How do I stop my husband's planned wedding to his mistress?

Dear Harold,

I am in a situation that should be explained simply before I plunge into depression. The bitter truth is that my husband of nine years is in the process of marrying his girlfriend/mistress while our church wedding still subsists – we even have a valid marriage certificate.

The turn of events has kept my head spinning as he promised before we got married that I will be the one and only one.

I even knew when he started having an affair but kept my cool because I thought that she would be a passing cloud. Is this legally possible for him even to marry her under customary law?

Nancy, Nairobi.

Dear Nancy, It is illegal for your husband to marry another woman while your statutory marriage exists. His action would amount to an offence called bigamy, which could attract a jail term of up to five years.

Generally, courts are vigilant on offences relating to marriage as the Marriage Act. For instance, a German man married to a Kenyan woman recently ran into trouble for allegedly tying the knot with another woman.

He was charged in court, freed on a Sh1 million bond and surety of Sh500,000 as the hearing of the case continues. Therefore, for your husband to marry his ex-girlfriend, both of you have to divorce in court first.

Furthermore, it would also be an offence to secretly wed after giving false declarations, details or statements for purposes of marriage. Other possible offences would include marrying under a false name towards deceiving the other party or marrying under customary law while still in an existing marriage contracted either in church, office of the Attorney General or District Commissioner.