ABSTRACT
After a long and arduous struggle for comprehensive constitutional reform, Kenya now has a new constitution, which was promulgated on August 27, 2010. The constitution contains important gains for gender equality and equity and generally for the protection of human rights of all women and men in Kenya. Consequential to the constitution are several pieces of legislation meant to actualize its principles. Of significance is the creation of an independent judiciary with a mandate to create robust jurisprudence through transformative interpretation of the constitution and depart from the narrow approach previously adopted by the courts and which entrenched gender discrimination. This means that the judges have a mandate to create a more equitable society. Since the enactment of the new constitution, courts have been making gender-related decisions, especially in matters concerning matrimonial property, domestic violence, marriage, and inheritance, areas in which gender inequality has previously been rampant. Opinions vary on how gender responsive these decisions have been, since no analyses have been undertaken. Adopting transformation as a theoretical framework, this chapter sets out to fill this gap by examining how the judiciary has utilized its interpretive authority under the constitution to strike a blow for gender equality.
