A legal dispute pitting the foreign biological father of two minors against their Kenyan uncle is playing out at a Meru court, following the death of their mother, with each seeking sole guardianship of the children.
The uncle, a Kenyan businessman, filed the application in October 2025, after his sister died the previous year.
He told the court that he had been the children's primary caregiver and financial provider during their mother's illness and after her death.
At the centre of the dispute is the late mother's estate as well as the family's multimillion-shillings assets.
The estate dispute features in a separate case in which the Kenyan has sued the foreign national for defamation over social media posts linking the guardianship tussle to his children's inheritance.
The Kenyan is seeking a full and unqualified apology, withdrawal of the allegedly defamatory publications, a permanent injunction restraining further publication, as well as general and aggravated damages.
In the guardianship case, the minors' uncle claims that their father separated from their mother and that his whereabouts were unknown because the man had not shown up since their separation in 2022.
The uncle filed the application in October 2025, after his sister died 2024.
Photo credit: Shutterstock
“Following the said separation, the two minors said the father left the country and has since then not bothered to check on the two minors. It is, therefore, in the best interest of the two minors herein that I be appointed their guardian as I have their best interest at heart,” the uncle says in court papers.
However, the father, a foreign national, has opposed the application, describing it as “frivolous, misconceived, defective and intended to misguide the honourable court from arriving at a just conclusion”.
“I am the biological father of the issues in question herein ... and I have at all material times held and continue to hold parental responsibility over both minors, which responsibility has not been lawfully extinguished,” he states.
He has also denied abandoning the family saying he remained in contact with his late wife and children.
“I would often send them gifts. I have supported the children often by sending them money on several occasions. I have also been in constant communication with the uncle, the applicant herein together with other family members,” he told the court.
The father said he sent more than Sh64,000 to the applicant in 2025 for the children's upkeep.
He has also contested a divorce decree filed by the minors' uncle to demonstrate that their parents were legally separated.
He disputes the process through which the decree was obtained arguing that he was not properly served or given an opportunity to be heard.
At the centre of the dispute is the late mother's estate as well as the family's multimillion-shillings assets.
Photo credit: File
“The said affidavit of service is false. I was not in Kenya on 18th September 2024. I was in another country on professional duties…” he argues.
He has provided social media posts by a foreign police agency dated September 17, 2024, which he says prove he was not in Kenya on September 18, when he was allegedly served in person.
The father told the court that he has appealed against the divorce decree, adding that the claims against him are intended to deny him custody of his children.
While the minors' uncle told the court that “the minors' father has not shown up since 2022”, the father says he has occasionally been in Kenya with the uncle's knowledge.
He said he returned to Kenya after his wife's death and attended her funeral before filing his own emergency application seeking custody of the children.
A Kenyan maternal uncle and a foreign biological father of two minors are locked in a custody battle for the children.
Photo credit: Shutterstock
“I have been in the country for a short stint since September 19, 2025 with the knowledge of the applicant, where I even met him in the family home ... and that the applicant is misdirecting the court when he says he is not aware of my whereabouts,” the court documents state.
The father has also challenged an alleged will in which his late wife appointed the applicant as guardian.
“I am advised and verily believe that the will was executed while the late mother was seriously ill, raising questions as to her testamentary capacity and as to undue influence at the time of execution, which I have separately raised by way of a caveat lodged against the estate at the High Court Probate Registry,” he states.
The uncle maintains that he is fit to take care of the two minors, citing his financial ability to provide for them.
The father, however, argues that the uncle is not suitable because of his busy schedule running businesses in Nairobi and Meru.
He has also objected to the uncle's appointment as guardian, arguing that the applicant's affidavit was sworn in bad faith and raises questions about his credibility and suitability.
