A Kakamega magistrate's court has given Salim Mvurya, the Cabinet Secretary for Mines, Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs, two months to settle a child support case with his daughter Yvonne Omanzi.
This comes after Mr Mvurya had already shown interest in supporting Ms Omanzi, 29, who works as a waitress at a local hotel in Kakamega town.
Senior Principal Magistrate Joseph Ndururi granted the CS's application to support his daughter even though she is an adult.
He said Mr Mvurya, through his lawyer Peter Wanyama, had pleaded for the matter to be settled out of court.
“The application is allowed to have the parties sort the case under a court-annexed mediation. If an agreement will not have been reached by December 8, 2023, the case will go to a full court hearing,” the magistrate said.
Ms Omanzi sued her father on June 2, claiming that the CS was no longer interested in her welfare despite him being a "man of means" -- demonstrating special circumstances that require the father's support.
She explains that Mr Mvurya, who she says has never denied that she is his daughter, made a verbal promise to send her to university after she completed her secondary school education, but has since gone mute.
She says she accepted the promise because "her father" had been contributing sparingly to her upkeep since she was born, before suddenly withdrawing his support once she had completed her secondary school education and gotten an identity card.
She believes that because her father promised to educate her and because he is a man of wealth, she is privileged to share in his wealth even as an adult.
In her court papers, Ms Mvurya said she lives in a one-room mabati house and works as a waitress at a local hotel in Kakamega where she earns about Sh4,500 per month, but her father is a "man of means" having served as Kwale County Governor and is currently CS Mining, Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs.
Through her lawyer Edwin Wafula, she challenged the court's decision to settle the matter out of court, arguing that Mr Mvurya was being evasive and that the case would fall through the cracks if it was left to be settled out of court.
“When my father became a Cabinet Secretary, I solicited bus fare and went to his office to try and rebond and seek help from him. Upon introducing myself at the said office I was informed that stern instructions had been issued by him (Mvurya) declaring me a persona non grata at the said office. I was escorted out of his office by his security and warned not to appear there again,” Ms Omanzi said in her court papers.
She fears that the out-of-court mediation will be fruitless because Mr Mvurya has blacklisted her phone and blocked that of her lawyer.
“I decided to have the issue resolved out of court without success. That is how I launched the suit in court believing that I [had] a chance of getting justice,” she said.
The respondent argued that his daughter had taken legal action without engaging him, even though he was willing to support her on the condition that the support she wanted was “reasonable”.
“Parental financial responsibility typically concludes at the age of 18, but the girl in question here is 29. Nevertheless, the applicant (Mvurya) does not oppose extending assistance to the respondent (Omanzi) as he is driven by his moral compassion rather than an obligation rooted in legality,” Mr Mvurya said through his lawyer Mr Wanyama.
Mr Wanyama, citing the nature of the dispute, called for out-of-court mediation to enable the court to fashion out an appropriate remedy.
