Bound by law, broken by silence: One police officer’s story exposes Kenya’s bigamy dilemma
A police officer. The officer from Kakamega County went to court in 2024 to seek a divorce from his wife, who had fled and entered into another marriage under customary law and stayed in it for four years before it collapsed, and she returned home.
What you need to know:
- A police officer’s eight-year ordeal reveals the emotional toll and legal complexity surrounding bigamy under Kenya’s marriage laws.
- Despite being a criminal offence, bigamy remains underreported, with stigma and legal hurdles keeping many cases hidden.
In 2016, two years after Kenya ushered in the Marriage Act, Siriri* was a happy police officer. He married his sweetheart in a church wedding in Kakamega County. But just four months later, before they had fully enjoyed the sweetness of their honeymoon together, he was transferred to Nairobi, while his wife chose to remain in their rural home.
She was tending their farm, and because he had left during the rainy season, he continued to send money home for her upkeep and to support maize farming. Then, in the third month of living apart, he called to check in on her. She informed him that she had travelled to her parents’ home to take a break from the demanding farm work.
That was the last he heard of her. “She never returned,” recalls the now senior police officer. “I made countless trips to her home to try and bring my wife back, but I always returned in tears. Her family would threaten to beat me, but I kept going back. We had married in church and vowed to stay together, how could she just desert me like that?”
For the next eight years, Siriri says he lived in loneliness, bound by a law he knew he could not break: bigamy. Yet, during that time, his wife entered into another marriage under customary law and stayed in it for four years before it collapsed, and she returned home.
“I enforce the law. I knew I could be jailed if I married another woman,” he says. “But she went ahead and got married. I did not want the shame of confronting her or reporting the matter because I’m a police officer. I just waited for seven years to elapse.”
In 2024, in what marked the eighth year since their separation, he finally went to court to seek a divorce. Among the grounds he cited were denial of conjugal rights, intimidation, and the unilateral removal of matrimonial property. Once the divorce was granted, he was free to remarry. He has since entered into a civil marriage and now has a child.
The bigamy numbers
Siriri’s reluctance to report his wife’s second marriage reflects a broader pattern: The stigma surrounding bigamy may explain why so few cases are formally reported, despite the offence being classified by the National Police Service as a crime against morality.
Data from the Economic Survey shows fluctuating trends over the past five years. In 2022, the highest number of cases involving women was recorded, with 18 reported instances compared to three involving men. In 2024, the numbers were nearly equal, with 13 cases involving women and 10 involving men.
In 2025, eight cases were reported, split evenly between men and women. Overall, 2021 recorded the highest number of bigamy cases at 99 (73 men and 26 women), followed by 2024 and 2022. The lowest was in 2023, with 17 cases (15 men and two women).
But what exactly constitutes bigamy?
Under Section 171 of the Penal Code (Cap 63), a person commits the offence of bigamy if they go through a marriage ceremony that is rendered void because it takes place while their spouse is still alive. The offence is classified as a felony and carries a penalty of up to five-year imprisonment.
However, bigamy does not apply to all types of marriages. Eric Mukoya, an experienced lawyer and executive director of the Undugu Society of Kenya, explains that bigamy is only applicable in monogamous unions, namely Christian, Hindu, or civil marriages as recognised under the Marriage Act (2014).
Marriages conducted under customary or Islamic law are presumed to be polygamous or potentially polygamous. As such, entering into another union under these systems does not constitute bigamy.
While the Marriage Act does not explicitly define bigamy in the same way as the Penal Code, it prohibits entering into a new marriage while still legally married under a monogamous system. It also underscores the importance of registration in recognising a union.
Section 86 of the Marriage Act provides that any person who makes a false statement in a notice of intention to marry or in an objection to a marriage commits an offence and is liable, upon conviction, to imprisonment for up to two years, a fine not exceeding Sh2 million, or both. However, a person is not guilty if they had reasonable grounds to believe the statement was true at the time.
So what recourse does someone have if they discover they were married to a person already in a legally recognised union? Eric explains that the burden of proof lies with the accuser. “You must provide a marriage certificate to show that a valid marriage existed and evidence that there was no divorce, typically a decree absolute,” he says.
The accuser must also demonstrate that the other party entered into a subsequent marriage. This can be proven through official records from the Attorney General’s office or evidence of a wedding ceremony, such as testimony from a religious officiant.
Where to report
Although bigamy is defined in criminal law, in practice, the cases are pursued through civil proceedings. Eric says a complainant can file a case at the Family Division of the High Court seeking remedies such as nullification of the second marriage.
In addition, he advises that individuals can seek records or verification of marriages from the Office of the Attorney General and Registrar of Marriages, which can be crucial in gathering evidence. Because of the legal complexity and evidentiary burden, lawyers advise the aggrieved to seek legal counsel before initiating proceedings.
Stigma remains a major barrier. “There is a lot of stigma attached to bigamy,” Eric notes. “People often choose to live with it rather than expose themselves to public scrutiny.”
*Name changed to protect privacy.
