My only mistake was to give birth to all girls

At the heart of Udiri village in Ngunya Sub Location, Mama Florence Atieno is a worried mother. Her only mistake was to fail to get a baby boy. All her five girls have been labeled prostitutes who do not deserve to stay in their home after the death of their father.Atieno was born in 1977, and got married to Maurice Juma in 1996, and were blessed with five girls. Juma died in 2011, leaving Atieno in his parents’ home.

Trouble begun barely a month after she buried her husband.According to Atieno, she was approached by her only brother-in-law, who questioned why she was still stuck in the home, even after the man who brought him to that home had died.“He told me that I gave birth to prostitutes and I needed to leave that home since I had no boy who would inherit the land,” said Atieno.

The words pieced through her heart and in a bid to protect her girls who were watching as their uncle call them prostitutes, she defended them, saying she would not leave that home as she had no other home to go to.This temporarily cooled the situation.But it later became a habit, as the brother-in-law would often come to Atieno’s house at night and shout at her with unprintable insults, asking her to leave the home.

Despite reporting the matter to the area chief and Ugunja Police Station, including one reported under OB27/15/06/2020, no action has been taken against Paul Ouma, the brother in law who would not let Atieno mourn her husband in peace.Instead, Ouma has sold almost three-quarters of the compound, leaving Atieno with less than a quarter acre of land where her house sits, plus a small portion for her kitchen garden.

Today, Atieno is a worried woman following continued verbal and physical attack from the person she thought would be her shield and defender in the absence of her husband. “I do not think my husband is resting in peace wherever he is. This home has become a battle field because I have to stand strong to protect my children. But my fear is that if nothing is done soon, my children and I may end up following my husband, as sometimes the fights get nasty, and they are as frequent as my brother-in-law feels it necessary to begin the fights,” she said.

The area chief has confirmed having handled Atieno’s case, but is yet to find a lasting solution as Ouma had reportedly through backdoor transferred all his father’s land to his name after declaring at the land registry in Ukwala that all his siblings had died and had no next of kin. But Atieno is hoping that the transfers may be reversed so as she gets her rightful portion of the land.

Atieno contacts: 0705244952/0727753938