Supreme Court imposes restriction on polygamy

The Supreme Court has imposed a restriction on polygamy by establishing that if a man wishes to take an additional spouse, it must require testimony from his existing spouse to ascertain he spends on the spouse and/or children he already has.

The Supreme Court, in a circular it issued this Monday, stated that it had noticed that some of the courts currently did not take statements from the existing spouse before granting requests to take additional spouses.

It said that some of the courts were automatically establishing that the man regularly spent on his existing spouses and children based solely on the lack of existence of a record of expenditure at the courts, and was foregoing the requirement for a statement from the existing spouse before granting requests to take additional spouses.

The Supreme Court established that the courts must take statements from existing spouses to ascertain the man spends on his existing spouses and children before granting requests for polygamy.

The courts stopped enforcing its previous policy of informing and obtaining statements from existing spouses before granting requests to take additional spouses in 2017.