Group Wants Kenyans to Be Allowed to Divorce Without Stress

BY MWANAHABARI REPORTER

More and more Kenyans are filling for divorce each passing day.

This is why a lobby group has moved to court seeking to make divorce as easy as taking a breath.

The group wants the divorce process made easier and less stressful to couples who no longer want to remain in marriage for whatever reason.

Copler Attorneys & Consultancy in a petition to the High Court wants part of the Marriage Act which provides for the grounds that should be met before one can file for divorce removed.

They want couples to be allowed to terminate their marriage upon filing a consent form in court, and a decree filed before the Registrar of Marriage.

“…Parliament to amend the Marriage Act of 2014 and the Matrimonial Causes Act, to enable parties in a marriage of whichever regime to terminate marriage by consent,” the lobby says.

High Court judge Reuben Nyakundi in 2020 quashed a section of the law that barred couples from divorcing before three years of marriage.

All the divorces are filed at the Kenya’s Commercial court civil registry in Nairobi. The office is ever busy, a good proof of the rising rate of divorce in Kenya.

In December 2020, the register registered some 1,108 people all of whom filed petitions to dissolve their marriages.

In December 2017, the number stood at 909 people, which means the numbers are increasing.