GABORONE - In a landmark ruling Botswana’s High Court on Friday affirmed women’s inheritance rights for the first time, up-ending a male-dominated system that had prevailed in the thriving African nation. The court ruled that local customary laws - giving the youngest-born son rights to inherit the family home - are not in line with the country’s constitution, which guarantees gender equality. “It seems to me that the time has now arisen for the justices of this court to assume the role of the judicial midwife and assist in the birth of a new world struggling to be born,” said Justice Key Dingake.
“Discrimination against gender has no place in our modern day society,” he said, urging the government to take all discriminatory laws off the statute books. The case was brought by a group of sisters, all aged over 65, whose claim to family property is challenged by their 63-year-old nephew. According to Tswana custom the family home is either inherited by the first-born or last-born son, depending on tribe.