Steps to Registration of Customary Marriages in Kenya

A customary marriage is one that is conducted in accordance
with the customs of communities of either both or one of the
parties to the marriage. Registration of customary marriages in
Kenya is governed by the Marriage (Customary Marriage)
Rules, 2017, under the Marriage Act. These rules were effected
by Gazette Notice Number 5345 issued on the 9th June 2017.
The Gazette Notice required that all customary marriages be
registered from the 1st of August 2017. There are two sets of
customary marriages i.e. existing customary marriages
conducted before 1st August 2017 and new customary
marriages conducted after 1st August 2017.

1. Existing customary marriages
Parties who were already married prior to the gazette notice
are only required to register the marriage and be furnished
with a marriage certificate. Both parties have to appear before
the Registrar, who conducts an interview to ascertain the
legality of the marriage and whether both parties are
consenting adults. An application for registration is made in a
prescribed form and is accompanied by a letter of confirmation
from the Chief of the area where the marriage ceremony took
place. The form includes a declaration that neither of the
parties is underage, that they freely consented to the marriage,
that none of them was in a subsisting civil, Christian, Hindu or
Islamic marriage and that there is no impediment prohibiting
the marriage. The requisite fees for registration of an existing
customary marriage is Kshs. 3900. The Registrar then issues a
Certificate of Customary Marriage under the prescribed form,
after conducting any further investigations where necessary.
Both parties have to make a physical appearance before the
Registrar and cannot be represented.

2. New customary marriages
Parties who wish to contract customary marriages after the
commencement date, are required to notify the Registrar of
their status as husband and wife within three (3) months of
completion of the relevant customary rites. The notification is
made in a prescribed form setting out particulars such as the
community under whose customary law the marriage was
conducted, the date of the marriage, the location at which the
customary marriage was conducted, the particulars of the
couples parents as well as the their occupation. Similarly,
parties have to appear before the Registrar in person together
with their witnesses who are required to make a declaration.
The notice is to be accompanied by passport size photos of the
parties and copies of the witnesses’ national identity cards.

Display of the notice
The Registrar then displays the notice in a conspicuous place
within the premises, for a period of fourteen (14) days. This is
meant to invite any person with an objection to the proposed
registration, to notify the Registrar and provide grounds of
objection within that period.

Issuance of an Acknowledgement Certificate
After the expiry of fourteen (14) days, if no objection has been
filed, or where any objections filed have been considered and
dealt with by the Registrar, the Registrar issues to the parties
an Acknowledgement Certificate in the prescribed form.

Application for registration
Once the parties have been issued with an Acknowledgement
Certificate, they can then apply for registration of the
marriage. Application for registration is made in the
prescribed form and should be accompanied with a copy of
the Acknowledgment Certificate. It includes a declaration that
neither of the parties is underage, that they freely consented to
the marriage, that none of them was in a subsisting civil,
Christian, Hindu or Islamic marriage and that there is no
impediment prohibiting the marriage. On the day of
application for registration, parties have to appear before the
Registrar accompanied by their witnesses. The total requisite
fees for registration of a new customary marriage is Kshs. 3900.

Registration
The Registrar then considers the application made and issues
a Certificate of Customary Marriage under the prescribed
form, after conducting any further investigations where
necessary.