Kenyan-German Tinder Match, Unplanned Parenthood, and a Sh172k Child Support

The romantic entanglement between a Kenyan woman and her German boyfriend, which began on the dating platform Tinder, has devolved into a contentious legal dispute.

Court documents filed in Nairobi reveal that the couple, identified as AWK (Kenyan) and JB (German), are now engaged in bitter proceedings, each attributing the relationship's demise to the other. Their relationship, which flourished five months after their initial online encounter in 2020, resulted in the birth of a child a year later. During this period, the German national provided financial support to his Kenyan partner, offering monthly contributions ranging from 25,000 to 35,000 Kenyan shillings following the child's birth. He also secured a one-bedroom apartment for her. However, the relationship eventually deteriorated.

In her legal filings, AWK accuses JB of abusive behaviour and abandonment, asserting that he has neglected his responsibilities towards her and their child. She is seeking a court order compelling the German to meet their child's needs, cover housing expenses, and provide for a caretaker. Her monthly demands total 172,000 Kenyan shillings, encompassing various expenses such as food, rent, daycare, shopping, clothing, medical care, and utilities. AWK contends that JB possesses two known assets in Kenya, including a Nairobi apartment generating approximately 200,000 Kenyan shillings, as well as coastal properties.

She is pursuing legal custody of the child, structured visitation rights for JB, and a declaration of his parental responsibilities. In his defence, JB acknowledges the brief liaison that led to the child's conception and birth but maintains that his intentions were never oriented towards a long-term commitment or family formation. He contests AWK's financial demands, arguing that they are exorbitant and do not accurately reflect the child's actual needs. This case is not without precedent in Kenya. A similar dispute involved another Kenyan woman who was ordered to return substantial assets to her German ex-partner after a court deemed it unjust enrichment.

“The extortion is quite clear in her current prayer to this court to compel me to pay a monthly maintenance fee of over Sh130,000, yet she had prepared and shared with me her monthly budget and expenditure of Sh47,000, which I still informed her I couldn’t afford as I am currently unstable financially,” he said.

The defendant asserts that parental responsibilities should be shared equally between both parents. JB further reports having a wife and two children who are financially dependent on him, including the considerable expense of the children's educational fees. This existing financial commitment, he claims, renders him unable to meet the monetary demands being pursued by the plaintiff. A pre-trial hearing is scheduled for October 16.