244. Article 45(4) requires Parliament to enact laws that recognize marriages concluded under any tradition, or system of religious, personal or family law; and 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. Rights of women 245. The issue of rights of women to property and in particular, land has been a contentious issue for many years in Kenya. However, the Constitution of Kenya, 2010 now prohibits discrimination of any individual on any grounds. Article 60 provides that the principles of land policies shall include the elimination of gender discrimination in law, customs and practices related to land and property in land. Article 45(3) of the Constitution guarantees both parties equal rights in marriage. The same situation is reflected in Section 3 of the Marriage Act 2014. The Act provides for registration of customary marriages and recognition of polygamous marriages. 246. The National Land Policy seeks to ensure that laws are enacted to protect the land rights of women, and existing laws that discriminate against women in relation to land are repealed. Indeed the Land Act (No. 12 of 2012) and the Land Registration Act (No. 3 of 2012) increase women’s access to land ownership and use, through inheritance and through personal acquisition. Customs and practices that discriminate against women are outlawed. Provision is made for land to be registered jointly in the names of husbands and wives, and for both partners to give consent before land is sold. This is reinforced by the provisions of the Matrimonial Property Act, 2013. 247. The Matrimonial Property Act has drawn criticism from human rights organizations and the women themselves as being discriminatory against women and a retrogressive step for women's rights to land and property in Kenya. The Act defines matrimonial property as only property that is jointly owned by the spouses, and disallows women the right to property upon the death or divorce by requiring them to prove their contribution to the acquisition of the property during the marriage. The fact that few Kenyan women own or jointly own property with their spouses, and given that many Kenyan women do not work in paid employment, many are unable to contribute financially in the acquisition of matrimonial property. In effect the Act strips women of rights to family property, including the matrimonial homes if they are unable to prove financial contribution. This is unconstitutional in that the Constitution does not talk of contribution but gives equality to both the man and the woman, during and after dissolution of marriage. 248. Despite the eagerness with which the Kenyan women waited for the Marriage Act, it contains a provision that formally permits polygamy, but omits the critical long existing cultural context that permitted first wives to weigh in or veto a husband’s choice. In effect, the new clause permits men in Kenya to take as many wives as they desire without the existing wife’s consent, violating the Constitutional guarantees on equality and undermining the rights of women. A lot of women view the concept of polygamy under the Marriage Act as extremely demeaning to Kenyan women and waters down the gains the country has made against inequality. Both the Marriage Act and the Matrimonial Property Act have been criticized as retrogressive in nature and in clear violation of Kenya Constitution, 2010, which gives significant prominence to human rights and international law, and entrenches the rights and fundamental freedoms of all, including the right to equality and freedom from discrimination. They are also contrary to Kenya’s legal obligations embodied in regional and 54