Your are here » Home » Kenya Major gains for women in Marriage Bill Updated Monday, July 15th 2013 at 22:37 GMT +3 By Roselyne Obala Kenya: Married women have been granted significant new protections under a new Marriage Bill, which goes before Parliament Tuesday. 0 inShare The Marriage Bill 2013, which will beformally introduced Tuesday, details a raft of proposals that were welcomed Monday by the leading women’s rights lobby. Spouses will have equal rights on matrimonial property and where a man embraces a polygamous relationship, the right to property of the first wife is protected. A related legislation – Matrimonial Property Bill 2013 — provides that even where property is registered in the name of one spouse, the other spouse has right to claim it. Monday, the Federation of Women Lawyers (Fida) backed the Marriage Bill 2013, saying if it is enacted into law, it will be a plus for Kenyan women. The Bill gives legal recognition to polygamous marriages but places safeguards to protect the first wife who is usually neglected when the man takes in the second, often younger wife. “For instance if a man decides to bring another woman after 20 years of their marriage, the property must be shared in an equitable manner,” said Ruth Aura, Fida chairperson, who participated in drafting the legislation. The proposed Marriage law will likely ignite a fierce debate as it did when it appeared in draft form during the life of the last Parliament. The Bill consolidates Islamic, Christian, Hindu, civil and customary marriage provisions and offers protection for civil, traditional and religious forms of marriages. Aura explained: “The husband must treat both wives equally. This law caters for those women who are either abandoned or neglected after their partner adds other women.” Property acquired at the time of the marriage, during the marriage and at dissolution of the marriage will be shared on a 50/50 basis if the Bill is passed into law. The Matrimonial Property Bill 2013 reinforces the division of wealth upon divorce stating “ownership of matrimonial property vests in the spouses in equal shares irrespective of the contribution of either spouse towards its acquisition.”
Posted on: Tue, 16 Jul 2013 12:06:22 +0000
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