Looking back at Justice Koome’s career, one can’t help but feel hopeful about what her term might mean for women’s legal rights and justice in Kenya, writes Mercy Gakii

The name Martha Koome, may or may not ring a bell if you are not from Kenya, but she just made history after being appointed the first woman chief justice of Kenya. She joins Justice Irene Mambilima (Zambia) and Justice Meaza Ashenafi (Ethiopia), the other women serving as chief justices in African countries at the moment.

Looking back at Justice Koome’s career, one can’t help but feel hopeful about what her term might mean for women’s legal rights and justice in Kenya. No doubt, the Kenya of 2021 is quite a different place for women in Kenya from the one of the late 80s when Justice Koome was starting out as an advocate. Back then women were clamouring for various rights, and it was during that time — in 1985 — when Kenya held the Third Conference on the status of women, seeking to review the progress made during the UN Decade of Women (1975 to 1985). This meeting was crucial in discussing equal participation of women in all spheres of life, including in politics and various levels of decision-making, not just in Kenya and in Africa, but in the world. The conference found that during those 10 years, the goals of increasing the participation of women in society were only partially achieved. It was during that conference that the Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) Kenya chapter was established as part of efforts to address the gaps in the advancement of women’s rights.

The year after the Nairobi conference, Martha Koome graduated with a degree in Law from the University of Nairobi. She was admitted to the Bar in 1987. While practising law, she experienced firsthand how disadvantaged women were when it came to seeking justice, especially in matrimonial matters. Back then, women had no rights to matrimonial property, and their children had no rights to child support. At the time, courts were using the Married Women’s Property Act of 1882, which did not provide rights to the matrimonial home or to child support. 

In the event of a divorce, women had to fend for themselves and their children, as fathers were not obligated by law to provide support. Matrimonial cases were often emotive and drawn-out and took too long to resolve, making them unpopular. However, Justice Koome had a soft spot for them and would later join FIDA-Kenya to champion the cause and rights of women and children.

Agent of change

She fought to make the rulings fair to women and was instrumental in efforts to change Kenya’s constitution to afford everyone equal rights. As a result of these collective efforts, the Constitution of Kenya that came into force in 2010 recognises men and women as equal and therefore gives women equal rights to ownership of property. Moreover, the Matrimonial Property Act (2013) provides a clear definition of matrimonial property and ownership that safeguards the rights of both men and women.

Among the memorable moves that Justice Koome made while she was at FIDA-Kenya, was suing then head of state President Daniel Arap Moi for not amending the constitution to achieve gender parity. The case could not proceed as the law did not allow for lawsuits against sitting presidents, but this sent a clear message to the government of the day that women’s rights deserved attention. In return, the president mocked FIDA’s work, saying that the organisation encouraged divorce.

Justice Koome was also part of the groups that pushed for the repeal of the constitution to introduce term limits and introduce a multi-party state. After years of pressure, then-president Moi announced the change in December 1991, bringing an end to the one-party state, and opening the possibilities of women to vie for the presidency. None did in the election the next year, but in the election after that (1997), Charity Ngilu became the first woman to vie for the top seat.

Many years later, Justice Koome is set to occupy the top seat in Kenya’s legal system, and given that her name is synonymous with women’s rights in Kenya, we can’t wait to see what her term has in store for unlocking the remaining gridlocks that may be keeping women from accessing justice. One thing we can all be sure of is justice and equal rights for all — it’s the one thing she has fought for all these years.