Eldoret woman seeks recognition as second wife of late employer, child upkeep

An Eldoret woman who says she sired a baby girl with her deceased Asian employer turned lover has asked the High Court to compel the man’s family to consider her his second wife and support the child financially.

M.N., an interior designer, told Eldoret High Court Judge Reuben Nyakundi that she and Manlel Rafji started courting in 2003 and were blessed with a baby girl, who is now 19 years old.

She said Mr Rafji married her under Kikuyu customary law after visiting her family in Murang’a in 2003.

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She said he attended marriage negotiations in her village before she conceived and so she is qualified to inherit part of his estate.

After she conceived, she claimed, dowry negotiations were no longer a priority. Her lover shelved the marriage plan to allow her to focus on her pregnancy, she said.

“I was married to [Mr Rafji] between 2003/2004 [and] during our courtship I [became] pregnant before giving birth to our daughter, who is now 19 years old and a university student,” she told the court.

Strangers

But in the family’s replying affidavit, they told the court that the woman and her daughter were strangers to them and they did not recognise the alleged marriage.

The family said their Hindu religion does not recognise polygamous marriages, though M.N. produced copies of the marriage negotiations ceremony and other documents in court.

Defence lawyer Elijah Momanyi argued that the legality of the documents was questionable because they were not produced when the case opened.

Mr Momanyi asked the court to reject the evidence, calling the documents strange to the matter.

He added that if M.N. was to be allowed to rely on the documents, she must present the originals.

The court agreed with the defence and directed her to present original documents.

The case was adjourned until November 11.

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