Eldoret widows decry frustrations by rogue lawyers
Widows attending an empowerment training organised by Centre for Human Rights and Mediation (CHRM) as they marked International Women’s Day in Eldoret on June 23, 2021.
What you need to know:
- As they marked International Widows Day today, the widows from Eldoret, said the situation was so bad to an extent of some lawyers refusing to brief them on their cases.
- It is unfortunate that lawyers who are supposed to help widows get justice deny them the very justice.
Eldoret widows have expressed their frustrations with rogue lawyers and land surveyors whom they accuse of hindering their search for justice on property ownership.
The widows said their greatest challenge remains legal fees and getting reliable lawyers to help them in succession disputes, leading to loss of their spouses’ estates and property.
As they marked International Widows Day today, the widows said the situation was so bad to an extent of some lawyers refusing to brief them on their cases.
Most of the women who attended an empowerment training organised by Centre for Human Rights and Mediation (CHRM) appealed to Law Society of Kenya (LSK) to prevail upon such lawyers whose conduct they said continued to discourage the widows’ search for justice.
A program officer at CHRM Salome Koech, cited a case where the organisation was forced to have LSK intervene.
“It is unfortunate that lawyers who are supposed to help widows get justice deny them the very justice. Early this year our centre was forced to engage LSK to compel a lawyer who had refused to surrender Sh1.5 million to a widow who had been awarded by the court as damages,” said Ms Koech.
Legal matters
Following regular trainings on legal matters by lawyers from CHRM, the widows have formed a self-help group called Widows Group to create awareness on women rights and support each other on issues affecting them
Led by Sally Cheptarus, Jane Rotich, Joan Chesang and Gladys Koech the widows said many of them had lost confidence in lawyers and the justice system and were, reluctant to move to court on issues to do with land injustice and property inheritance.
“It is true we have been denied our inheritance, the unfortunate thing is that whenever we think of seeking court justice, we see another obstacle of being manipulated by lawyers for their selfish gains,” said Ms Chesang.
North Rift LSK chairperson Joshua Martim appealed to those aggrieved by lawyers to report their complaints to LSK.
“As LSK we are not going to allow a few lawyers to taint the image of this noble profession. Any member of the society who has a complaint over an individual lawyer is free to report the matter to our offices for action to be taken,” said Mr Maritim.
He confirmed that the lawyer who had refused to surrender Sh1.5 million to a widow was handled by LSK and the matter which he termed as ‘an isolated case’ was solved amicably.
