[2007] KEHC 3405 (KLR)
The court found that the petitioner had proved, on a balance of probabilities, that the respondent deserted him within the first year of marriage without just cause. The respondent was properly served but failed to respond or contest the petition. The marriage was celebrated in Kenya, and the court had jurisdiction....
Source-derived case information.
- Citation
- [2007] KEHC 3405 (KLR)
- Parties
- Applicant: Allan Mwangi Kamau; Respondent: Theresa Margaret Williams
- Court
- High Court
- Court Station
- High Court at Nairobi (Milimani Law Courts)
- Jurisdiction
- Kenya
- Case Number
- Divorce Cause 157 of 2006
- Procedural Posture
- Divorce Cause / Judgment
- Outcome
- petition allowed; marriage dissolved
- Judges
- JA Aluoch
- Legal Topics
- Divorce, Desertion, Matrimonial Home, Jurisdiction, Service of Process
- Source Language
- en
Source-derived case record
Summary, issues, holding and outcome
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Parties
Allan Mwangi Kamau
Applicant
Theresa Margaret Williams
Respondent
Procedural Posture
Divorce Cause / Judgment
Legal Issues
- 1 Whether the respondent deserted the petitioner without just cause.
- 2 Whether the petitioner is entitled to a decree of divorce on the ground of desertion.
- 3 Whether the court has jurisdiction to entertain the divorce given the domicile and place of marriage.
Ratio Decidendi
The court found that the petitioner had proved, on a balance of probabilities, that the respondent deserted him within the first year of marriage without just cause. The respondent was properly served but failed to respond or contest the petition. The marriage was celebrated in Kenya, and the court had jurisdiction. There was no evidence of collusion or that the petitioner was an accessory to the desertion. Accordingly, the court granted the order for dissolution of the marriage.
Court Disposition
petition allowed; marriage dissolved
Orders
- The marriage between the petitioner and respondent is dissolved.
- Each party shall bear their own expenses.
Full Case Text
Judgment text and source record
21 paragraphs
REPUBLIC OF KENYA IN THE HIGH COURT OF KENYA AT NAIROBI (NAIROBI LAW COURTS) Divorce Cause 157 of 2006
ALLAN KAMAU…………………..…………… PETITIONER
VERSUS
THERESA MARGARET WILLIAMS………RESPONDENT
JUDGMENT
ALLAN MWANGI KAMAU got married to the respondent on 13. 11. 2001, at the Registrar General’s Department in Nairobi, Kenya.
They lived and cohabited in Kenya for 6 months then the couple relocated to Great Britain, where they both live, but separately.
The petitioner recalled that upon arrival between June – July 2002, they set up a home in North London, and the petitioner started looking for a job, which he got, but it was far from home, which meant that he spent a lot of time commuting to and fro.
They lived together for only 3 months when his wife started visiting her old friends, sometimes staying nights out, and ultimately she left the house without saying where she was going to, or when she would return. This was about September 2002.
The respondent wife was of mixed nationality, i.e. half British and half Zimbabwe. The petitioner complained that it is now 6 years since his wife left him. That he saw her briefly at a party in London, but did not talk to her much. That she has never explained why she left the matrimonial home. The couple never had any children.
The petitioner grounded his petition for divorce on “desertion for no just cause”. The petitioner confirmed that the petition is “neither represented nor prosecuted in collusion with the respondent”.
The petitioner produced the marriage certificate in court as an exhibit and stated that he has not been an accessory to the act of desertion by his wife.
The petition and all other documents relating to the divorce were served on the respondent personally on 14th December 2006, at Ukunda in Mombasa – Kenya, but she did not enter appearance or file an answer to the petition. The Deputy Registrar subsequently issued a Certificate to the effect that the suit be heard as “undefended”.
Though the respondent was said to be domiciled and resident in Nairobi, the marriage was conducted here in Kenya, so this court has jurisdiction to entertain the divorce.
From the evidence on record, I am satisfied that the petitioner proved his case on a balance of probabilities that he was deserted by the respondent, within the 1st year of marriage.
As the respondent did not file any answer in this cause, it is not clear why she deserted her husband.
I therefore proceed to grant on order dissolving the marriage between the petitioner and respondent. I order that each party pays their own expenses.
Finally, I direct that the decree nisi do issue today, and the same be made absolute within one month from today.
Dated at Nairobi this 27th day of September, 2007.
JOYCE ALUOCH
JUDGE