Founder and Leader of Anointed Palace Chapel (APC), Rev Obofour has described the extensive endurance rituals being meted out to widows in the process of mourning her late husbands (widowhood rites) as useless and needless.
According to him, during widowhood rites, these widows become vulnerable to various abuses especially by members of her late husbands' families, who typically claim to care for them during the rites.
Addressing his congregation, he said "Over my dead body, will my wife and children be subjected to such widowhood rites. Where were those so-called family elders and members when I was struggling with my wife"
"Amamr3 my *ss, shut that thing down. No one should dare come to my house, lock the doors and drive my wife and kids away in the name of widowhood rites. W'abodam x300. Try and you will see"
The man of God further added that such rites should be abolished in the country.
In some parts of the country, when a woman is widowed, she and her children lose access to property and resources.
The woman may even be driven off of the property she shared with her husband by her in-laws.
In addition to experiencing financial devastation, the woman and her children may experience moral injury from the betrayal of in-laws in positions of power during this period of great need.
These rituals sometimes include seclusion, prescribed dress code, walking barefoot, fasting for a period, and, in more extreme cases, enduring the application of pepper to her eyes, sleeping in the same room where the corpse is laid, and bathing with water used to wash the corpse.
Some reasons put forth for observation of widowhood rites include bidding farewell to the dead, proving the widow's innocence of husband's death, showing that a widow really loved her husband, receiving blessings from the husband's spirit rather than incur bad luck for failure to go through the rites, and purifying oneself, since a widow is seen as impure and contaminated.
This practice is to ensure that a widow and her children continue to be supported by the deceased man's estate and family.
A widow who refuses to marry her brother-in-law may forfeit her late husband's land and other properties and may have to return her bride price.
Story by: Joshua Kwabena Smith