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| John Cardinal Njue |
Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishop (KCCB) has asked Kenyan President, His Excellency Uhuru Kenyatta not to assent to the Marriage Bill which was recently passed by parliament.
The Parliament of Kenya last week passed the controversial amendments to the Marriage bill allowing men to take on multiple wives without consulting their current partners first.
A letter from KCCB dated 26th March 2014 to the President and signed by Chairman- Kenya Conference of Catholic BishopsH.E. John Cardinal Njue stated that “The Catholic Church has on previous occasions been involved and has given its input at the conceptualization stage and the development of a legislative Bill to govern marriages in Kenya in the name of The Marriage Bill and went as far as presenting our proposals for consideration by the National Assembly.”
“It has been our expectation that the Catholic Church would subsequently be invited to make presentations at the Parliamentary Committee stage of development of the Bill into law. This has not come to be, as we are now perturbed to learn from the media that the National Assembly passed the Bill and the same is now awaiting your assent into law,” read the letter.
The letter which was also copied to the Chairman; National Family Life Office Rt. Rev. Salesius Mugambi went on stating that “The Church plays a critical role in holding the society’s moral fabric in place and marriage being the foundation of the very basic unit of societal structure – the family, it is critical that a law governing the same reflects societal values and morals which in turn reflect on the Country’s morality. The participation and input of the Church in developing such a Marriage Law need not gainsaying,” adding that “It is the Catholic Church’s view that the said Bill as passed contains clauses that are against natural law and divine order and the Catholic Church feels aggrieved as our proposals previously made and attached hereto were not considered.”
“The Catholic Church thus implores Your Excellency not to assent to the Bill and indeed call for further and wider consultations before your Excellency’s assent,” stated the letter.
On another amendment which was also passed by the parliament was on Matrimonial Property: This is not shared on a fifty basis in case of dissolution of marriage. According to the amended matrimonial property bill 2013, the property will now be shared according to the contribution made by each in the marriage an issue that was opposed by women MPs.
The debate on the bill degenerated into a battle between female legislators and their male counterparts when it was brought to the floor of the House. During the voting, female MPs stormed out of the session in frustration. Of the 349-member parliament, 69 are women.
A cross section of people interviewed by AMECEA Online News rejected the bill saying it is weakening the government strategy to the fight against AIDS. "How do you ensure faithfulness in polygamy?” one person asked.
SOURCE: Waumini Communications, KCCB and AMECEA Social Communications Office
