administrator.

Rachuonyo sub-county education director Sospeter Were says, “We believe there are times when cases of indiscipline were so high in many schools but right now, through the cooperation of members of surrounding communities and good leadership in the institutions, such cases are no more.”