Infidelity, not finances, tore marriage apart, Justice Isaac Lenaola says

Justice Isaac Lenaola [PHOTO: BONIFACE OKENDO/STANDARD]

In 2012, Justice Isaac Lenaola heard a case in which a man had filed for divorce, claiming his marriage had turned sour over finances.

He had further alleged that he was kicked out of his matrimonial home but upon the intervention of a marriage counsellor, he was allowed back.

The judge also heard that problems in his home persisted until he finally decided to move to a rented house before ultimately leaving the country.

He also narrated to the court how his estranged wife caused him constant embarrassment by calling his workplace.

The man's defence clearly asserted, "As  a result of the above actions, the petitioner has lost the desire to be with his wife and harbours no love for her since she also exhibits no love for him."

His wife responded, arguing that she was not the problem and he was to blame.

The court heard that although the marriage was tumultuous, it was not caused by financial difficulties but by the fact that the man had a drinking habit that kept him out of the house for days.

She refuted her husband's claims that he was kicked out of the house and instead told the court that he left out of his own free will and went to stay with another woman.

"The petitioner lost fire and love for the respondent and started courting other women. I say so because when a married man begins communicating with other women on short message service (SMS) and specifically calls them 'my love', his wife is entitled to suspicion of infidelity if she discovers such matters," the judge noted.

Justice Lenoala found the man left his home voluntarily and that the admission of infidelity in the marriage was a reason to dissolve the marriage.

"The petitioner has not denied that when he moved from his matrimonial house, he soon thereafter moved in with his girlfriend. Obviously the relationship between him and the girlfriend did not begin after he left his home to go and co-habit with another," the judge said.