Kenya Legal and Ethical Issues Network (KELIN) has trained women in Kajiado on land and property rights in a bid to transform social norms regarding women rights.
Caroline Oyumbo, a paralegal at KELIN noted that Maasai women do not have a say in matters land and properties in general and their main aim was to change this so that women can also be given equal rights.
“In the long run, we want to see marriages registered, joint registration of land, written wills and women being involved in leadership positions as they will be listened to more easily than when they are housewives,” said Oyumbo.
While recognizing that land is an emotive issue, Oyumbo noted that their target is not to separate families or bring conflicts but to train people to be change agents so that cases of Gender Based Violence reduce after putting both women and men at par especially in decision making on matters regarding land.
Kenneth Otieno Akatch, KELIN’s Programs officer and an advocate of the High Court noted that most people claim to be relying on culture while violating the law
He stated that though people are allowed to use their culture, according to articles 11,44 and 2 of the constitution which gives them an opportunity to look at culture, choose which culture to belong to and make reference to where they belong to and be part of it, they should not violate anyone’s Bill of Rights.
“Some cultures are biased towards a section of the community and therefore one should ensure that in as much as they are taking part in their cultural activities, they should not violate anyone’s Bill of Rights. Women and widows are mostly denied rights to own, control and even make decisions on land while article 40 states that everyone has a right to own land anywhere with anybody,” said Otieno.
The advocate adds that article 27 of the constitution talks of equity and non-discrimination and therefore when a community says that women or girls should not own land, they are becoming discriminative as one should not be discriminated on the basis of sex, gender, race, and pregnancy among other things.
The advocate further noted that Article 45 talks of the family as a basic unit and therefore a nation or any person who is interpreting the constitution should see to it that the family is well protected.
“The family comprising of a man, woman and the children is a basic unit of a nation and should be protected from any violation. KELIN therefore looks at ensuring that the basic unit of the family is protected by sensitizing on issues of law such as succession law and the marriage act,” said Otieno.
Felistus Kashu, one of the trainees appreciated KELIN for the training and said that Maasai women have been discriminated for long in matters land and inheritance due to their lack of information on the matter but after the eye opening training, they will be ensuring that they advocate for their rights and entitlement under the constitution.
“Lack of vital documents such as the marriage certificate, National Identity cards and vices such as Female Genital Mutilation and early marriages have also played a great role in us being discriminated against. We will use the knowledge we have gained today as change agents to reclaim our rights and entitlement under the constitution,” said Kashu.
In its flagship program dubbed ‘Securing Your Family’s Future’, KELIN intends to sensitize communities in the country about harmful social practices, norms, culture and patterns towards promoting gender equality.
By Diana Meneto
