The old Chinese adage goes: Times change and those who change with it survive. There are things you can proudly foster as part of culture and keep them for eon generations. But there are those that have no place in changing times. Like inheritance rights where women are looked down on and boys favoured for property. Although inheritance is a valid cultural issue, its place in today’s world is more of a veiled effort if one called in a cultural norm to be followed. Women are no longer inferior to men in any way whatsoever. There is equality in all spheres of life and the composition of the government that has seen women hold up to 40 per cent of Cabinet positions is telling enough. Unfortunately, gender disparity has been a stubborn shadow in our midst despite the changing times. The days when a father bequeathed his entire property to sons and left his daughters with just only rugs or even bequeathed them to the care of their brothers is a thing of the past. Today, a girl should be able to inherit the bulk for the family property even if she had brothers or was younger as long as the family decided it was in the interest of the lineage that she does so. The days when siblings got themselves enmeshed in bitter feuds over family property, the days when domestic violence arose from disagreements over property… those days are not for this time. They belong to the past. The policies in place on gender balance in accessing inheritance have not served their purpose. This has compelled agencies responsible for the issue to draft a new bill that seeks to make inheritance more proactive to gender mainstreaming. The matrimonial regimes, donations and succession draft law is a positive step in the right direction. However, it is the kind of Bill that will require sensitisation at the grassroots for the people to understand. Such a law, once enacted, will not be forceful on families, so they will need to understand that it merely levels the field for both sons and daughters.
