If a man who ceased sharing the Sh80,000 monthly maintenance payment for his unborn child with his ex-girlfriend fails to make all back payments within two weeks, he faces a one-month jail sentence.
The back payments are as of May 2022, four months prior to when she filed the contempt of court application.
In the case, N.E.W had filed a motion with the court last year claiming that she needed monthly support for the child she was carrying with the guy I.S.
According to a judgment issued on June 12 by High Court deputy registrar TE Marienga, the man has 15 days to pay the woman the arrears of the consent judgment.
If he fails, he will serve a 30-day civil detention sentence and be financially dependent on the woman for his daily needs.
I.S. has allegedly failed to properly abide by a consent judgment that Justice Antony Mrima upheld between him and the woman.
When the woman sued him, he voluntarily got into an agreement with her and promised to pay her Sh80,000 as maintenance for the unborn kid.
The woman was pregnant at the time. He agreed to pay for her maintenance as part of the consent agreement between the woman's and the man's attorneys, and the case was dropped.
The man promised to give the wife a lump-sum payment of Sh250,000 to cover all of her expenditures since the baby's conception.
They both agreed that she would have complete custody, care, and control of the unborn child at the moment, which was at the end of the woman's second trimester.
Additionally, he agreed to purchase an annual medical insurance plan for the mother and child for inpatient care and Sh50,000 for outpatient care.
On or before the fifth of each month, he promised to pay Sh80,000 in maintenance for the child.
He partially complied with the consent judgment by paying her for a few months, but he abruptly stopped doing so in January 2022, prompting the woman to file a lawsuit against him for breaching the court's orders.
Before he abruptly stopped, the man gave her a one-time payment of Sh250,000 and many monthly instalments of Sh 80,000.
The mother said in court that the father of her child had declined to follow the directives of the court that had been adopted from the agreement they had made with their attorneys.
I.S., however, asserted in court that he had not refused to pay, stating that Covid had negatively impacted his business.
He subsequently sought the court to seek reconsideration so that he might pay Sh40,000 instead of Sh80,000 until his business recovered.
He claimed he had a lot of expenses, such as house and office rent, staff salaries, school fees, parental support, medical expenses, help for siblings, and loan repayments, among other things.
He asserted that he had a balance of just Sh100,000 and that he could only use Sh40,000 of that for maintenance.
He said that the wife was working and making a respectable wage, so she could care for the child while he revitalized his businesses.
The court refused to alter the amount as requested, stating that only if the two parties renegotiated the initial terms could it be done.
The consent decision from May 18, 2022 is clearly being violated by the respondent, the court ruled.
The man had the chance to pay his suggested Sh40,000 since January, but he had declined to do so, it was also stated.
“Also, there is no evidence provided as proof of his expenditure. This is not in the best interest of the subject minor, which is paramount as provided in law,” the court ruled.
She claimed to have had an intimate contact with the man from January to March 2021, which resulted in her becoming pregnant, in her case before the permission was given.
She stated that he got abusive toward her and accused her of cheating on him after their relationship ended.
She claims that when he learned she was pregnant, he advised her to have the pregnancy terminated since he did not want a child with her.
Despite his repeated threats and lack of financial and emotional support, she chose to retain the baby.
She claimed in court at the time that she need child care for her unborn kid since she was unemployed and her stress levels were high from going through the pregnancy alone and experiencing mental upheaval.
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