THE CONCEPT OF PERSONHOOD, WOMEN AND THE LAW IN KENYA

Women are always becoming and belonging to by evolving from daughters, sisters,

mothers, wives and widows.Personhood in Africa is tied to the family, the community

and it is also spiritual. It is never defined in isolation; it is defined in relationships. This

idea of communal living prevalent in Africa has intrinsic value; it is a product of African

humanism which is concerned with the preservation of life, systems and order.

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All these

stages of life women go through are communal rather than individual. While African

feminism embraces and celebrates women through their life cycle, it is evident that women

are disproportionately affected by these relationships through customs, traditional values

and beliefs, religion and the law. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to interrogate

how the concept of personhood in Kenya is defined and interpreted through a woman´s

life cycle and how it reflects in law and its implication to the economic status of women.

African and legal feminist frameworks will be used to discuss the concept of personhood,

its interpretation from the different standpoints, challenges women face as a result and

lastly, strategies that women use to overcome these challenges. This article aims to show

the interrelationship and importance of taking into consideration the multifaceted nature

of becoming from an African woman´s standpoint, how we define and interpret women

in law, their voices and experiences as individuals capable of being their own person and

how legislations can be made to reflect these lived realities of African women to promote

their economic status.