Kenyan Women Applaud The President For Legalizing Polygamy

Uhuru Kenyatta, Kenya’s President has signed into law a controversial marriage bill legalizing polygamy in the country. This comes at a time when women had complained and even protested against the shortage of men in the country to get them pregnant. The situation was so head-breaking that a good number of Kenyan women matched with placards to show the dissatisfaction of not being able to get men to satisfy them. Note here that Kenya is one of the African nations that the number of women is five (5) times more than the number of men. And as such, they viewed the law of one man marrying only one woman as old and outdated. Following the law left many women without men in their lives.

By legalizing polygamy in Kenya, the president brings civil law, where a man was only allowed one wife, into line with customary law, where some cultures allow multiple partners. This is to say that with this law in place, one man can get married to as many wives as possible, saving women the stress of remaining single all their lives. However, it should be noted that women have received this message of legalizing polygamy with mixed feelings. That is, the already married women turn not to be happy while the single ladies sing praises to the president for his kind gesture. Controversy surrounded an amendment to this bill, supported by many male MPs, allowing men to take more wives without necessarily consulting their existing spouses.