Kenyan Marathoner Granted Divorce After 15-Year Marriage Breakdown
“This court cannot compel parties who are no longer comfortable in a marriage to continue in a failed relationship. For these reasons, I declare the marriage between the couple dissolved.”
A Kenyan international marathoner, SJC, breathed a sigh of relief after an Eldoret court granted her the divorce she sought from her estranged husband of 15 years.
The retired athlete and mother of four was officially allowed to part ways with MB, also a former marathoner, after the court determined that their marriage had “irretrievably broken down.”
The couple had married on January 30, 2008, under the Marriage Act, Cap 150, which has since been repealed. In her divorce petition, filed before Eldoret Principal Magistrate Peter Ireri, SJC accused her husband of cruelty and adultery. She alleged that MB had engaged in extramarital affairs with multiple women and had been physically, emotionally, and verbally abusive, particularly when intoxicated.
SJC further claimed that her husband had abandoned her and their children at their matrimonial home, despite several attempts to reconcile. “Our marriage of 15 years has irretrievably broken down, with no chance of revival, given that we have both moved on with our respective lives,” she stated in her affidavit.
MB did not contest the petition and did not file a response, leaving the court to decide the outcome.
In his ruling, Magistrate Ireri acknowledged the breakdown of the marriage, stating, “I am satisfied that SJC and MB have proven the grounds for divorce under section 65 of the Act. The marriage has irretrievably broken down, and it would be fair and just to dissolve it.”
The magistrate further added, “This court cannot compel parties who are no longer comfortable in a marriage to continue in a failed relationship. For these reasons, I declare the marriage between the couple dissolved.”
The ruling marked the official end of the couple’s marriage, providing SJC with the closure she had sought.
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