A Kenyan woman and her estranged boyfriend, a British citizen are embroiled in a bitter child custody case lodged with the Mombasa High Court.
The Kenyan woman moved to 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 according to the Standard.
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 according to the Standard.
The case moved to the High Court after the Children’s Court in Tononka ordered the woman to allow the Briton to see his son. The court also stopped the woman from selling their family home and cease insulting the man.
Tononoka Resident Magistrate LK Sindani in November directed the woman to provide the boy’s birth certificate to the father to enable him register as a British citizen and also secure an Irish passport for him.
When the case moved to the Mombasa High Court on December 1, a warrant of arrest had been issued against the woman for contempt of court.
The two men in Diani in 2016 and in 2017, the son was born but the Briton filed a case in court seeking custody of their son in 2019. It is not clear why they fell out.
In an affidavit filed with the court, the woman said she was not able to hand over the birth certificate of her son to the Briton because the documents disappeared mysteriously.
The Briton in a replying affidavit told the court that his son risks ‘poor upbringing’ as her mother leaves him under the care of his aunties and leaves for nights on account of looking for money.
He added that the Kenyan woman “operates at least 12 phones to facilitate her relationships with men, and she is unable to secure answers on any of them.”
However, the woman told the court that her baby’s father was promiscuous and even slept with her relatives, including her sister.
