New law could be a threat to the the marriage institution and its economic benefits

Learning latin female student with curly hair outdoor in the city [Photo: Courtesy]

One of the revolutions unleashed by the 2010 Constitution is allowing women to inherit wealth from their parents.

In most Kenyan communities, women were not allowed to inherit wealth from their parents as that was reserved for male heirs.

That created interesting dynamics including polygamy in case the first wife never bore boys. That led to the higher value attached to boys than girls.

Some men even refused to pay dowry till they got a male heir. Traditionally, chieftain or kingship was passed to males.  That mentality has persisted to the present.

Interestingly, male heirs have been valued globally. China has excess men because, in the traditional one child family dictated by the communist party, boys were always preferred.

The Chinese Population Reference Bureau estimates there will be 55 million extra boys in the country by 2020. Never mind where they will get brides.

Disguising studies

That presents “a market“ for women - either underground through trafficking or other means like disguising studies or business to get a husband in China.  What would be the psycho-social consequences of millions of young men with no one to marry? Across in Japan, only males can inherit the throne which has thrown the royal family into a spin for lack of a male heir.

It used to be the case in Europe until the laws were changed. In England, it was only in 2011 when girls and boys got equal rights to the throne.

Previously, younger boys could get to the throne ahead of their elder sisters.

Sweden, Norway, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and Luxembourg had preceded the UK in giving equal rights to the throne for boys and girls.

Let us leave out the royal families far away and return home. Allowing girls to inherit their parents is legally and morally right. Children are children and being born male or female is often a statistical chance, which has been put under the spell of science.

Couples to some extent can now choose the gender of their kids. Having worked hard to accumulate wealth, as your children watched, it is only fair they share it equally.  They probably contributed equally in helping you acquire the wealth.

They kept you company or gave you a sense of identity, baba so and so or mama so and so, more fulfilling than Mr Kamau or Dr Komondo.

One lady told me that modern ladies prefer not to be called mama so and so; it makes them feel old. Some parents might vary the children shares depending on their relationship with them. Were they there for them? Others argue that some children prospered and need “less inheritance”.

The dynamics of inheritance also depends on the socio-economic status of the parents.

If they were poor, the kids might have nothing to inherit except upbringing.

At times, the parents inherit from their well up kids who at times improve the parents’ socio-economic status.

Some observers that women take greater care of their parents irrespective of whether they are married or not.

Do you agree? But there is a less rosy part of women inheriting. First, if they never married, they have no other home or source of inheritance.  That is where the drama starts.

Traditional thinking has made men feel that women should be married, and any unmarried women must be refusing to marry deliberately to inherit their parents.

Swear an affidavit

But the reality nowadays is that marriage is no longer a guarantee for many women.

Such unmarried women bear the wrath of their brothers. 

What if they are married? One judge suggested they should swear an affidavit to show they have no claim to their parents’ wealth or inheritance.

A closer look at the human behaviour suggests few will ever do that.

Most will take up inheritance fast irrespective of their husband’s wealth.

The women behaviour towards inheritance is region and community specific.

Kiambu and Kwale will react differently. The property married women inherit from their parents is theirs, not the husbands’. This gives them new economic power which might affect the relationship.

Suppose my wife inherits a BMX X6 from her father and I own a Vitz?

Riverside Drive

What if she gets an apartment on Riverside Drive, while we currently live in Mlolongo?

What if she starts collecting rent? It gets merrier.

Some married women will simply inherit, land or houses and sell and keep the money.

This creates some interesting scenarios; some of the parents’ lands might be sold to total strangers; who may offer a higher price than brothers or sisters.

The psychological trauma of seeing your father’s property go to the strangers can be overwhelming.

Ideally, the married woman brothers and sisters should get pre-emptive rights to buy land.

Sadly, they might not have the money. The new succession laws are modern but their effect will not always be romantic.

Will they make marriage less necessary for women?

Will they make women less settled in marriage as they keep “checking” what is happening in their homes? Will this encourage hyphenation of names like Jane Kamau-Odongo?

My greatest fear is that the new laws could be a threat to the greatest institution, marriage and its economic benefits.

This is, however, region specific. Balancing economic interests and marriage might preoccupy the next generation more than phone addiction. 

-The writer teaches at the University of Nairobi