THE MARRIAGE BILL: AN ANSWER TO THE FAITHFULS IN MARRIAGE

In February this year, the parliament passed the new Malawi Marriage, Divorce and Family Relations
Bill which among other issues listed a number of offences and punishments one will get if he or she commits these offences.

The bill recognized Malawi as a country that has four types of marriages; Civil Marriages, Customary Marriages, Religious Marriages and lastly Marriages by repute or permanent cohabitation which means a couple has not undergone any of the three marriages but are nevertheless regarded as married as explained in part 2.2 of the marriage bill. Marriages validly conducted in another country that is linked to one or both spouses are also recognized in Malawi.

Answering the question that has for sometime now caused controversies in the country, the marriage bill has clearly defined Marriage as a relationship between two people of the opposite sex who are in or want to enter into a marriage defiling homosexual marriages in Malawi.

What is so interesting about this marriage bill is that, if put into action it will help end the cases of gender based violence and bring back home the spouses who have gone astray by forgetting their roles in marriage.

If faithful troubled married people in Malawi will take their time to read, understand and put into action the new rules of marriage, it will empower them and in the process bring back their spouses on track and drag any marriage destroyer to prison.

Some of the offences related to marriage that the bill has created are; A person who has entered into a civil marriage shall commit an offence of bigamy if he or she gets married to more than one spouse. The punishment is a fine of Mk100 000 and 5 years imprisonment. An unmarried person who enters into a civil marriage with a person he or she knows to be already married commits an offence punishable by  a fine of MK100 000 and 12 months imprisonment. A person who pretends to be another person in entering into a marriage or who marries under a false name or description in order to deceive the other spouse shall be guilty of an offence punishable by a fine of MK100 000 and 5 years imprisonment and a person who goes into a marriage ceremony well knowing that the marriage is invalid on any ground, but where the other spouse actually thinks that the marriage is valid commits an offence punishable by a fine of MK100 000 and 5 years imprisonment.

The bill also includes other offences for the third parties which I personally think will put a stop to the many problems in marriage that have been caused by relatives of the married couple. The bill recognizes that it is an offence punishable by a fine of MK100 000 and 12 months imprisonment for a person to use his or her influence as  a close relation to a spouse to cause a breakdown of a marriage relationship between spouses, to prompt any conduct by one or both spouses that can negatively affect their marriage relationship, to cause a spouse to withhold maintenance or support from other spouses and finally to influence a marriage relationship to deteriorate or fall.