Africa

Here, the Court held that “having a child or children by the deceased is not enough to confer on the woman widowhood.” Consequently, the claimant was unable to inherit property from her deceased partner.

Baby “A” was born with both male and female genitalia. Kenyatta National Hospital issued the baby’s mother with various documents used in the process of carrying out genitogram tests, x-rays, and scans on the baby, and a question mark was entered in the column indicating the child’s sex. To date, the child has never been issued a birth certificate. The petitioners requested a declaration of the court that the Constitution protects and recognizes intersex children.

The plaintiff was employed by the defendant until she was dismissed immediately and without formality after she tested positive for HIV during a voluntary test. Before her termination, the plaintiff had never been incapacitated due to her HIV status and was leading a normal life. The court held that fair labor practices entitle a terminated employee to know the reason for their dismissal and to explain and defend themselves.

The appellant was found guilty of allegedly raping the complainant, aged 5 years and 11 months. He was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment, with two years suspended on condition of good behaviour. He appealed against both the conviction and the sentence. The questions at issue were (a) whether the crime of rape was committed and (b) whether the complainant’s evidence was corroborated. The court highlighted that much of the complainant’s evidence was supported by the appellant’s wife. The trial court concluded that there was legal penetration.

The appellant filed a complaint to divorce her husband and an action of summary proceedings to recover her property from the appellee.   The appellee-husband claimed he was entitled to a property acquired during the marriage because a married woman cannot acquire property in her own name solely for herself.

This judgment constituted three related cases (Bhe, Shibi and SAHRC), which were decided together and concerned the African customary law rule of primogeniture. In Bhe, a mother brought an action to secure the property of her deceased husband for her daughters. In Shibi, the applicant was denied the right to inherit from her deceased brother’s intestate estate under African customary law.

Appellant convicted of murdering a woman and sentenced to 18 years imprisonment. Appellant appealed the verdict and sentence, claiming that he did not possess the requisite intent to kill and mitigating circumstances that he was 35-years old, a first offender, gainfully employed and a breadwinner supporting two children should reduce his sentence. The High Court dismissed his appeal finding that the stab wounds to the victim demonstrated intent to kill and that the mitigating circumstances were properly weighed when the sentence was determined.

Human Rights Watch Report documenting how girls as young as 8 years old work up to 18 hours a day as domestic workers in Guinea, frequently without pay, and are often insulted, beaten and raped by their employers (2007).