Kenyan housewives have been given a boost after a High Court declared that they can consider themselves working.
Teresia Matheka, who ruled over a matrimonial property dispute, said it’s wrong to dismiss housewives’ contributions to the family’s prosperity.
Housewives, in her opinion, provide full-time services at home and should not be considered jobless simply because they do not bring money home.
When considering decisions on marital issues presented before them, she urged her colleagues not to lose sight of the difficulty of bearing a pregnancy for nine months.
“It is simple for the spouse who works away from home and sends money to claim the entire property built and developed with that money by the spouse who stays at home and looks after the children and family. That spouse will be heard claiming that because the other was unemployed, they were unable to contribute.
“Raising children, as well as cooking and cleaning, is a full-time job that families hire someone to do. As a result, for a working woman who must manage childbearing and raising a family, this contribution must be considered,” she explained.
Justice Matheka was delivering her decision in a case in which a divorced woman wanted their family home sold and the proceeds split evenly between her and her ex-husband.
After establishing her point of view, she decided that the property should either be sold and the proceeds split equally, or one of the spouses should possess the property by paying the other half of its value.
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