PhD thesis Title Page Final _Richard Juma - Victoria University ...

The livestock belong to men. They have to herd them to
make sure they are not raided. Women can’t herd
because they can get raped and raided. Women also
can’t make decisions regarding the cattle. Culturally it
is men’s responsibility. If we buy cows, the men will
take them to the cattle camp and we will never see
them again. When our daughters get married, it is the
father who has the power to keep the animals given as
dowry. We do not like this as it is unfair, but there is
little we can do as we have to please our people (Key
Informant Interview 12 th march 2007, Morulem village).
In the Turkana District, men are the ones who are in charge of livestock.
They make the decisions concerning their animlas and control the
financial capital. If a man wishes to divide his herds into several groups,
he can do it without referring the matter to the women of the household.
For women who spend most of their time around the homestead in the
villages, it can be quite difficult to keep track of herd changes. Women
interviewed explained that this scenario leaves them vulnerable to cheating
if their husband dies and relatives take care of the cattle.
From what I gathered during fieldwork, if a woman becomes a widow, the
family’s livestock is passed down to her elder son. If she does not have a
son, or he is too young to take this responsibility, a relative of the late
husband will take care of the livestock. Sons in the family will take over
when they grow up. This is how the rule in Turkana society operates, but
informants explained that the male relatives do not always follow the rule.
One widow informally interviewed stated that the man taking care of her
deceased husband’s livestock refused to give her any of the benefit, and
moved and scattered the herds to camps far away, to hinder her from
reaching them. Unfortunately, this had devastating consequences for her
family during the 2005-2006 drought and famine, since she no longer had
access to the family livestock especially cattle. Those widows who had
access to family herds sent their children to cattle camps to drink milk in
order to survive.
122