Married at 13, mum wants upkeep from rich ex-husband

Married off in 2007 at the age of 13, Ake Mohamed Dawe is the mother of two children, ages nine and 10, and was abandoned by a wealthy man. 

She is fighting for their upkeep and maintenance.

Her former husband, a wealthy man identified as Ibido Sarbo, has more than Sh10 million monthly income from flats in Eastleigh, Nairobi, and the Nomad Hotel in Marsabit but refuses to help, she says in documents filed in court.

She wants Sarbo compelled to pay education-related expenses and fees at Nairobi Muslim Academy and reasonable maintenance and upkeep, Medicare, food and transport for the minors.

Ake and Ibido Sarbo were married in 2007 under Islamic law. They lived in Marsabit for two years, then relocated to Golf Course, Nairobi, their matrimonial home. Their marriage was allegedly dissolved as instituted by Sarbo last year. 

“As a reason for early marriage I was forced out of school, meaning I had to be wholly dependent on Sarbo for maintenance, upkeep and medical care. He is now frustrating me by filing a multiplicity of cases in faraway courts in Marsabit, knowing very well the cost of travel to and from Marsabit is not only prohibitive but beyond my means,” Ake says.

The 25-year-old has been battling numerous court cases involving custody, and upkeep of the minors.

The latest is an appeal she has filed against a decision by Justice Said Chitembwe.

In November last year, the judge, directed a case filed before senior resident magistrate Mbayaki Wafula involving the two children proceeds. The judge said quashing the proceedings before the Marsabit Children's Court will not solve the dispute as the minors' education is being affected and needs a quick resolution.

“Should the trial court call for the children, the mother should ensure that the children are brought before the court. I, however, suspended the two cases proceeding before the Nairobi Kadhi's court. “

He said the trial court shall deal with where the children shall pursue their education but in the meantime, custody is granted to the mother.

The judge, however, declined to direct Sarbo to meet the fees as well as upkeep and maintenance He said the best way forward is for the parties to appear before the Marsabit magistrate’s court and have the dispute heard and determined.

Any aggrieved party can then appeal the decision before his court, Wafula said.

Ake appealed the decision. She said her fundamental constitutional rights and those of her children will be infringed by the hearing and determination of the children’s case at Marsabit.

She says the judge’s direction that the dispute be heard expeditiously at Marsabit before the opening of schools will cause her and her children extreme hardship and is erroneous as they will be required to attend the trial. 

In the appeal, Ake says unless the court hears and determines her application, the minors who have been out of class for the entire second and third terms of 2019 may altogether miss out of repeat classes for 2020 if Ibido remains reluctant to provide shelter, school education costs and maintenance.

She wants the court to suspend the further proceedings in the children case at the Marsabit principal magistrate’s court. She also wants an order restraining Ibido from removing or transferring the minors from her custody and from disrupting the minor’s children’s education at the Nairobi Muslim Academy.

“I am unemployed, illiterate have no income no bank account no assets and no money to feed myself and my children let alone the cost of hiring legal services to defend and follow through the barrage of suits Sarbo is currently instituting against me in Marsabit a distance nearly 1,000km from Nairobi.”

(Edited by V. Graham)