Marriage amendment Bill fate to be determined in two weeks

The fate of the Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2023 is set to be determined in the next two weeks.

The bill by Suna West MP Peter Masara seeks to amend provisions of the Marriage Act, 2014 by proposing separation by mutual consent where both parties can petition the court for separation if the marriage is irretrievably broken.

The Bill, according to the lawmaker, ensures that consent to divorce by mutual consent is rightly obtained without coercion, fraud or undue influence.

Laikipia Woman Representative Jane Kagiri was the first to challenge the unconstitutionality of the bill that was tabled in the House for the first reading on Wednesday afternoon.

"When you have a Marriage Amendment Bill that is going to allow for the dissolution of marriage after one year or based on mutual consent, I think that's an affront to our Constitution and something that we should not allow," Kagiri said.

The MP also warned that if the amendment is allowed, foreigners will take advantage of Kenyan girls where they will use and dump them.

"If we allow for such an amendment, we're allowing for fictitious marriages in this country where foreigners walk in, cheat our young and beautiful ladies and eventually exit after they've achieved the citizenship that they're seeking," Kagiri added.

Legislators including Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichung’wah and his Ugunja counterpart Opiyo Wandayi called for the withdrawal of the bill if it cannot be amended.

"I don’t even know how the bill found its way to the plenary, it should have been killed at the committee stage," Ichung’wah stated.

Currently, couples are required to prove an irretrievable breakdown of marriage and or a matrimonial offence.

Following the concerns raised by MPs, National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula said he will give a detailed ruling on the constitutionality of the bill in the next two weeks.