Increasing rates of divorce in Africa, a call for concern

By Nambu Bernadette Franka

Divorce also known as dissolution of marriage is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. It usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the bonds of matrimony between a married couple under the rule of law of the particular country or state.

In 2018, Cameroon Demographic and Health Survey-Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys indicated that 6% of Cameroonian couples were divorced. The increasing rate of divorce in recent times is said to be an intricate incident happening among couples, case of Africa.

In Cameroon, spouses get married today and tomorrow, they are up on social media seeking separation. Sometimes, people take it as a trend to get more followers and fans.

No spouse is said to have the right to deny the other divorce in Cameroon if there is sufficient evidence that the marriage has broken down and is irretrievable. The right to grant or refuse the grant of divorce lies exclusively with the judge, CNA findings say.

The Brookman, the Family Firm for Family Law stated that Cameroon derives largely from the French legal system. They say it is also influenced to a degree by English common law. “The laws relating to divorce are set out in the Civil Code, but Cameroon is almost unique in recognizing customs of the country – legal cases in many areas may be decided using local custom handed down through the generations. In practice therefore there is a ‘dual’ legal system: Divorce and other family law disputes may often be decided using ‘native law’ in conjunction with the Civil Code,”.

According to the Kindsmen Advocates Law Firm, the clauses to file for a divorce in Cameroon is contained in S. 1(a-e) of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, which states that one of the spouses must have committed adultery and the other finds that act intolerable to continue in the marriage thus a divorce in Cameroon is the only option. “Adultery is voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and someone other than the person’s spouse. The proof of adultery is very difficult as the act that constitutes adultery is done in the most secret of places. It is in fact, the most discreet of human activities. Except in very rare cases, the parties are hardly caught in the act. The court entertaining a divorce in Cameroon,”.

“Secondly, Since the marriage, one of the spouses may have behaved in such a way that the other spouse cannot reasonably be expected to continue in the marriage, and as such a divorce in Cameroon is the only option. Thirdly, Desertion of one of the spouses for a continuous period of two years immediately preceding the presentation of the petition. Fourthly, the spouses have lived apart for a continuous period of two years immediately before the petition and the other spouse consented to a divorce in Cameroon lastly, the parties to the marriage have lived apart for a continuous period of 5 years immediately preceding the presentation of the petition,” the Act reads.

Asanji Yvette, a Relationship and Marriage Counselor, threw more light on the reasons why couples can be forced to separate after marriage.

“Marriage is bound to crash when people rush into marriage without proper courtship. Courtship should not be less than 6 months, not more than a year. Most marriages crash because people get married without a purpose, because of peer pressure, infidelity, physical, verbal abuse, or incompatibility, here, the couples turn a blind eye to the weaknesses they ignored while together because of the excitement of marriage, after marriage, there is bound to be regrets. There is this saying, it is better to have a broken relationship, than a broken marriage,” she told CNA.

She further added that; “Poor communication and ego kill marriages, couples acuminate conflicts with no one wanting to apologize and accept blame. Finances too remain a key reason why we have high divorce rates. Both should agree and be on the same level of saving and spending. Getting married without setting bounders with external and third-party interference can break the marriage and religious differences,”. 

According to Barrister Henriette Njang, the required documents to be prepared and filed in court to kick-start the procedure for divorce in Cameroon are a copy of the divorce petition which shall contain the reasons sought in the, verifying affidavit, which is a statement on oath confirming the facts contained in the petition and certificate of reconciliation which must state that attempts to reconcile the parties has failed.

“These documents must be served on the respondent personally by a bailiff so as to give him/her an opportunity to deny or admit the divorce before the court can make an order nisi, order absolute and thereafter issue a Certificate of Divorce with a detailed Judgement,” she said.

Futurity report from McGill University indicated that a new study, however, finds that divorce rates across 20 African countries over the past 20 years have remained stable or declined.

However, they say for several countries such as Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe, the risk of divorce has remained remarkably constant over the last 20 years while there has been about a 10-percentage-point decline in divorce in Benin, Ghana, and Niger and smaller reductions in divorce in Liberia, Malawi, Namibia, Senegal, Togo, and Zambia. They further state a substantial variation in the risk of divorce within the first 20 years of marriage, ranging from 6.9 percent in Mali to 47.1 percent in Congo (Brazzaville).

According to the Australian Family Lawyers, not only did the Maldives have the highest divorce rate in the world in 2021, but it also has the highest divorce rate of any country of time in history. They were said to have been awarded a Guinness World Record for the highest divorce rate on record in 2002, with 10.97 divorces per 1,000 Maldivians.