A 26-year-old lady wants her parents penalised for ignoring a demand letter in which she was seeking parental maintenance.
In documents filed in court, the young lady whose full name we cant use due to legal reasons D S O wants her parents and her three siblings subjected to a DNA test to confirm not only her paternity but the reason why she has been in pain and struggled for the last 11 years.
D S O has accused her parents of parental neglect, abuse, abandonment and psychological distress.
She claims from the time she finished her primary education, her parents deliberately failed to support her in ensuring she pursued her high school education.
She claims the parents have discriminated against her and chosen to educate all her siblings by taking them to prestigious schools. She has been left to be a pauper and fend for herself.
Her father is a former Principal Revenue officer of the Kenya Revenue Authority. He was relieved from his duties in 2007 on retirement. Her mother is currently a pension and employment clearance officer of KRA. She has been working there for 34 years.
D S O is the third born. They are four in number.
Her troubles started when she was allegedly denied the right to education as a minor at the age of 15 years.
She did her KCPE at Loreto Convent Msongari and scored a total of 305 marks, which she says was enough to get her to a good public secondary school.
“But to date I have no knowledge of which school I was called to for my parents were the ones who took up the duty to clear me at the end of my primary school duties,” she says
She says both of her parents have refused to give her a clear reason as to why they did not educate her further. They would tell her “You are an adult just get something to do…I am the parent and this is my money…”
According to the court documents, her father, a government retiree, has been paying high school and university fees for her siblings.
“I on the other hand have been abandoned by my parents to my fate ever since. My father has been visiting once in a while when he has legal matters to look into at least if not inquire of my sibling’s welfare. I am a forgotten issue,” she adds.
Consequently, D S O says she has been battling mental depression and frustrating suicidal thoughts since 2012 due to what she terms as ‘unusual confusing situation’.
She claims the mother has been receiving salary increments since 2010 and even purchased some properties but forgot all about her.
She says she is currently lacking necessary requirements that are vital such as sanitary pads.
She lists the nature of injuries occasioned to her by the parents as harm to her mental health for 11 years, denial of basic child right to education, deprivation of her entitlement to leisure, and social life as an adult.
She at some point approached Kituo Cha Sheria to assist her but decided to drop them after she realised they were taking long to lodge her case. But before this, the organisation penned a demand letter to her parents. She was complaining of neglect and wanted the parents compelled to support her.
The letter was never responded to and she now wants them penalised a sum of Sh500,000 per month and an increase of 1 year to her to make it a total pay of Sh1.2 million per month for the next 11 years.
Parental responsibility is a mandate recognised by the constitution. The constitution also provides that Education is a basic right to every child.
D S O in her court papers says she was subjected to child labor at an early age. She started working when she was 15 years old. She would cook and hawk different types of food and on-line trading. The little she gathered she says supported her well-being and other matters at home.
She claims the mother openly stated to her that she is her fathers’ burden, but her siblings are her duty. “This took place in the course of a heated argument about my education”
“I have been at home all through since I dropped out of school since January 2012 to date, while my siblings-both older and younger are being assisted in building and developing their personal lives”.
She says she is in a state of dilemma as she doesn’t understand the reason as to why both her parents have refused to take her to school or better still assist her to develop her own life.
Lady justice Mugure Thande directed the matter be mentioned on 21 September 2023.
The responses in the case were to be filed by 31 July of this year.
