Custody battle: Soipan Tuya chased me from home, husband tells court

Environment, Climate Change and Forestry Cabinet Secretary Soipan Tuya. [Denish Ochieng, Standard]

Environment Cabinet Secretary Soipan Tuya's estranged husband has accused her of being an absentee mother who has no time for their children.

Stephen Saibulu Kudate, in his response to a suit by the CS seeking child maintenance, also denied abdicating his parental duties.

He claimed that it was Tuya who chased him out of their matrimonial home and blocked him from accessing the children.

"I am the better person to have custody of the children because she is never at home to interact with them because of her myriad local and international trips and, therefore, subjecting my children to loneliness and neglect," swore Kudate.

Kudate stated that since his estranged wife is not at home most of the time, the children have been left at the hands of caregivers and their teachers and that they will grow up without parental affection if the CS is granted custody.

He accused Tuya of lying to the court that they only had two children when they had four since he married the CS when she already had two children from previous relationships but he had accepted to take care of all of them.

Kudate said he loves all four children and is ready and willing to do everything possible to secure their best interests, and that he does not understand why the CS is accusing him of neglect.

"My children lack parental care and guidance and a father figure as they have been forced to live with strangers, drivers, house helps, and Tuya's relatives because she has scarce time for them," he said.

On Tuya's demands for the maintenance of the children, Kudate said he is willing to offer the little he can since he is currently jobless.

He, however, accused the CS of being insincere in her demands since she earns a lot with the capability of paying school fees and medical insurance for the children.

Although the CS had accused Kudate of being abusive and promiscuous, he stated that it was she who implored him to marry her as a second wife when he was happily married with seven other children whom he is taking care of.

"Her motive and intention was for me to abandon the first family so that she could control the family resources. Contrary to her claims that I have been abusive, she was the one out to frustrate me and wreck my life just as she did to her first husband from Kajiado," said Kudate.

Ms Tuya in her suit wants Kudate to pay half of the two children's maintenance and upkeep totalling Sh425,000 per month and an order granting her custody of the minors.

She also wants an order restraining Kudate from visiting her homes in Narok, Kileleshwa and Karen in Nairobi or her place of work, the children's school, abusing her or the children or in any way threatening to harm them.

Tuya in her plaint stated that they started living together in December 2013 until October 2020 when there was a disconnection and Kudate moved out of her house and returned to his first wife.

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