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Fidelis Munyoro Chief Court Reporter
The fight over custody of a minor child pitting Frank Buyanga and his girlfriend Chantelle Muteswa is continuing, with the latter seeking an urgent intervention of the High Court to suspend a magistrate court decision which varied an order for sole custody of their four-year-old son.

Buyanga obtained an order in terms of the guardianship of minors’ law, allowing a father to make an order depriving the mother of sole custody of a minor child, provided the court is satisfied that it is in the best interest of the child to do so.

Muteswa is now appealing against the magistrates’ court order. The appeal is still pending before the High Court.

Buyanga is opposing the urgent application brought under a certificate of urgency.

He is arguing that Muteswa should seek her relief in the magistrates’ court, which is provided for in the Magistrate Court Act, for a person dissatisfied with decision of the court, who has appealed, to apply to the same court, for an order suspending execution of the judgment.

In addition to the notice of opposition, Buyanga also filed a counter application seeking the same relief being sought by Muteswa for sole custody of the minor child.

To date seven cases concerning the dispute over custody of the minor child have gone through the High Court.

Last week, Justice Webster Chinamora, sitting in his chambers deferred the matter to today,with the consent of both parties lawyers Advocate Lewis Uriri and Munyaradzi Bwanya acting for Buyanga and Muteswa, respectively.

The judge deferred the hearing to March 19 to enable the seven records for the same case to be placed before him as he said the documents  were relevant to the determination of the two applications before him.

Justice Chinamora also asked for the two records in the magistrates’ courts to be brought before him as they were also relevant to the issue for determination.

Last week Muteswa unsuccessfully sought an urgent injunction to stop Buyanga from changing the minor’s surname until after a judicial review.

The Children’s Court ruled that Buyanga could have his name appear on the child’s birth certificate.

In her High Court urgent application Muteswa argues that registration of the little boy in his mother’s surname was in the minor child’s best interests.