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Dear Harold,
We have been married for two years and things are not working out at all. Two weeks after our honeymoon, I realised that I made a mistake. I have been on pills over the past two years to ensure I do not get pregnant as I seek my way out of what I got myself into. Can we mutually agree to part ways instead of living a lie?
Beryl, Nairobi
Dear Beryl,
Family laws in Kenya have no provisions for divorce by mutual consent – it is not even provided for both in the Constitution and new Marriage Act. However, when marriages hit the rocks, some couples prefer to end it with as little drama as possible - by mutual consent as provided for in countries like the US and India. Locally, it would be an insurmountable hurdle to convince the court to admit a divorce petition on mere grounds that the marriage is not 'working' out. First, the law provides that couples may seek divorce after being married for three years unless proven that the union has irretrievably broken down – cannot be salvaged. The three-year rule would not apply if the couple is under judicial separation, meaning a court ordered that they stop living under one roof as husband and wife. There should also be valid grounds for divorce which, include adultery (sexual intercourse with any other person who is not the legally married wife or husband), desertion (when a spouse leaves the marital home and does not return for three successive years) and cruelty (physical violence, constant verbal abuses and beating up the children). Other legal grounds for divorce include insanity, rape or bestiality (sexual intercourse with an animal.)
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