Court declares equal responsibility over child custody disputes.

Court has ruled child’s custody should be served for the best interest of the child regardless of whether it’s the father or the mother.

This brakes the usual norm of men being given the breadwinner role and women caregivers in meeting the needs of the kids even when it’s the mother who has been granted the custody over them.

The court said that women no longer need to rely on the father of the children to cater for their needs, and times have changed.

Advocate Dr. Ruth Adhiambo argued that both parents have equal responsibility in attending to the child’s need. The court however said that exceptions will be made by checking into the financial status of both parents and only then sharing responsibilities will be considered.

This ruling has pulled men out of the misery that comes with child custody wars where in most circumstances men’s position in child custody disputes has always been convoluted.

Initially, men were not allowed to have custody of kids below 9 years, but that has been seen to change gradually when other factors are considered.

Children’s act no. 8 of the 2001 Kenyan law, section 81 defines child custody to be “so much of parental rights and duties as relate to the possession of the child.”