Traditional African Property Law

    According to Itano, “many African women are caught between customary laws that have long governed issues such as marriage, inheritance and land ownership and modern civil law that was first brought by colonialists and later embraced by newly independent African states”. The Traditional African Property Law affects widows and divorcees by giving them lesser or worst, no opportunity to own the things that are connubial in nature. The Law limits widows and divorcees in owning properties as prescribed by a rights-based system and African culture. In Ifeoma Okoye’s The Trial and Other Stories, the short stories Soul Healers, The Voiceless Victim, and Between Women indicate some customs in need of change. In Soul Healers, Somadi was separated from her children upon the death of her husband because of traditional laws. Sent away from all that is ancestral, she is destined to live a life separate from her children. This kind of belief must be changed for there is already legal framework that deals with child custody. For The Voiceless Woman, the young woman, Ebele, lost her husband and was forced into the streets to beg, having been unable to find any work. Ebele is a victim of an unbalanced and unfair system. Today, the prejudice against widows or even divorcees in terms of employment should be addressed. Also, any person like the privilege woman is not entitled to disgrace a widow or other people. Equal opportunity employment as well as rights for equality must be enforced. In Between Women, Ebuka, being maid with an unjust employer must be protected by fair and just employment laws. The traditional and cultural belief of slavery must be changed. The injustices of privilege people against less fortunate individuals must be punished by corresponding provisions or policies prescribed by the state. As women empowerment is clearly propagated in the contemporary times, laws in general might as well address the need and rights of women.