By Roselyne Obala

Kenya: Married women have been granted significant new protections under a new Marriage Bill, which goes before Parliament Tuesday.

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.”

“Where matrimonial property is acquired during marriage — in the name of one spouse, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that the property is held in trust for the other spouse,” the Bill provides.

If in the names of the spouses jointly, “there shall be rebuttable presumption that their beneficial interests in the matrimonial property are equal,” it adds. If the parties in a polygamous marriage divorce matrimonial property acquired by the man and the first wife shall be retained by the man and the first wife only.

Same-sex unions

“Under the customary marriage, the spouses must apply and obtain certificates from the marriage registry to be distributed among relatives. This is vital in the sense that in the event of death, no family members is deprived of what rightfully belongs to them,” Aura explained.

The Bill provides for registration of customary marriages and recognition of polygamous marriages.

This ends the traditional marriages for which other than oral acceptance in a cultural settings and probably exchange of dowry, there is nothing binding or holding it together and so may be broken at will, exposing the woman to neglect.

Although earlier drafts outlawed mandatory payment of dowry, the new Bill has a compromise version.

It also makes dowry payment optional.

Fida affirms that if the Bill is enacted into law it will be a plus to Kenyan women. “Women will have a say on the property they own and at the time of divorce benefit because the law caters for both monetary and non-monetary aspects,” Aura said.

 Aura explained even if one partner is not working, the time and emotional dedication to the marriage gives one the right to get their fair share.

The marriage bill does not permit polyandry, the practice of having more than one husband and rules out same-sex unions.