NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 28 – A magistrate court has dismissed the divorce case which was filed by Aldai Member of Parliament Maryanne Kitany against the newly nominated Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi.
Keitany who has been embroiled in a bitter relationship with Linturi had moved to court seeking seeking protection after the former Meru Seantor threw her out of their house.
Milimani chief magistrate Heston Nyaga however, ruled that Kitany failed to prove that she was legally married to Linturi.
Nyaga ruled that the doctrine of common law marriage no longer applies in Kenya and that customary law marriage is not a one-event or single-ceremony matter.
The court said that even among Kitany’s witnesses, there was no consensus on whether the ceremony on 16 th April 2016 , on its own, created a marriage.
“The doctrine of common law marriage no longer applies in Kenya. A customary law marriage is not a one-event or single ceremony matter,” the court ruled.
The Marriage Act 2014 requires parties to register a customary marriage.
The magistrate noted that Linturi was in a monogamous marriage with Mercy Kaimenyi and therefore could not hold any other form of marriage including polygamy.
“Mithika Linturi could not contract a Nandi customary marriage or any other form of marital union with Maryanne Kitany. The customary law union alluded to by Maryanne Kitany would not suffice as a marriage under the laws of Kenya,” it stated.
Linturi through his lawyer Muthomi Thiankolu argued that claims of marriage between him and Kitany are false, adding that the sole purpose of the divorce case was to harass him so as to obtain orders relating to property ownership.
On her part, Kitany who previously served as Chief of Staff in the office of former Deputy President William Ruto, maintained that she is lawfully married to Mr Linturi.
She is now the MP for Aldai Constituency.
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