- Milimani Family Magistrate’s Court issued orders stopping the wedding of Francis Ogallo’s daughter, slated for Saturday, December 6
- Ogallo, through his lawyer Danstan Omari, challenged the legality of the planned ceremony on the grounds that his ex-wife had sidelined him
- In an interesting turn of events, the ex-wife’s lawyer claimed there was no wedding planned, suggesting it was merely a visit by the would-be son-in-law
A last-minute court intervention has diffused tensions in a family dispute that briefly halted what was believed to be a high-stakes wedding of the daughter of a prominent city tycoon, which was scheduled to take place in Karen on Saturday, December 6.
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Just hours after the Milimani Family Magistrate’s Court issued orders stopping the event on Friday, December 5, the father of the bride, Francis Ogallo, and the bride’s mother, Gladys Ong’ayo, agreed to a court-ordered consent, allowing him to be involved in future wedding preparations.
Ogallo had rushed to court, accusing his ex-wife, Ong’ayo, of allegedly excluding him from their daughter’s life and from the planned ceremony.
But in an interesting twist of events, Ong’ayo’s lawyer, Peter Wena, told the court that no wedding had been scheduled, arguing it was merely a son-in-law’s visit to his would-be mother-in-law’s home.
The move came up after Ogallo’s lawyer, Danstan Omari, told the court that he was open to dialogue, telling the court:
“I am still of the opinion that this matter does not need a lot of litigation. We can try to engage Omari.”
Representing Ong’ayo, Wenwa firmly maintained that there was no wedding planned.
He told the court:
“I very much appreciate my colleague’s sentiment on parties talking. Although in son-in-law is not the respondent but he will be most affected by the orders, and they are the most affected together with the bride, even if they are not interested parties.. All I can the court that there is no wedding tomorrow, there is no licence, only a visit to the mother-in-law, but there is no wedding”, Wena told the court.
Following the negotiations, Omari and Wenwa confirmed to the court that both sides had reached an agreement to cool tensions, allowing the disputed meeting to proceed while ensuring the father would be included in future wedding plans.
Omari told the court that the row was a family dispute and that both legal teams were willing to cool things down.
“And you know, this is a family matter. The two of us have undertaken to bring the temperatures down and both family members to reunite for their children. Yes, that simple consent is adopted as an order of this court, which shall have a further mention as proposed on the 10th of December to confirm the status and possibly record the final consent,” Omari added.
Senior Principal Magistrate Gerhard Gitonga adopted the consent and praised both sides, saying that the court appreciated their willingness to negotiate.
The court recorded the following orders:
“Tomorrow the meeting can proceed, provided it’s not a wedding. That’s number one. We’re also going to the parties to hold a meeting on Tuesday, which is the 9th of December… to report the progress and hopefully record a consent that puts the matter to rest once and for all.”
Omari further asked for another order directing the OCS Karen not to stop the intended meeting, as earlier directed by the court
“Before you log off, I hope the directions will be out so that the OCS does not go chasing people at the function”, he requested.
In an urgent application on Friday morning, Ogallo had filed an application seeking to stop what he said was a
He also claims that the mother of his children misrepresented his views on the choice of clergy, circulated false allegations about him, and shared his private communication with third parties in a bid to justify his exclusion from his daughter’s wedding. wedding for his daughter.
In court papers, the businessman, through lawyer Omari, claimed that his ex-wife of 32 years, whom he divorced in October 2024, orchestrated a campaign to exclude and humiliate him.
He also claimed that the mother of his children misrepresented his views on the choice of clergy, circulated false allegations about him, and shared his private communication with third parties in a bid to justify his exclusion from his daughter’s wedding..
Additional reporting and court documents by Zipporah Weru,
Source: TUKO.co.ke
