A child custody battle between a Kenyan woman and his ex-British police lover has been ruled in favour of the mother as the appeal continues.
Mombasa High Court judge John Onyiego on Friday awarded temporal custody of the three-year-old boy to the mother who resides in Kenya while the father resides in the UK but comes to Kenya often.
He is a former senior Scotland Yard officer.
The High court in its directive said that the mother has more rights to be with the boy and asked he be returned to the mother’s custody until her appeal is heard and determined.
This ruling overturned an earlier ruling by a lower court that had granted the British man custody of their son.
“The applicant, DW, to hand over the child to the respondent XY. The respondent to deposit her passport and that of the child before Monday. Children’s officer Mvita Sub-county to file a report indicating the suitability of the mother to live with the child and the status of the child,” said Justice Onyiego according to the Standard.
The Kenyan woman moved to the Mombasa High Court seeking orders to compel the Briton to desist from registering their three-year-old son as a UK citizen.
The woman says that should this happen, the man who is a former senior police boss for Surrey County will use their son to claim child benefit from the British government.
She said that the estranged boyfriend has been adamant on this in a bid to get money since he allegedly squandered his wealth on “women in Uganda and Kenya” and now works as a security and terrorism consultant in Afghanistan.
“Registration of our son is only aimed to benefit the man who is now retired and will therefore be paid handsomely by the British Government,” she told Justice Onyiego in December 2020..
However, the man defended himself against these accusations telling the court that all he wants is give their son the best.
He also said that the Kenyan woman is opposing this so that she can continue “milking him of child support” adding that he already bought her a house in Mombasa worth Ksh11 million.
“She regards the child as her lifetime ATM and is fearful he may be taken from her,” he said in a rejoinder.
In his Friday ruling, Justice Onyiego also asked the mother to deposit her passport and that of her son with the court by Monday until the case is heard and determined.
He told the parents to stop using the young boy to settle their differences.
