Courting Courage

Martha Koome

• Publisher: Moran Publishers
• Year: 2026
• eBook ISBN:
  9789966637635
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Index: Social Sciences

Courting Courage is Justice Martha Koome's attempt at answering the many questions asked about her life—some openly voiced and others implied. She applies a simple style to tell her life story—her birth and childhood in Kithiu village, Meru County, growing up in an African traditional setting facing discrimination and cultural prejudices and finally enrolling in school at the urging of her visionary mother. She did not give up on her education and her mother spared no effort to see her in school. Henceforth, she made up her mind to pursue a legal career in order to fight for the rights of women and children who were disadvantaged in age-old cultural prejudices. Martha Koome graduated with LLB degree from the University of Nairobi and later earned a master's degree in International Law from the University of London. While working as an advocate in private practice, she found herself developing a passion for family law, which mainly involved dealing with children and women cases. She chaired FIDA-Kenya, which accorded her the platform to intensify her advocacy work on women and children. She was first appointed as a Judge of the High Court of Kenya, then as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Later, she was appointed as Chief Justice, becoming the first female to hold the office in Kenya. This is an incredible story of a life predicated on unending hope for a better tomorrow, resilience and courage that will resonate with the reader. Married early to her lifetime partner, Koome Kiragu, and navigating the pitfalls of motherhood and wifely duties with the delicate balance of studying law, which involved reading notes in matatus and writing term papers with one hand while breastfeeding with the other. She proclaims how she never needed to attend any class on feminism. "I lived it all."

Table of contents

• Front cover
• About the author
• Prelims
• Prologue
• 1 | Childhood Memories
• 2 | The Kithiu Homestead
• 3 | School or Shoes?
• 4 | A Different Kind of Life
• 5 | New Beginnings
• 6 | Life at Mugoiri Girls School
• 7 | Beauty and Brains
• 8 | The University of Nairobi
• 9 | A State Law Officer
• 10 | Back to Mathenge andMuchemi
• 11 | The Golden Pen
• 12 | Dalliance with Shamalla
• 13 | One is a Company
• 14 | State of Family Law
• 15 | Removal of Security of Tenure
• 16 | Law Society of KenyaElections
• 17 | The Growth of FIDA-Kenya
• 18 | Father Kaiser’s Girls
• 19 | League of Kenya Women Voters
• 20 | A Better Habitat for All
• 21 | Death of Two Chief Justices
• 22 | Quest for a New Constitution
• 23 | Staring at Death
• 24 | The Activist is a Judge
• 25 | The Family Division
• 26 | Children of Faith
• 27 | Champion of Children’s Rights
• 28 | The Nakuru Tour of Duty
• 29 | President of Judges and Magistrates
• 30 | Bankruptcy Cases
• 31 | Kitale and the Hostile North
• 32 | Missing the Number Two Slot
• 33 | A Wedding and Promotion
• 34 | Never Tell the Truth
• 35 | The Case of Queer People
• 36 | Covid-19 and Technology
• 37 | Great News on a Sad Day
• Index
• Photographs
• Back cover