A woman has filed for divorce before a court citing denial of conjugal rights by her estranged husband.
She accuses the estranged husband, a man from Western Kenya, of denying her conjugal rights.
Anne Nekoye Nalianya told court that her marriage with Nicodemus Vilembwa Namusei broke down irretrievably.
“My husband denies me conjugal rights. I seek divorce. It is now almost five years since we had sex with my husband,” the mother of four told the court.
Nicodemus claimed that Anne had deserted their home in 2016.
He however dismissed these allegations saying that he left their matrimonial home on May 17, 2021.
Anne additionally told the court that they did not own any properties together. She borrowed a loan and bought their family home.
“It will be three years by next year since we separated. Additionally, I took loans for the properties but Nicodemus took them to their home,” she alleged.
Nicodemus said that their marital issues started three days after they said their vows. He also denied assaulting her.
Grounds for divorce in Kenya
Currently, divorce in Kenya is fault-based, the partner who wants divorce must prove that the other is at fault.
The grounds for divorce are cruelty, desertion, denial of conjugal rights, adultery, and insanity.
In the event the petitioner can prove any of these grounds, then a decree of divorce is granted.
Marriage (Amendment) Bill 2023
The proposed bill is currently before Parliament and it proposes marriage by mutual consent.
The Bill proposed by Suna West MP Peter Masara proposes that couples should be granted a divorce after one year of agreeing.
The bill has faced opposition from Attorney General Justin Muturi who has disputed assertions on the bill that divorce cases are expensive saying couples are granted divorce after six months and they often represent themselves.
“A perusal of the court divorce files shows that the process is taking less than six months and many parties are representing themselves,
“Again, those contentious divorces where parties fail to agree shall remain costly and time-consuming,” he told the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee.
