Leornard Makenya v. Nimwinda d/o Pue, (PC) Civ. App. 46-A-66, 15/9/67, Platt J.

Leornard Makenya v. Nimwinda d/o Pue, (PC) Civ. App. 46-A-66, 15/9/67, Platt J.

Defendant appealed from an award to plaintiff of Shs. 55/- for loss of virginity, Shs. 40/- for maintenance during pregnancy and Shs. 8/- the customary payment of Izoka. There was evidence that plaintiff had begun to have sexual relations with defendant in May 1965 after he had promises to marry her. A child was born the following December. The court did not identify the customary law to be applied.

            Held: (1) The claim for maintenance during pregnancy was brought under paragraph 189 of the Declaration of Customary Law (G.N. 279 of 1963). (2) Therefore, paragraph 183 of the Declaration which provides that a man whom a woman names as the father of her child may not deny paternity unless he proves he had no sexual intercourse with her, is applicable. (3) Paragraph 186 of the Declaration, which requires the woman to prove that the intercourse took place, is inapplicable because it only applies if the man insists he never had intercourse with the woman and produces evidence to that effect. (4) The evidence of paternity satisfied paragraph 185 of the Declaration, which states

That the period during which conception could have taken place is considered to last two months, i.e. to seven months before the birth. (5) The claims for loss of virginity and Izoka were properly brought, as the case was in the nature of a suit for breach of promise of marriage.