Warm welcome for family assets Bill

Despite some misgivings when it was introduced, the Matrimonial Property Bill was warmly received by MPs, most of them male, when it went through the Second Reading.

There were less than 20 MPs in the House on Thursday evening when the stage where the Bill is discussed without making amendments arrived.

MPs who spoke were happy about the Bill, which is good news for lawyers outside the House who have been pushing for a better law on division of matrimonial property.

The Justice and Legal Affairs Committee will propose only seven changes when the Bill goes to the third reading.

Inherited property will not be considered matrimonial, according to the changes suggested by the committee headed by Mr Samuel Chepkonga.

It also proposes to scrap the option of going to court if a spouse feels a prenuptial agreement could have been influenced by “fraud, coercion or is manifestly unjust.”

DIVISION OF PROPERTY

The committee also suggests that in a polygamous marriage, the property be divided according to each spouse’s contribution.

Kenya has been using the outdated Married Women Property Act of 1882, which was inherited from the English and which is no longer used in that country.

“We are doing away with the English law, which has been used for many years,” said Mr Chepkonga.

Ms Florence Kajuju (Meru, TNA) said the law would immensely benefit housewives as their contribution to the management of the home would count as a contribution to the marriage.

So, too, would conjugal rights, she said, prompting temporary Speaker Moses Cheboi to ask her to clarify.

“Companionship has a very wide meaning and part of what partners do in a marriage is the provision of conjugal rights,” responded Ms Kajuju.

The Bill also provides for resolution of property issues in Muslim marriages under Islamic law but Ms Fatuma Ibrahim Ali (Wajir County, ODM) and Ms Priscilla Nyokabi (Nyeri County, TNA) proposed that a way be found for a Muslim to apply for a decision based on secular law.