Skip to main contentSkip to footer
Article 45 · Part 2—Rights and fundamental freedoms

Family

In plain English

The family is recognised and protected by the State. Every adult has the right to marry a person of the opposite sex with free consent, and spouses have equal rights. Parliament must recognise marriages under any tradition or religious law, if consistent with the Constitution.

The official text

(1) The family is the natural and fundamental unit of society and the necessary basis of social order, and shall enjoy the recognition and protection of the State.

(2) Every adult has the right to marry a person of the opposite sex, based on the free consent of the parties.

(3) Parties to a marriage are entitled to equal rights at the time of the marriage, during the marriage and at the dissolution of the marriage.

(4) Parliament shall enact legislation that recognises—

(a) marriages concluded under any tradition, or system of religious, personal or family law; and

(b) any system of personal and family law under any tradition, or adhered to by persons professing a particular religion,

to the extent that any such marriages or systems of law are consistent with this Constitution.

Summaries and answers are a plain-English guide written by Iam254, not legal advice. The official text is what counts. Official text: Constitution of Kenya, 2010, Kenya Law (National Council for Law Reporting), legislation as at 3 September 2010. It has not been amended since.