June 29 - 30. Spousal Property Rights

On Tuesday and Wednesday of this week I attended two seminars put on by WiLDAF on the Property Rights of Spouses Bill, which is currently before Parliament. The aim of both seminars was to educate people about the Bill, and to seek their feedback, which would be collected and passed on to Parliament. On Tuesday the seminar was attended by queenmothers, who are traditional female leaders – although not chiefs – in their local communities. On Wednesday the seminar was repeated for the benefit of artists and members of the actors guild.

The Bill itself is a very progressive piece of legislation which would grant a presumption that joint marital property should be divided 50/50 upon dissolution of marriage. It’s also controversial in that it applies to cohabiting couples, so long as they have lived together in a marriage-like relationship for at least five years. Another interesting aspect of the Bill is that it includes a formula for divvying up property in polygamous marriages, which are still very much legal – although increasingly less common – if the marriage is performed according to customary or Islamic law.