BMT v MWM (Divorce Cause E082 of 2025) [2026] KEMC 1003 (KLR) (6 October 2026) (Judgment) Neutral citation: [2026] KEMC 1003 (KLR) REPUBLIC OF KENYA IN THE NAKURU LAW COURTS DIVORCE CAUSE E082 OF 2025 PA NDEGE, SPM OCTOBER 6, 2026 BETWEEN BMT .......................................................................................................... PETITIONER AND MWM ..................................................................................................... RESPONDENT JUDGMENT 1 1. This is a petition for divorce led by the petitioner dated May, 20251. The ground for divorce in terms of the petition is cruelty. Particulars of the said cruelty were given in the petition. The respondent was served, but neither entered appearance, nor led an answer to the petition. Therefore the petition was certied as undefended and to proceed to hearing as an undefended cause. 2. At the hearing of the petition on 02/10/2025 only the petitioner B.T. gave evidence. It was his testimony that he started cohabiting as husband and wife with the respondent for 4 years when the marriage irretrievably broke down culminating in a separation in the year 2024. That he is aware that the respondent has since moved on and is in another romantic relationship. That he has also relocated to the United States in search of greener pastures but his home remains in Nakuru where they have their residence. That during the subsistence of the marriage and at all material times the Respondent conducted herself totally against the morals and dictates of a wife as required of her by tradition, conscience, religion and the Marriage law. That she did not share household expenses at any point with him during the subsistence of the marriage and as a result he had to bear the nancial burden all by himself. That their marriage before the separation was characterized by acts of cruelty by the respondent with the result that the said marriage irretrievably broke down. 3. He asks for a presumption of the marriage and a divorce. Let me start by saying that there is no need to presume a marriage just for purposes of dissolving it. Presumption are meant to achieve a specic Sic https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/kemc/2026/1003/eng@2026-10-06 1
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purpose such as in matrimonial or succession causes. Presumption will serve no purpose if its aim is to dissolve a marriage. What is the essence of presuming a marriage and at the same time dissolving it. I nd a period of four years not that long, and given the evidence adduced by the petitioner herein, I nd no quality in the short period that the parties herein cohabited to make me presume a marriage, even though such a presumption shall still serve no purpose herein. 4. I just nd no marriage to have existed between the parties herein and as such nd no need to presume and then dissolve any. The upshot is that the petition herein is hereby dismissed as unnecessary and the parties to continue as unmarried, for there was no marriage recognized by our law, i.e. Christian, Muslim, Hindu, customary or civil, that existed between the parties herein. In Kenya, it is only those kinds of marriages that can legally be dissolved. 5. The petitioner to bear the costs of the proceedings. DATED AND DELIVERED VIRTUALLY AT NAKURU THIS 06TH DAY OF OCTOBER 2026. ALOYCE-PETER-NDEGE SENIOR PRINCIPAL MAGISTRATE In the presence of; Petitioner’s Counsel: N/A Petitioner: N/A https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/kemc/2026/1003/eng@2026-10-06 2
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