Annulment of Discriminatory Custom and its Impact on Matrilineal and Patrilineal Societies/People

The case of Ukeje v. Ukeje raises important questions about ways in which universal human rights are to be applied and their impact on culturally diverse societies such as patrilineal and matrilineal communities. Although the Constitution is supreme, the various ethnic groups actually gave themselves the Constitution, subject to amendment if it disparaged their cultural diversity. This article appraises similar developments in Ghana, Tanzania, Kenya, Zambia, Uganda, South Africa and the South-Pacific, examining the challenges and limitations when daughters get married in patrilineal societies and when sons get married in matrilineal communities. Reform is advocated through the enactment of modernised Succession Acts such as those found in Kenya and Zambia where courts are given powers to determine inheritance cases according to their peculiarities and to impose statutory trusts for sale where necessary.