Magistrate’s attempt to settle difference between squabbling couple flops in court
Makadara Law Courts Chief Magistrate Heston Nyaga’s attempt to help a couple resolve their marital differences flopped following disagreement between the couple’s parents.
In the case, Diana Mwikali Matu had been charged with assaulting her come-we-stay husband Andrew Simiyu Wafula at their home at Kariandundu village in Ruaraka, Nairobi.
She was accused of assaulting and occasioning him bodily injuries. She denied the charges although Wafula appeared in court with healing stitched wounds on the head.
Magistrate Nyaga was of the opinion that since their parents were in court, they should help them settle their dispute instead of dragging each to court.
He released the accused on a cash bail of Sh5,000 and told the two families to dialogue over the issues before returning to the court on February 20, 2020 when the case will be mentioned.
However, the parents of the couple openly disagreed and their meeting outside the courtroom ended in disarray.
Wafula’s mother insisted that Diana’s parents must travel to her rural home in Kakamenga County because she can’t handle her son’s marital issues without involving elders. The accused’s parents insisted they won’t.
Diana’s father said Kamba customs require the man’s relatives must visit the woman’s parents and meet the customary requirements before a relationship between the two families is formally established.
He gave them an opportunity of scheduling the meeting in Nairobi instead of his home in Matungulu in Machakos County but they turned it down, insisting the meeting can only be held in Kakamenga.
Matu maintained that customs cannot be by-passed saying he was not going to visit strangers.
Wafula and his relatives left as Matu was processing bails for his daughter after they disagreed.