Divorce in Kenya is now a costly affair as courts award huge payouts

Posted by Jambo 

Divorce has become an expensive affair, particularly for the rich, with courts handing out hefty payouts.

Recently, a man was ordered to pay Sh30 million to his ex-wife within 90 days after the court dissolved their 22-year marriage.

Justice Luka Kimaru also directed Peter to provide Njoki with a house within either Runda, Lavington, Kileleshwa, Kilimani or Karen or any other upmarket area of Nairobi that would accord with the standard of living that she was used to during their marriage.

“The respondent (Peter) shall provide the house within 90 days of the date of this judgment or if he fails to do so, he shall pay to the petitioner the sum of Sh60 million,” ruled the judge.

Another Mombasa-based tycoon was last December directed to pay a woman Sh10 million after the court found she had been lured from India into marriage in Kenya on a false pretence.

“I find that this act of deception by the man was cruel in the extreme. It condemned the innocent woman to a life devoid of sexual intimacy and devoid of children, which is the desire of any woman in a marriage,” ruled Justice Maureen Odero.

But one of the most expensive settlements involving Sh1 billion was of a Tanzanian tycoon and was settled in Mombasa in 2011.

The businessman, MB, divorced his wife of four years, NA, five years ago in Mombasa after he accused her of misusing Sh452 million he used to send to her to bank in the family account.

The couple divorced at the Kadhi’s court in Mombasa on June 19, 2006, after MB accused her of swindling him the money while he was on a business trip abroad.

The two shared equally property and money equivalent to a billion shillings in a final settlement in late 2011.

MB, who is a native of Zanzibar, has interests in food, transport and real estate in Kenya, Uganda and other African countries.

These cases highlight the outcome of nasty divorce proceedings, often conducted away from the public to protect children.

It is all thanks to the Constitution, which has made it easier for women seeking property from their husbands during or after divorce.

Despite one’s current financial status, Article 45 gives partners equal rights “at the time of the marriage, during the marriage and at the dissolution of the marriage”.

Further, Article 68 of the Constitution provides that Parliament shall enact legislation to “regulate the recognition and protection of matrimonial property and in particular the matrimonial home during and on the termination of marriage.”

A review of recent divorce cases highlights causes of conflict, including unfaithfulness, cruelty, denial of conjugal rights and financial strain.

The marriage of CJ, 29, and RW, 27, was dissolved in June, last year, after the court upheld the woman’s assertion that her husband was a tribalist and cruel.

Another couple in Nyeri with a chain of chemists will settle their divorce case in the Supreme Court.

In Kisumu, a magistrate’s court ruled that the marriage between VA and EN, a university professor had irretrievably broken down. Cruelty and unfaithfulness featured in the case.

– standardmedia.co.ke