After the couple divorced, the man asked a court to give him custody of the children.
What you need to know:
The judge made the ruling in a child support case where a woman had asked the court to punish her ex-husband, who had run out of money.
Justice Onyiego noted that the man’s financial position had deteriorated due to a weak economy associated with Covid-19 and loss of employment.
Parents should not have to work themselves to death while seeking to enforce the rights of their children, the Family Court has ruled.
Justice John Onyiego noted that, though children are entitled to their rights, parents should not be under so much pressure to meet their obligations to them that they fall sick.
“Whereas children are entitled to their rights, the same should be enjoyed within the means of their parents, otherwise parents may end up with high blood pressure and other related ailments at the altar of the rights of a child,” said the judge.
The judge made the ruling in a child support case where a woman had asked the court to punish her ex-husband, who had run out of money and had difficulty continuing to educate their children at an expensive school. Justice Onyiego noted that the man’s financial position had deteriorated due to a weak economy associated with Covid-19 and loss of employment.
“To that extent, I do not find any sufficient ground to punish the respondent for contempt simply because he cannot afford to educate his children at the high-cost school,” said the judge. He relied on evidence from the man’s employer that proved he no longer had a job.
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Because the man was ready to pay fees at a cheaper school that he could afford, the judge said, he could not cite him for contempt of a court order.
“Since the man is carrying the entire family’s financial obligations alone, he cannot be pushed too hard to educate all the children at a high-cost school beyond his means,” Justice Onyiego said.
He added that transferring the children to a cheaper but equally good school was not prejudicial to them.
“If the woman insists on the children going through the high-cost school, then she should meet the difference of the school fees,” said the judge.
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He added: “Considering payment of the outstanding school fees, the respondent must clear the same in consultation with the school.”
After the couple divorced, the man asked a court to give him custody of the children.
But the court granted joint custody, directing the man to pay for the children’s needs, including school fees and medical expenses. Trouble started when the man sought to transfer his children to a low-cost school after losing his job.
Court records show that the woman allegedly blocked the man from transferring the children to another school. Last year, the woman sued, seeking more than Sh1 million from the man in school fees balance and related expenses.
The man responded that though he had lost his job, he was confident that he would meet his financial obligations from his savings and small earnings without straining.
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“But due to the advent of coronavirus, I was unable to pay school fees at their current school. I am surviving on begging from friends and well-wishers,” he said and produced documents showing he had lost his job.
Court records show the man attached copies of bank statements to show that all his relevant accounts known to the woman had no money, as well as KRA e-returns showing he had not been earning an income since 2020.
The court also heard that, due to the man’s poor financial position, his credit card had been overdrawn. The woman denied holding consultations as a family regarding the change or transfer of their children to another school that did not meet the standards of the earlier one.
“I was forcefully made a housewife by the respondent who always and whenever I did anything to earn an income engaged me in a fight or punishment,” she told the court.
Source; NATION.
4-May-2022 Story
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