They say love is blind. But what they don’t tell you, is that blindness is not permanent. At one point, one partner in the relationship will become ‘woke’. When that time comes, dreams are going to evaporate away, and facts will drop on reality like a sledgehammer to a concrete slab.
A Kenyan High Court has dropped one such fact, to a divorced woman seeking marital-properties split with her ex-husband. A High Court judge in Muranga said spouses are not automatically entitled to half of the marital properties after a divorce.
The judge, Justice Kanyi Kimondo, held that the properties will be shared between the couple based on their contributions towards the acquisition of it. Something that goes against popular men’s horror that “when she leaves, she gone leave with half.” Apparently, not os fast.
The judge ruled that while there will be sharing of properties between the couple after divorce, the sharing will be based on each partner’s contribution in the acquisition. Though Justice Kimondo did acknowledge contributions towards acquisition of properties can be both direct and indirect.
However, any party demanding a share of properties must be able to prove their contributions towards the acquisition or development of properties in question. The judge’s pronouncements were made while delivering a judgment in a matrimonial property case in which former spouses were fighting over the mode of sharing assets.
The plaintiff (woman identified as Ms. PNK) feels shortchanged after being given just their matrimonial home in the divorce settlement. She, however, wants a claim is some of her ex-husband properties; mainly three parcels of land.
Two plots of the land are within the Gakoigo and Ikumbi Township in Muranga, while the third is in North Kinangop in Nyandarua. Ms. PNK said her contributions towards the acquisition of the land were both financial and non-financial. More on this developing story here.