Kenyan President Signs Bill Legalizing Polygamy

Kenya President Uhuru Kenyatta officially signed into law a bill legalizing polygamy, giving men the right to marry numerous women without consulting their other brides. The bill has faced opposition by the country’s Christian leaders, who criticize it for not respecting women or marriage.

“Marriage is the voluntary union of a man and a woman, whether in a monogamous or polygamous union,” Kenyatta said in a statement on Tuesday, AFP reported.

Archbishop Timothy Ndambuki, from the National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK), which represents more than 40 church and Christian organizations from across the east African nation,has said, however, that the tone of the bill is “demeaning to women since it does not respect the principle of equality of spouses in the institution of marriage.”

Among the several provisions of the bill, men will be allowed to marry as many partners as they wish as long as long as they can afford it, and do not need to consult their other spouses, BBC News reported. Furthermore, the bill establishes that partners must be 18 or older to get married, and gives women 50 percent of property acquired during marriage.

While polygamy is banned across much of the rest of the world, it has legal status in several African and Middle East nations.