Polygamy in Kenya

Legal status of polygamy
Recognized under civil law
Afghanistan Algeria Bahrain Bangladesh Brunei Burkina Faso Cameroon Chad CAR Comoros Congo Djibouti Egypt Ethiopia Gabon The Gambia India1 Indonesia Iran Iraq Jordan Kuwait Libya Malaysia Maldives Mali Mauritania Morocco Myanmar Niger Oman Pakistan Palestine Qatar Saudi Arabia Senegal Singapore1 Somalia South Africa Sri Lanka1 Sudan Syria Tanzania Togo Uganda UAE Western Sahara Yemen Zambia
Recognized in some regions
Eritrea2 Nigeria (BA, BO, GO, JI, KD, KA, KT, KE, NI, SO, YO, ZA)
Foreign marriages recognized
Australia (welfare only) United Kingdom (welfare only)
Recognized under customary law
Botswana Equatorial Guinea Lesotho Liberia Kenya Malawi Mozambique Namibia Nigeria Sierra Leone South Africa Swaziland Zimbabwe
Status in other jurisdictions
Angola Benin Bhutan Burundi Côte d'Ivoire DR Congo Ethiopia Ghana Iraqi Kurdistan Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Laos Mayotte (FR) Mauritius Mongolia Niue Russia Rwanda Tajikistan Thailand Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan United States Uzbekistan Vietnam Nigeria (IM, KW, LA, NA, OY, PL)
See also
Polygamy Polygyny Polyandry Non-monogamy Polygamy by country Marriage practice by country
Notes
1Illegal in all forms; Muslims exempt 2Regions governed by Sharia *In certain countries and regions, only Muslims may legally contract a polygamous marriage
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The practice of polygamy is legal in Kenya, and such unions are fully recognized by the courts under customary law.^[1] While prohibited via statute concerning civil marriages, a debate of legalizing civil polygamous unions has been a hot topic of political discussion; as well as within Kenyan society and religious bodies.^[2] Such legislation has been debated since its gaining of independence in 1963,^[3][4] though such measures failed to pass. Re-introduced in early March 2009, "Marriage Bill 2007", which would effectively legalize civil polygamous marriage in Kenya, is currently pending before the parliament, where legislators will soon debate it in the current session.^[2]

Previous measures have failed in the past, though various observers have claimed that similar bills were killed due to limitations regarding the registration of a polygamous union; not the concept itself.^[2] The current measure must first be approved by the parliament before it can advance.^[5][6]

History of Marriage Bill 2007

Marriage Bill 2007 was originally proposed in 1981, though was condemned by politicians for granting women "too many rights", such as the right to specify at the time of the marriage whether or not her husband may choose to take future wives. Most countries allowing polygamous marriages allow such a requirement. Subsequently, the bill was voted down. Revided in 2007, Marriage Bill 2007 faced similar concerns, and thus was not voted on. The bill was reintroduced in March 2009 as planned, addressing legislators concerns by eliminating a wife's right to stipulate monogamy or polygamy during contraction of the marriage. The bill is currently pending before the parliament and has faced both approval and condemntation from Christian and Muslim religious leaders in the country.^[7]

External links

• The Marriage Bill, 2007

References

1. ^ Kenya: Family Code
2. ^ ^{a b c} [1]
3. ^ Kenya: New Marriage Bill Grants Men More Rights
4. ^ Kenya church braves stormy scandals
5. ^ Marriage Bill 2007 (Kenya)
6. ^ New marriage act will be good for the family
7. ^ Kenyan church leaders reject polygamous marriage proposal