Man loses bid to divorce woman he was 'married' to for 11 years

A Tanzanian national has lost a bid to divorce a Kenyan woman he claimed he was married to for 11 years.

The court ruled that he failed to present proof of their marriage to support his petition for divorce.

The man, who we will refer to as AD, suffered a huge blow after the two-year court battle.

On Tuesday, Nakuru Senior Resident Magistrate Yvonne Khatambi struck out AD’s divorce petition that was filed on May 23, 2018.

Ms Khatambi ruled that the petition was premature since AD did not present evidence to prove that he was married to MN.

Khatambi said the court could not speculate and assume that there existed marriage between the two without solid evidence.

“The trite law is that he who alleges must prove. The petitioner (AD) alleged that he was married to the respondent (MN) but failed to present proof in support of the same,” said Khatambi.

She said the court was not sure what type of marriage the parties had engaged in and thus could not know which marriage to dissolve under the Marriage Act.

Khatambi added that the petitioner's claim that he solemnised marriage with the respondent under the Marriage Act must be backed by evidence of a certificate of marriage, which was not presented.

AD went to court two years ago seeking to divorce MN for alleged desertion.

He said they solemnised their marriage on February 14, 2009, and lived as husband and wife at Kenlands in Nakuru County.

AD said they were blessed with two children now aged 10 and five. The children are in custody of MN.

In his petition, AD submitted that MN abandoned their matrimonial home after some time and later left to an unknown place.

He said the desertion caused him mental anguish, pain and embarrassment.

AD has a window of 30 days to appeal against the decision.