Women of distinction

The President’s wife is called the First Lady. It always make me smile because she is fact also the first wife. There is a second wife who stays very much in the background.
"Lucy" as she is known likes the limelight and has a very volatile temper. She has been known to publicly slap aides who displease her.
This past week she was in the news twice. Once for publicly berating the Internal Minister (Saitoti) because of the Nakumatt fire and the tanker explosion when response was totally inadequate. The President had to belatedly announce that he was very happy with the Minister’s work.
The second time was when she was accused by an MP of having a business interest in the cartel that bought maize cheaply and sold it high when the shortage struck (or exported it to Sudan) It turned out the documentation was false and she was cleared, but the Agriculture Minister didn’t fare so well. Documents linking him to the plot were judged genuine.
Homa Bay where we took drugs to the Rotary Club recently, was in the news because of a group of women who refuse to be ‘inherited.’ According to custom a widow has to sleep with a professional ‘cleanser’ (ie a man authorised to do this. I have no idea how someone qualifies for the job.) Once ‘cleansed’ she can be inherited by her brother in law.
The group of six or seven women standing up for their right not to do this are being seriously harassed. Because of their ‘unclean’ status they are not allowed to use their deceased husband’s land or repair his house Some of the husbands died of AIDS and their widows are HIV positive. This inheritance tradition is one way the virus is spread throughout families. We hope they stay strong and united.