New marriage laws to be enforced by November 1

Church ministers have been given six weeks to renew their licences failure to which they will be barred from conducting marriage ceremonies.

This is one of the requirements contained in the Marriage Act, passed by the National Assembly and assented to by President Kenyatta in April this year.

The church ministers, pastors and priests are also required to return unused and partly used marriage certificate books before being issued with new ones.

Additionally, the church leaders are required to file records of all weddings they have presided over.

They must also return to the Registrar of Marriages all marriage books from which the certificates were taken, then apply for new ones to be used starting November 1, which is the deadline set for compliance with the new requirements, as published by the Attorney-General in a notice on Monday.

“All licensed ministers of faith who fail to fulfil the requirements will have their existing licences cancelled,” the Attorney-General added.

Churches have also been asked to submit authentic records of all marriages that have been scheduled to be conducted before November 1. This should be accompanied by a list of the exact number of marriage certificates to be retained for that purpose.

“The records should be supported by copies of registrar certificates or special licences for the planned marriages,” the AG said in the notice.

Meanwhile, Deputy county commissioners are also required to likewise submit used and partly used marriage certificate books, collect new ones for use from November 1 and submit, to the Registrar, a list of all marriages scheduled before November 1.

People wishing to get married in church will now be required to have the permission of the Registrar of Marriages, who will issue them a certificate or a special licence.

This means a man and a woman intending to marry must give a written notice to the Registrar and to the person in charge of the place where the marriage will be certified.

The notice should be submitted at least 21 days and not more than three months before the ceremony.It should have details about the ages of the man and woman, where they live, their parents’ names and where the parents live,among others.

ALSO READ:
Outrage as MPs vote to protect polygamy