By Habil Onyango
For a long time, elderly widowers in society have been neglected and forgotten, as the main focus has always been on supporting widows and the girl child.
Most of them have been living lonely lives after the demise of their partners, with no companion in their homes.
Some even lead a pathetic life with no one to care for them, leaving them with no choice but to wait for their time to depart from this world.
However, widowers across the country now have a reason to smile after an organisation, supported by the Interior Permanent Secretary, Dr Raymond Omollo, came up with an initiative to assist them.
According to Sam Okombo Nyarombo, the Director of the Widowers’ Empowerment Programme, their main aim is to offer healthcare services, empowerment, and support services for the neglected group.
“For quite some time, we have talked about the girl child and widows but forgotten about the widowers who have been living desperate lives after the death of their spouses, with little support from the community,” said Nyarombo.
“After realising what our elderly single fathers go through after being left alone, together with PS Omollo, we decided to come up with a programme that will see them benefit from mental support, proper healthcare, and other basic needs,” he said.
“We want to bring back hope to those who have lost it and make them feel that they are still important members of society,” he added.
According to the Director, who was speaking at Arujo Location Chief’s Camp when the team met elderly widowers, they plan to travel across the country to offer support to those affected.
He said they have already visited a number of widowers in Rusinga, Mfangano Islands, and Gwassi regions within Homa Bay County.
During the visit, the elderly widowers benefitted from medical check-ups, were gifted grooming kits, and also got an opportunity to register for SHA.
“We want the elderly widowers to age happily with dignity and feel that they are still an important part of society,” said the Director.
“We have had an elaborate discussion where we realised that some have lost their property to unscrupulous individuals and lack knowledge of the legal framework on how to recover it. We have advised them and will follow up and offer legal aid,” he said.
“We all know that there have been a number of programmes running for women, such as farming and table banking, but widowers are just left sitting pensively, waiting for their deaths,” he said.
He, however, appealed to the county government to engage more community health workers who can visit and assist the elderly who are unable to access healthcare at their homes.
According to the Arujo Location Senior Chief, Robert Lang’o, the initiative will prolong the lives of elderly widowers.
“This is the right time to engage the elderly by giving them hope and providing them with proper healthcare, companionship, and even food,” said Lang’o.
Lang’o revealed that there are close to 1,000 widowers in his location who need assistance and care.
According to one of the widowers, Bernard Owino, 78, he has been staying alone in his homestead for eleven years since the death of his wife.
“All my children are grown-ups, and they have their own families. I have been staying alone in my home, washing my clothes alone, and sometimes I lose hope in life,” he said.
“However, with the kind of engagement and support we have received today, I have gained confidence and hope, and I am determined to live longer,” said Owino.
According to Ben Otieno, 67, this was the first time in his entire life that he had witnessed widowers being considered for support.
He said being a widower and elderly comes with a number of challenges, including negative perceptions, where some view them as witches and often try to kill them.
“In some regions, some elderly people have been burnt alive or murdered for being suspected witches. We need a lot of support and care, and I am happy the PS has seen the need,” said the retired teacher.
“We are also happy with the government initiative of directly transferring our monthly stipends to our mobile phones, as before we used to lose a lot of money to young girls whenever we went to withdraw from banks,” he said.
Dr Omollo is also running an empowerment programme for widows by building them modern houses for those in need.
“We want to appeal to Dr Omollo to also consider us widowers for modern houses. Some of us are living in dilapidated structures which, given our ages, are not safe at all,” he said.
