MPs on Wednesday backed a proposal to block mistresses and third-party 'strangers' from claiming a share of property when a spouse dies.
The Succession Amendment Bill, 2019 is sponsored by Homa Bay Town MP Peter Kaluma. He also opposed appointment of young female magistrates in 2019, questioning their maturity and professionalism.
Kaluma wants estates to be shared strictly among husbands and wives who are legally married and their legal children.
Not mistresses philandering MPs so often are linked with.
“We see cases where people die, especially men, and people who do not qualify to become spouses under the Marriage Act — possibly a girlfriend who was infringing on your family — is busy petitioning in another court elsewhere,” Kaluma said.
This happens while your wife is mourning you, he added.
“Because of the broad definition of 'wife' under the Act they get entitled and they disinherit the family," Kaluma said.
"When I am dead, my wife should not be mourning while another one I met at a retreat somewhere is in another court coming to disturb my wife.”
Under the proposed amendments former wives and partners will not qualify as dependents.
“In Section 29(a), the manner in which former wives are defined is very vague. I propose to define a spouse. A spouse must be a spouse as defined in the Marriage Act, not a framework we currently have that lets a man coming to Kenya claim he is a spouse."
Kaluma also proposes that widowers automatically inherit the property of their wives without going to court to prove their dependence as provided in the current law.
The MP described the current provision as discriminatory.
The Bill in its second reading stage recommends deletion of Section 29(c) which provides that if a woman dies, then her husband will only be a dependent if he was being maintained immediately prior to the date of her death.
“When my wife dies. I don’t need to prove that I was depending on my wife. The property of my wife is a property I can seek to administer for the benefit of our family,” Kaluma said.
Many MPs welcomed the proposals, saying they will end the new pattern whereby mistresses emerge when a man dies, claiming to be beneficiaries.
Mogotio MP Daniel Tuitoek said the proposal will end interference in families by female opportunists.
“We are witnessing a lot of acrimony. Every time one dies, the issue of sharing property becomes an issue especially by ladies who want to be included in burial arrangements and property distribution,” Tuitoek said.
Nyaribari Chache MP Richard Tongi said the law will safeguard legal wives from intruders.
Chris Wamalwa (Kiminini) said the era of people reaping where they did not sow will be long gone with the passage of the amendments.
“It affects us even in this House as MPs," Sirisia MP John Waluke said.
"Marriage is very vital and essential. For many years families have been affected because of properties.
"Love is always blind, somebody can make love with a woman and the property will go and children will be left empty handed."
(Edited by V. Graham)
