Nyali MP Hezron Awiti at a past event. [Photo/ mediamaxnetwork.co.ke]
Mombasa governor hopeful Hezron Awiti has been sued over child neglect.A woman who has sired four children with the Nyali MP filed a case at the Milimani Law Courts seeking full custody of their 14-year-old twins.She has accused the legislator of child neglect and mistreatment.She further claimed that Awiti no longer pays the children's fees as they had agreed in 2013.The two are said to have agreed that the kids will live in Mombasa with their father to give them a chance of bonding with their step brothers and sisters.“I wrote a letter and informed him of the issues relating to school fees and money to cater for the children’s expenses but he refused to hear me,” she said.The woman also claimed that one of her daughters who has been living with the MP at their Mombasa home since 2013 has on different occasions complained of being sexually harassed by a relative, and accused Awiti of failing to address the issue, The Star reports.She claimed that the daughter ran away from the MP's Mombasa home in December.“She told me that she was no longer comfortable living in his house because of the harassment,” said the woman.According to the local daily, the woman also alleges that Awiti locked up the other children fearing that they too would escape.The woman is now seeking a Sh1.5 million monthly maintenance fee for the kids.Awiti, however, denied the sexual harassment claims and accused the woman of using the children to get back at him.“It is incestuous and a taboo in my community and criminal in law for such a thing to be allowed to happen. As a parent and father I would not for a moment allow such kind of behaviors in my house,” said Awiti in an affidavit.He further accused the woman of neglecting the kids when they lived with her in Nairobi.“She did not have much time for our children when they were living with her in Nairobi,” said Awiti.The MP has insisted that the kids will be better off living in Mombasa.The case will proceed on May 25.