By Winstone Musisi
A secondary school teacher is seeking to overturn a ruling in which an Iten court directed him to pay school fee arrears and upkeep for his 11-year-old son amounting to Ksh1 million or be committed to civil jail.
The teacher from Marakwet County filed an appeal at the High Court in Eldoret under certificate of urgency wants Justice Olga Sewe to overturn a Magistrate court’s decision which he termed as unreasonable.
He wants the High Court to grant him orders stopping the execution of judgment which had been ruled by Iten senior principal magistrate H.M .Nyaberi.
The case was first filed by the teacher’s girlfriend in 2014, seeking to have the teacher, an employee of the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) compelled to cater for his 11 year-old son’s education and allowances.
Reluctance to cater for his biological son
Winnie Jepkogei, mother to the minor who is a teacher at the Catholic sponsored Queens of Angles Academy in Uasin Gishu County filed the case on behalf of her son suing Gideon Limo accusing him of reluctance to cater for his biological son.
Jepkogei told the court that both parents had entered into a consent agreement in March 2014 in which Limo was required to meet all the son’s educational needs and provide maintenance of sh 4,000 which would be paid monthly.
Jepkogei further told the court that she had opened a bank account in which the monthly cash would be deposited savings for the child.
Despite the agreement which Jepkogei says had been adopted as a court order, she argued that Limo failed to comply with the same and bluntly disregarded the order.
Over-payment of school fees
“The defendant (Limo) is aware of the said bank account for the minor and has been depositing the maintenance money therein from time to time but not adhering to the consent above mentioned,” claimed Jepkogei in her affidavit.
But Limo dismissed Jepkosgei’s allegations as falsehood stating that he had fully complied with the consent agreement and even had over-payments in the fees.
“The contents thereof (in the plaintiff’s affidavit) are shocking and by extension continuation of the lies in the previous documentation,’ stated Limo in his affidavit.
Limo produced Mpesa statements showing that he had been sending money to the son’s mother while also depositing money to the minor’s bank account.
He told the court that he was a responsible father and had even included his son in his medical cover.
Limo argued that despite paying school fees, his co-parent had lied to him that his son had been transferred to another school, demanding a different fees structure.
Minor never attended school fees
“I have been paying the school fees as per the fee structure provided but the plaintiff went ahead by giving false fee structure and even lied that my child went to another school and falsely obtained Ksh21,000 from me yet the records of the alleged school showed that the minor never attended the school,” wrote Limo.
Limo argued that his girlfriend who worked as a teacher in the primary school that his son schooled denied receiving a subsidy of Ksh 7,700 per term being a staff of the school.
While making an application to be granted leave to appeal the lower court’s order, Limo told the court that a warrant of arrest had been issued for his arrest for failing to honour court orders.
Limo filed an application under a certificate of urgency seeking orders to be released from Tambach G.K Prison where he was being held.
Declined the request
He told the court that he risked losing his teaching job and the only source of income having been committed to civil jail for six months by the court in enforcement of its orders.
Judge Olga Sewe granted him leave to appeal the court’s decision but
declined the request for status of execution orders.
“There is considerable merit in the applicant’s (Limo) stance that he risks losing his job as a teacher and therefore his source of
livelihood and means of support should he remain imprisoned.
It is therefore imperative that before arrest and imprisonment, alternative modes of execution be employed by the respondent (Jepkogei)…leave is granted to the applicant to file his appeal. The application for stay is however declined,” ruled Justice Sewe.
The case is pending the hearing and determination of the matter.