What Kenya’s divorce rates mean
Under scrutiny following data that was published by the Kenya National Statistics Bureau. And while at first glance the number doesn’t seem significant (10,000 cases in 2 years), there’s a reason why it has caused concern within certain circles.
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To understand this we need to understand just how difficult it is for one to initiate and be granted a divorce within Kenya. For starters, you need to notify the authority that you have begun your separation. Which typically lasts 3 years.
And even before then you have to indicate why you seeking a separation and the few reasons deemed as valid or when it involve cruelty (abuse), denial of conjugal rights and abandonment.
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After the three-year mark allowed to officially divorce. Before that, should you remarry,nyou can be charged with the crime of bigamy. And Kenyans being Kenyans, we often elect to take shortcuts rather than do things properly.
So what typically happens is boy meets girl, boy woos girl, they fall in love, get pregnant, have a shotgun wedding only to realise they aren’t compatible. At this juncture what often happens is that they either agree to agree, or agree to disagree on a separation which typically marks the end of their union.
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Both parties go their separate ways and attempt to co-parent with many often failing. So when you hear about a statistic that claims 10,000 divorces in 2 years, that is merely a drop in the ocean. Those are the couples who decided to follow the proper channels perhaps because they intend to marry their new partner or perhaps because they are relocating to a different country.
To draw a parallel that better describes the situation we are discussing, one only has to look at KRA data that claims only 8% of Kenyans are employed and earn 100,000 Kenya shilling per month. That number fails to account for those who have either hassles or businesses that need them more than this. And because KRA is aware that this data does not capture the reality of beings they have decided to begin looking at Mpesa transactions.
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Even anecdotally when you think about it how many couples do you know that were married whether legally or traditionally who have seen split up without going through the proper channels? This data does not bode well for Kenya as a society as it essentially is warning us of the rise of single mother-led households. There is a phrase I’ve grown to appreciate that states “as above so below”/ “Quod est superius est sicut quod inferius”. This time is sensually tells us to look at more developed countries where this single mother household issue is more developed and better studied for us to understand why it portends ill for Kenya.
Check out the data below:
90% of welfare recipients are single mothers
70% of gang members, high school dropouts, teen suicides, teen pregnancies, teenage drug abusers are from single mother households
63% of national suicides are done by individuals who grew up in single-mother homes
90% or runaway children are from single-mother households are from single mother households
85% of children with behavioural disorders are from single-mother households
80% of rapists motivated by displaced anger grew up in single-mother homes
85% of imprisoned youth grew up in single-mother homes
Sources:
https://uaps2015.popconf.org/papers/150595
Safe Harbour
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