WUNRN
21 March 2014 - Female MPs in
The law is intended to bring civil law,
where a man is only allowed one wife, into line with customary law, where some
cultures allow multiple partners.
But male MPs voted to amend the new
marriage bill to allow men to take as many wives as they like without
consulting existing spouses. Traditionally, first wives are supposed to give
prior approval.
If the bill becomes law, a Kenyan will have to be 18
to marry and this will apply to all cultures
Correspondents say about 30 of
The women walked out in disgust over the
matter.
The marriage bill now passes to the
president to sign before it becomes law.
MP Samuel Chepkong'a, who proposed the
amendment, said that when a woman got married under customary law, she
understood that the marriage was open to polygamy, so no consultation was
necessary, Kenya's Daily Nation newspaper reports.
Mohammed Junet, an MP representing a
constituency from the western Nyanza province, agreed.
"When you marry an African woman,
she must know the second one is on the way and a third wife… this is
Africa,"
But female MPs argued that such a
decision would affect the whole family, including the financial position of
other spouses.
"It behoves you to be man enough to
agree that your wife and family should know," Capital News quotes Soipan
Tuya, the women's representative from
The BBC's Angela Ngendo in the capital,
Plans to ban the payment of bride prices
were dropped - although a person must be 18 to marry and this will apply to all
cultures.
Proposals to ensure equal property and
inheritance rights were also watered down - a woman will be entitled to 30% of
matrimonial property after death or divorce.
Under current Kenyan law, a woman must
prove her contribution to the couple's wealth.
There was also a proposal to recognise
co-habiting couples, known in
It would have allowed a woman to seek
maintenance for herself and any children of the union had the man left.