A man got the shock of his life when a High Court judge ruled that his wife of 22 years and mother of his three children was not his wife.

The family had lived happily until December 2020 when the woman moved to the US for greener pastures.

She however did not wish to return to Kenya, a decision that frustrated her husband.

He therefore decided to move to court to end the union.

A lower court was the first to find that there was evidence that the two were married, even though the man claimed that they married in a Luo traditional ceremony.

Dissatisfied with the verdict, the man appealed before the High Court judge Justice Helene Namisi.

He was disappointed again when Justice Namisi ruled that although he banked on Luo customary rites to claim the marriage, there was no evidence that all the marriage formalities were concluded.

Justice Namisi further observed that he needed to call experts on Luo customs as witnesses, or those who witnessed the ceremony, or those who presided over the rituals.

Justice Namisi adviced that once a couple completes customary rituals, in six months they should apply to the registrar of marriages to legalise their union.

“Having overlooked the aspect of registration of his customary marriage, the appellant was locked out from seeking a dissolution of whatever nature of union he shared with the respondent,” she said.

Owing to the huge number of Kenyan adults married customarily, strict adherence to the law would mean that most unions would not be recognized.