It brings civil law, where a man was only allowed one wife, into line with customary law, where some cultures allow multiple partners.

 

Controversy¹ surrounded an amendment² to the bill, supported by many male MPs, allowing men to take more wives without consulting existing spouses³.

 

Traditionally, first wives are supposed to give prior approval.

 

Last month, female MPs walked out of parliament in disgust after their male counterparts voted through the amendment.

 

They argued that a decision to take on another wife would affect the whole family, including the financial position of other spouses.

 

The bill was also opposed by Christian⁴ leaders who urged the president not to sign it into law, saying it undermined Christian principles of marriage and family.

 

"The tone of that bill, if it becomes law, would be demeaning to women since it does not respect the principle of equality of spouses in the institution of marriage," Archbishop Timothy Ndambuki, from the National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK), was quoted by Kenya's Standard newspaper as saying.

 

The marriage legislation has been under discussion for several years and some initial proposals were scrapped⁵ at committee stages.

 

It has abolished the practice of unofficial traditional marriages which were never registered and could be ended without any legal divorce proceedings⁶. 

 

But plans to ban the payment of bride prices were dropped - although a person must be 18 to marry and this now applies to all cultures.

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