Brothers fight to inherit wife during funeral ritual

By Eric LungaiA family in Migori was forced to postpone the shaving ceremony after two brothers could not agree who was to inherit their brother's wife. They had started debating this even before their brother died and without the consent of the wife.
Three days after the burial, the fight came to broad daylight during the shaving ritual. They started the argument in low tones at the back of the house and then started shouting at each other. This pulled the crowd to where they were, as they exchanged blows. By the time relatives intervened, one of them was already on the ground writhing in pain.
"My children," their mother pleaded, "can’t you give the dead man some peace to settle in his grave? What are you fighting for when he has barely spent a week in his place of rest?" The other people who were around echoed the same sentiments.
Breeding hostilitySpeaking to Crazy Monday, their younger sister confirmed that her brothers were fighting because their brother had substantial property and they wanted to control his family and property. They had shown signs of hostility when they went to Nairobi to bring the sick man home. They extended their cold war even during the burial ceremony.
The fallen brother had used his resources to educate them but they had failed to utilise their opportunities well to become what they wanted in life. They, therefore, saw a loophole when the man became ill and the only way to get the wealth was by inheriting the wife.
The woman was not even aware that she was the bone of contention.
Not consultedShe comes from a different community and could not understand what they were debating. She had only heard them talking in their native language and most of the time pointing in her direction and she wondered what had gone wrong.
The old men and women who were conducting the ceremony were forced to stop and try to settle the problem that had cropped up. They greatly reproached them for their indecent behaviour in a season when people were getting enlightened and seeking advice when such matters cropped up.
Vacant houseOn their part, they insisted that it was their custom that had been followed since time immemorial, and they saw no great deal in inheriting their brother’s wife to continue with his lineage. They also wanted to safeguard their brother’s wealth. The fact that their brother had only one child, a girl, made them claim they were duty bound to step into their brother’s house that had become ‘vacant’.
The negotiations went on to the late hours of the evening when the ritual could not be continued until the following day.