Kirisa s/o Kitentera v. Patiri d/o Magesa, (PC) Civ. App. 147-D-66, 7/2/68, Duff J.

Kirisa s/o Kitentera v. Patiri d/o Magesa, (PC) Civ. App. 147-D-66, 7/2/68, Duff J.

Plaintiff sued for custody of two children, claiming them as the issue of his marriage with defendant. The evidence, when the defendant appealed an adverse judgment o the district court, established that plaintiff and defendant had never married, and that defendant was in fact married to plaintiff’s mother i.e according to a custom of the Wangurime people. She alleged that her two children were fathered by her lovers, and it seems not to have been clearly established that plaintiff was the father of either of them. Defendant and plaintiff’s mother are now divorced.

            Held: Since no marriage between plaintiff and defendant ever existed, plaintiff has no right to custody of the children. The Court stated, obiter; if the marriage between the two ladies were still subsisting, some rights of inheritance might eventually benefit the plaintiff; but as the ladies are now divorced, no such question can arise. Plaintiff’s appeal dismissed.