This archive report was first published on 13 August 2019.
Published on August 13, 2019, a Nairobi court has intervened in a four-year-old dispute between the paternal and maternal grandparents of a minor girl.
Justice Aggrey Muchelule ruled that either side has a right to ensure the child is well and maintain a family relationship on both sides.
The parents of the minor, NM, died in 2014, prompting her maternal grandparents, EIK and JNI, to seek custody and block her paternal grandfather, SK, from accessing her.
However, SK filed a counterclaim, seeking visitation rights and the right to stay with the child during weekends.
Justice Muchelule noted that the case had dragged on for at least five years due to numerous applications filed by the two sides.
He observed that SK's only prayer was to have visitation rights, stating, 'The appellants are challenging visitation and access rights. On the face, that challenge would be unreasonable. This is because the child's parents died. Her closest relatives are the grandparents on either side. The grandparents on either side have the responsibility to ensure that the rights of this child under Article 53(1) of the Constitution are afforded.'
The judge sent the parties back to the magistrates court to settle on who will have full custody of the minor.
