The Bill seeks to repeal and consolidate seven legal statutes which have been in existence since 1902.
Reform of Kenya’s marriage laws began in 1967 when the first President the late Mzee Jomo Kenyatta appointed a taskforce to review the laws and pay special attention to the status of women in relation of marriage and divorce. There were three attempts to amend the laws which failed.
In 1993, the then AG Amos Wako launched a taskforce to review the seven statutes but was not until 2007 when the Kenya Law Reform Commission draft the current Bill which has been introduced in Parliament twice in 2009 and 2012 but was dropped after government failed to master support for it.
Thongori points out that lack of a harmonised marriage law has often created confusion in the justice system handling post nuptial related disputes.
“To date if you need to determine whether you are married, (if you don’t have a marriage certificate) you need to come see a lawyer and pay a consultancy fee for me to able to answer you that simple question,” stated the renowned advocate.
Parliament’s Justice and Legal Affairs Committee is currently conducting nationwide hearings on the Bill which among others gives legal recognition to polygamous marriages but places safeguards to protect the first wife. It also consolidates Islamic, Christian, Hindu, Civil and Customary marriage provisions and offers protection for Civil, Traditional and Religious forms of marriage.
The Marriage Bill 2013 other key feature includes the appointment of Director of Marriage and Marriage Officers. It further states the Director of Marriages will register all unions, perform civil nuptials and issue certificates for registered marriages and determine rules governing customary marriages.
The Bill makes dowry payment optional and it states “where the payment of dowry is required to prove a marriage under customary law, the payment of a token amount of dowry shall be sufficient to prove a customary marriage.”
It however says a marriage under customary law shall be celebrated in accordance with the customs of the communities of one or both of the parties to the intended marriage.
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