News: Malawi Patrilineal Inheritance Prevents Women’s Access to Land

"LILONGWE, Mar 9 (IPS) - Mercy Gondwe, 51, from Rumphi in northern Malawi, was married for 34 years. When her husband died in 2008, she assumed she would inherit the land they had been cultivating together since they got married. But this was not the case.

Gondwe’s brother-in-law took over the ownership of the land the day of the funeral, because tradition dictates that only a man has the right to own land. Gondwe and her six children, aged between eight and 20 years, have no choice but to keep living among their in-laws. The terms of the bride price Gondwe’s husband paid when they got married stipulate that a woman and her children belong to her husband and his family.

"My children and I still grow crops on the land, including tobacco, but my brother-in-law tells me what to do with the produce," Gondwe says."

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Source: Claire Ngozo IPS News Agency