women who cannot afford it. She played a significant role in the drafting of Kenya’s 2010 constitution, in particular the Bill of Rights. This historical piece of legislation now prohibits discrimination against women, particularly over ownership of property, and also allows children to acquire citizenship from their mothers for the first time.
“I am a villager in the truest sense,” she said at her interview. “My parents were peasant farmers and we were 18 children from two mothers. So, for all of us, especially girls – it was a struggle to overcome the odds.”
Justice Koome, who is married with three children, and often discusses her Christian faith and expresses her views with deep conservatism.
She has served as the commissioner on the African Union’s Committee on the Rights and Welfare of Children. Last year, her advocacy of the rights of children was recognised as she became the runner-up for the UN’s Kenya Person of the Year Award.
