Communication 375/09 - Priscilla Njeri Echaria (represented by Federation of
Women Lawyers, Kenya and International Center for the Protection of Human
Rights) v. Kenya
Summary of the Complaint
1. On 22 September 2009, the Secretariat of the African Commission on
Human and Peoples’ Rights (hereinafter the Secretariat) received a
Complaint from the Federation of Women Lawyers Kenya and the
International Center for the Legal Protection of Human Rights (the
Complainants), representing Priscilla Njeri Echaria (hereinafter the
Victim).
2. The Complaint is submitted against the Republic of Kenya (hereinafter the
Respondent State or Kenya), State Party to the African Charter on Human
and Peoples’ Rights (the African Charter).
3. The Complainants submit that the Victim was married in 1964 to Mr. Peter
Echaria, a Kenyan diplomat who served in Moscow, Washington D C and
Addis Ababa before returning to Kenya. They state that due to the
diplomatic status of Mr. Peter Echaria, the Victim was not allowed to
work.
4. The Complainants also indicate that the above mentioned marriage ended
by divorce sometime in 1990.
5. According to the Complainants, in November 1987, the Victim petitioned
the High Court requesting that their matrimonial property be divided
equally between her and the husband. In 1993, the High Court granted an
order to the effect that the property acquired during the subsistence of the
marriage, be divided equally between the Victim and Mr. Peter Echaria, as
the Victim had made an indirect contribution to the acquisition of the
1