Nasra and Pedro were married at the Attorney General's office. They did not conclude any of the traditional or religious requirements for marriage, given that they come from different ethnic communities and profess different faiths. Nasra is a Muslim from the Coastal region, while Pedro is a Seventh Day Adventist from the Nyanza region. Due to the religious and cultural differences between the two, none of their families supported the union.

The two have now been married for 10 years and have been blessed with two children, aged 7 years and 5 years. However, they have been living separately for the last 3 years. The separation was occasioned by Pedro's constant and unending philandering and skirt chasing. During one particularly nasty incident, Nasra caught Pedro with another woman at a popular night club, in what she terms a compromising position, that led to a physical altercation with the other woman. During another incident, Nasra heard from mutual friends in Mombasa that Pedro had been spotted getting cozy and dancing rather provocatively with a local socialite at a popular night spot by the beach. The said friends were keen enough to take some photos and send them to Nasra. The final straw was when Pedro brought home a woman known as Anna and declared that she was his second wife.

Nasra decided that she could not take it anymore and she left their matrimonial home in Lang'ata, moving to a single-room house in Ngong. Nasra left her two children to live with Pedro, as she was unable to support both herself and her children from her meager salary as a receptionist at a local bank. She also cannot afford to pay the school fees for her children, who currently attend an elite private school in Karen, where the fee is about kshs. 200,000 per child per term. Nasra has been reaching out to her family to see whether they will take her back in, but her father is still very upset that she married a non-Muslim. Her mother and brother have been sympathetic towards her and have secretly been supporting her financially and also emotionally. Nasra's brother has also been beseeching their father to forgive her and allow her to come back home.

Pedro, on the other hand, is paid handsomely as in-house legal counsel for the same bank. He has also learnt that Anna is expecting his child. He has now decided that he indeed must marry Anna. His family is very happy to learn of this, given that Anna comes from the same ethnic community and holds herself out as a devout Catholic. Pedro has since completed the traditional rites of marriage as per the community he and Anna belong to, and the two cannot wait to wed in church. Anna has agreed that she will convert to Adventism as per the wishes of her in-laws. However, there is one problem: Anna is still legally married to a man she met online. The marriage has subsisted for the last two years. The man is a Belgian citizen who travelled all the way to Kenya for their nuptials. However, on their wedding night, the man suffered a stroke and was unable to consummate their marriage. Anna nursed her husband back to health but when he finally recovered, he said he did not feel that he was strong enough to consummate their union. He has since travelled back to Belgium and promised her that he would begin the process of "putting Anna's papers in order" so that she can obtain Belgian citizenship and finally travel to Belgium.

Nasra has now approached you, a local NGO that provides pro bono services for vulnerable women and children. She wishes to divorce her husband and take full custody of her two children.

Pedro also wishes to divorce Nasra and marry Anna. He has approached one of the top law firms in Nairobi, and brought in the "big guns" to help him win this case. He wishes to keep full custody of his children from his marriage with Nasra and also marry Anna and start a new family with her.

Nasra is worried that she can never win against Pedro and wishes to know how strong Pedro's case and also what the legal status between Anna and Pedro is.

, explain the following issues:

a) Nasra's options in terms of divorce, child custody and maintenance. (10 Marks)

b) The validity of the various unions described in the facts (12 Marks).

c) The procedure that ought to be followed to terminate the unions where the parties no longer wish to remain together. (8 Marks).

 

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

a Nasras Options 1 Divorce Nasra has the option to file for divorce from Pedro due to his infidelity and the breakdown of their marriage She can seek ... View the full answer