Children's Property Inheritance in the Context of HIV and AIDS in Zimbabwe

By Laurel L. Rose, Ph.D. 

http://www.fao.org/3/a-ai499e/


2 Research in Seke District

Several orphans and their grandmothers were interviewed at Seke Rural Home-based Care (SRHBC), a CBO based in Seke (ca 30 km south of Harare). The organization has assisted people with will-writing (see Izumi, 2006b: 37). The interviews emphasized property disputes (i.e. property grabbing).

9.2.1 Case Summaries
Case 1
A 19-year-old male double orphan was staying with his maternal uncle because his paternal uncle (father's younger brother) had taken over his father's house and land after he had died of AIDS in 2004. Apparently, his paternal uncle did not have his own house or land. Although his paternal uncle told him that he could remain in the house, the uncle subsequently burned his special religious clothing and denied him food, thus compelling him to flee to his maternal uncle's house. The orphan complained about his paternal uncle's actions to the police, but they refused to intervene, saying that they could not assist in a “home affair”. The paternal uncle was also holding onto the orphan's father's death certificate, thereby preventing the orphan from claiming his father's property. According to the orphan, his greatest problem was that he lacked a birth certificate; he knew that without his birth certificate, he could not claim his parents' land and property, even though his father had written a will with the assistance of someone at the organization SRHBC. The orphan believed that his birth certificate would also be of use to him in getting social assistance and a better job. 

Case 2

A 16-year-old male double orphan was living with his maternal grandmother. His parents had died when he was very young, and his paternal relatives had taken his parents' land and property. His paternal relatives had no interest in seeing or assisting him and his three siblings. According to his maternal grandmother, his paternal relatives had taken his parents' property because they did not recognize their marriage.

Case 3
A 14-year-old female double orphan was living with her maternal grandmother who was caring for the nine orphans of four of her children who had died of AIDS. In addition, the grandmother was caring for another ailing daughter who was bedridden. Only one of the nine orphans was in school; his maternal aunt was paying for his school fees although her husband would not allow him to live with them. The parents of the female orphan had owned no land because her father had been foreign-born and had lived in another part of Zimbabwe. Because her father had not maintained contact with her and her siblings, they were experiencing problems acquiring their birth certificates and their father's death certificate.23

9.2.2 Case Analysis
Although the interview sample was small, the interviews substantiate information obtained from separate interviews with legal professionals in Zimbabwe. In effect, the cases reveal that children's property inheritance in Seke was being negatively affected by three present- day factors. The first factor concerned the lack of birth and death certificates for orphans. In Cases 1 and 3, the orphans lacked birth and death certificates that they needed for educational, social assistance, and employment purposes. In Case 1, however, the certificates were being withheld from an orphan, whereas in Case 3, the certificates were not easily obtainable due to the foreign nationality of the orphans' father.
The second factor concerned land scarcity. In Cases 1 and 2, the orphans' paternal relatives had confiscated the orphans' property and were not providing support to them. In Case 1, the younger brother of an orphan's father had taken over his land because he (the brother) had been unable to obtain land because of land scarcity in the region.
The third factor concerned the unwillingness of orphans' relatives to acknowledge them if their parents had not been married. In Case 2, the orphans' paternal relatives had taken over their parents' property because their parents had not had a formal marriage.

 http://www.fao.org/3/a-ai499e/