Rift over Bill on forfeiture of late spouse's property upon remarriage
The National Assembly. A human rights organisation has called on MPs to make changes to the Law of Succession (Amendment) Bill, 2023, saying it discourages widows and widowers from remarrying.
What you need to know:
- A human rights organisation has called on the National Assembly to make changes to the Law of Succession (amendment) Bill, 2023, saying it discourages widows and widowers from remarrying.
- The Bill, which is before Parliament, seeks to eliminate discrimination against widows, as they lose life interest in their husbands’ property upon remarriage whereas widowers do not.
A human rights organisation has called on the National Assembly to make changes to the Law of Succession (amendment) Bill, 2023, saying it discourages widows and widowers from remarrying.
The Bill, which is before Parliament, seeks to eliminate discrimination against widows, as they lose life interest in their husbands’ property upon remarriage whereas widowers do not.
Ripples International, a non-governmental organisation based in Meru, last year successfully petitioned the High Court to declare sections of the Succession Act unconstitutional as it discriminates against gender, ethnicity and region.
The High Court agreed with Ripples International and declared sections 35 and 36 of the Act unconstitutional for denying a woman the right to her late husband's estate if she remarries.
“…any provision that undermines the right of a party to marry or to equality of party to a marriage, by treating one party differently, contravenes the Constitution,” the organisation argues.
The amendment Bill states: “…the whole residue of the net intestate estate shall, on the death or re-marriage of the surviving spouse, devolve upon the surviving child, if there be only one or be equally divided among the surviving children.”
Forfeiture
This means a widow or widower, who remarries must forfeit property that was left by the deceased spouse without a will.
But speaking to Nation.Africa, Ripples International lawyer John Baidoo, himself a human rights advocate, lauded the move to amend the Act but faulted the inclusion of the clause “that strips a widow or widower of their property if they remarry”.
“When we went to court, we were fighting discrimination based on gender because the current Act is biased against the widow. Instead of expunging the entire clause, they included the widower. If a widow or widower will lose their property upon remarriage offends their right to marriage as provided for in the Constitution,” Mr Baidoo said.
He said if the Amendment Bill goes through, it will encourage consensual or come-we-stay unions among widows and widowers.
“As per this law, staying single after the death of a spouse becomes a precondition to retaining one's own acquired assets. It will encourage asset stripping and state sanctioned evictions of widows or widowers from their own property just because they exercised their right to remarry,” he added.
He further said the Bill, if passed, “has the potential of grooming entitled children”.
“This portion of the Bill should be expunged and totally erased because it is unconstitutional,” Mr Baidoo said.
dmuchui@ke.nationmedia.com
