Choices have consequences. He deserves the agony and punishment.

perfect, hata this mambo ya visiting sijui where its coming from if the step father is treating the girl as his own, the biological guy should be mature enough and let the girl grow up in peace, imagine the confusion the girl goes through in school having to explain the 2 fathers scenario.

The biological guy anatia finyu to break the other family

Why do courts award access/visitation rights, joint custody etc?

What is in the best interest of the children? Childrens' rights.
That is what is most impt. and that is what would guide the Court's decision were this matter to follow the legal channel.
And not just one child, but also all the other children of both Bulls' homes.

So what is best for them?

Let's begin with the child at the heart of this imbroglio.

Once a previously unmarried woman marries, the law automatically assumes the step dad has acquired parental responsibility over the kid, meaning the law recognises the kid as the man's legal dependant and his responsibility to cater for the physical, educational and emotional well-being of that kid. In fact were the step dad to also separate with this woman,the law provides that the step dad can be sued for child support if he ceases providing for the kid's sch fees, maintenance and medical needs!

But what about the biological dad?
By virtue of his biological connection he has natural parental responsibility, as opposed to acquired (in the case of the step dad),responsibility for the his kid.

The question then must arise: Does the woman getting married therefore strip the biological dad of his parental responsibilities to the kid? I stand to be COLLected but yes, as full parental responsibility now shifts to the step dad in raising his daughter as he deems best.

Court would deem the best environment would be within the family set up which the biological man cannot offer,and which the step dad is providing.
And so kid would go to new family set up, thereby denying biological dad custody of his little ka daddy/ ka mummy.

So together with the kid's mom they would be compelled have to make visitation arrangements for biological dad to be meeting with his kid.
Plus these arrangements have to be in such a way that they don't interfere with both Bull's families (read not interfere with kid's siblings and step siblings). In this way all kids are expected to live well within their respective families, with the kid occasionally meeting his biological dad.

Should the biological father feel his daughter is not being adequately taken care of, he can file suit at the Family Court, with evidence, showing why he should instead be granted custody.

Sorry but family courts were really made for, nor favor men.
They are instead good for getting cash out of your men's pockets to pay for the estranged mother (your ex) to take your kid for what she calls 'holidays' yet the farthest holiday you went with her was taking her shags.

My 2 pre-Matiang'i legal cents.

@Intelligentsia, nice piece though some rights cannot be take away provided the laid down guidelines are followed by the biological father e.g. visitation, basic support, treatment, na kadhalika!!!!

Surely the "biological" cant be buying unga, nyama, medicine, clothes, paying fees etc for only his kid while the other kids in his X's new family are impoverished. It's either he supports all kids or none.

You guys dont want support yet one fainted yesterday at JKIA while going to look for support from #Makueni!!!!

Anyway am sure in the children's act what can be done is defined. Let me look for it.

If the mother had previously allowed him to have contact with his daughter but now refuses to allow him then something must have changed. Yes, the father has a right to see his kid but if he does things that irritate the custodial parents then of course they wont want him coming around.

Why did he give the kid a phone. Had he spoken with the mom about that phone? Does he know what decisions have been made about kids having cell phones in that house?

Were his visits to the kid consistent or was he turning up when he felt like it? Does he know how the visits were affecting the kid afterwards.

Was he bringing his kid around his other family and if so how were those people treating the kid?

This school he wants to take the kid to, is it somewhere the current parents can easily drop her/pick her? Can their other kids go to the same or a similar school?

Depends on the community (ies) they come from.
If they are Kikuyus...I agree with you.
The baby belongs to the man the lady has married.

That man needs 6 canes on his buttocks, plus a whole week of cleaning streets. Only such 'childish' punishment can drive some sense to his 'childish' brain.

There is more to bringing up a child than flashing cash around. Does he even care about that child really, or he is in this for his ego?

Taking that girl to a different school from the other kids, buying her expensive gadgets, cloths and whatever else just puts her into a collision course with the other kids. The kind of mental torture those other kids might put her through just because of such treatment would lender her mental status completely messed up and not even Makini or Riara would correct the damage.

You can imagine these kids deciding they wont talk or play with her simply because she is the special one(remember watoto ni watoto and such treatment is not far fetched. It even happens to real brothers and sisters, sembuse huyu wa 'nje'). The father-daughter visits going forward would mean he would be spending time wiping her tears as she narrates to him how she is hated by the other children. I wonder whether that would make him love her more.

Further, the mere reason of showing that girl she is more privileged/superior than/to the other kids is in itself immoral. That is not how to bring up kids. You should not implant 'classes' to such kids at their age. As much as humanly possible, children should know all kids are equal. They are supposed to be taught how to share whatever much or little they have, not to have mobile phones while their siblings cant afford them. This man is trying to sow seeds in her that he might live to regret.

One more fact is that as long us that girl is living a generally good/decent life, she is safer with the mother than with a step mother. Majority of children raised by step mothers will give hallowing stories of the kind of things they were taken through by their step mothers. Now why would this man want such a life for his daughter who he allegedly loves yet her real mum is still alive? Do you know how much many children would pay just to be with their mums regardless of how rich or poor their mums are?

Finally, the court is just a bigger torture for the kid. The easiest would be to sit down as adults and agree maturely how to handle the situation going forward, and he shouldn't go there with his big ego. Honestly, he is being done a favor. He has a right to see his child, but the child's mental well-being should be more superior a consideration that his mental well-being. I am sure he can handle not seeing the daughter every day easier than the girl can handle the kind of ridicule he is about to put her through.

Actually if he wants a kind of happy life for the girl, he may consider supporting her education in the school her current parents chose, as long us its decent. He might even consider going the extra mile and treating all the children when he decides to so that his daughter will never grow an evil ego like his. Kama ni nguo, si anunulie tu wote and his girl will be dressed decently as he wishes and the other kids will not feel left out. When they are of age and able to understand, they shall chose what to do with their lives. As much he has a right to his daughter, he should, as a parent, also consider what picture he will paint to the other children.

The other man also have a responsibility to protect the other children from 'ridicule' from this one girl. Imagine her bragging to them all the time the way their school is big, has this and that and they are there asking their dad why he takes the other girl to a different school and them to a bad school. How do you answer that as a man? How do you start explaining to the other kids that its the other dad who pays for the older girl, but me as your dad I cant afford what the other dad does. How can that even work. What kind of a family would survive that way. Its usually hard for a man to explain why he can't buy his kids what their neighbors have, imagine now explaining this situation to these dot.com kids.

Money should not be a substitute to common-sense.