Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta has signed into law a controversial marriage bill legalising polygamy.
It brings civil law, where a man was only allowed one wife, into line with customary law, where some cultures allow multiple partners.
Controversy surrounded an amendment to the bill, supported by many male MPs, allowing men to take more wives without consulting existing spouses.
Traditionally, first wives are supposed to give prior approval.
Kenya’s marriage bill
Bans marriage for those under 18
All marriages – even customary unions – must be registered
Legalises polygamy, allowing men to marry as many partners as they wish without consulting other spouses A woman is entitled to 50% of property acquired during marriage
Specifies that marriage is between a man and a woman, but does not explicitly ban custom of an infertile woman marrying a younger woman
Proposals dropped: Banning bride price payments, recognising cohabiting, or “come-we-stay”, relationships
Last month, female MPs walked out of parliament in disgust after their male counterparts voted through the amendment.
They argued that a decision to take on another wife would affect the whole family, including the financial position of other spouses.
The bill was also opposed by Christian leaders who urged the president not to sign it into law, saying it undermined Christian principles of marriage and family.
“The tone of that bill, if it becomes law, would be demeaning to women since it does not respect the principle of equality of spouses in the institution of marriage,”
Archbishop Timothy Ndambuki, from the National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK), was quoted by Kenya’s Standard newspaper as saying.
The marriage legislation has been under discussion for several years and some initial proposals were scrapped at committee stages.
It has abolished the practice of unofficial traditional marriages which were never registered and could be ended without any legal divorce proceedings.
But plans to ban the payment of bride prices were dropped – although a person must be 18 to marry and this now applies to all cultures.
