Succession laws in Kenya need fine-tuning

NAIROBI: The pace at which the personal laws have been and are changing is bringing forth contradictions, challenges and dilemmas that need to be appreciated and addressed.

The tripartite confluence of the 2010 Constitution, the marriage laws contained in the Marriage Act and Matrimonial Properties Act and the old Succession laws creates anomalies for a special class of Kenyans – the widows and ladies who cohabit without conducting formal marriages. The rights of children born out of wedlock are also unprovided-for where the putative father dies without acknowledging parentage.