God's Favorite @feddiewangara27 - Twitter Profile

6 months ago

🔴🔴COURT OF APPEAL SPEAKS: YOU CANNOT KEEP A CHILD FROM A SURVIVING PARENT IN THE NAME OF DOWRY, CULTURE OR TRADITION Across Kenya, many fathers and mothers are silently suffering; locked out of their own children after the death of a spouse, told to first pay dowry, perform cultural rites, or satisfy family demands before being allowed to raise their own child. In Faith Githongo & Another v Oscar Githanji Mburu (Court of Appeal, Nyeri, 2026), the Court of Appeal of Kenya has now given new hope to parents facing this painful reality. After the child’s mother died during childbirth, the maternal grandparents took custody and later refused to release the child to her biological father, demanding dowry and fulfilment of customary practices. The father went to court, and the Court of Appeal stood firmly on the side of parental rights and the best interests of the child. The Court delivered a powerful message: keeping a child away from a surviving parent in the name of culture, dowry, or tradition is unlawful. The judges emphasized that the Constitution and the Children Act place primary responsibility on biological parents, whether married or not. The Court rejected arguments that the grandparents had stayed longer with the child, that the father had remarried, or that cultural requirements had not been met. The Court was clear: a child is not a bargaining chip, not cultural property, and not a tool for enforcing dowry obligations. Unless there is proof that a parent is unfit, the surviving parent has the first and strongest right to raise their child. This judgment now stands as a beacon of hope for parents locked out of their children by extended family members. It also sends a firm warning to grandparents and relatives: holding onto a child and imposing cultural or dowry demands is not tradition; it is illegality. The Court has made it clear that love for a child must not turn into control, and family support must not become obstruction. For parents going through this struggle, the message is powerful and reassuring: there is a legal path, there is protection under the law, and the courts are ready to restore children to their rightful parents. Please retweet widely.

AssociatesRoba's tweet photo. 🔴🔴COURT OF APPEAL SPEAKS: YOU CANNOT KEEP A CHILD FROM A SURVIVING PARENT IN THE NAME OF DOWRY, CULTURE OR TRADITION

Across Kenya, many fathers and mothers are silently suffering; locked out of their own children after the death of a spouse, told to first pay dowry, perform cultural rites, or satisfy family demands before being allowed to raise their own child. In Faith Githongo & Another v Oscar Githanji Mburu (Court of Appeal, Nyeri, 2026), the Court of Appeal of Kenya has now given new hope to parents facing this painful reality. After the child’s mother died during childbirth, the maternal grandparents took custody and later refused to release the child to her biological father, demanding dowry and fulfilment of customary practices. The father went to court, and the Court of Appeal stood firmly on the side of parental rights and the best interests of the child.

The Court delivered a powerful message: keeping a child away from a surviving parent in the name of culture, dowry, or tradition is unlawful. The judges emphasized that the Constitution and the Children Act place primary responsibility on biological parents, whether married or not. The Court rejected arguments that the grandparents had stayed longer with the child, that the father had remarried, or that cultural requirements had not been met. The Court was clear: a child is not a bargaining chip, not cultural property, and not a tool for enforcing dowry obligations. Unless there is proof that a parent is unfit, the surviving parent has the first and strongest right to raise their child.

This judgment now stands as a beacon of hope for parents locked out of their children by extended family members. It also sends a firm warning to grandparents and relatives: holding onto a child and imposing cultural or dowry demands is not tradition; it is illegality. The Court has made it clear that love for a child must not turn into control, and family support must not become obstruction. For parents going through this struggle, the message is powerful and reassuring: there is a legal path, there is protection under the law, and the courts are ready to restore children to their rightful parents.

Please retweet widely.

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