By Wahome Thuku and Isaiah Lucheli
A court will more often look at the financial status of the person against whom a suit has been filed, then look at the past and the present status of the child whose upkeep has been sought.
To ensure that the child’s interests are catered for, courts endeavour to set amounts that will be sustainable without affecting the status of the child.
The courts will also look at all the needs placed before them by the person filing the suit, including healthcare, education, shelter, clothing and other basic needs.
Kenyan courts have over the years made awards extreme on both ends, some as low as Sh12,000 monthly maintenance and others running into hundreds of thousands of shillings.
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Former Speaker Kenneth Marende was ordered to pay Sh457,000 for maintenance of a child by a Magistrate’s Court.
Last year, a Children’s Court ordered Bungoma Senator Moses Wetangu’la, to pay monthly upkeep of Sh270,000. He was also required to fork out an additional sum of Sh120,000 every year to cater for a child’s requirements.
The woman had submitted that they met in 2003 and formalised their union in 2011 under Bukusu customary law before they sired the child.
And a woman claiming to have given birth to a child by former Cabinet Minister Fred Gumo took him to court last year seeking Sh150,000 monthly for maintenance.
The former Westlands MP had, however, through his lawyers sought the court to have a DNA test conducted to confirm whether he is the father of the minor (then six months by November last year).
The child’s mother moved to court seeking maintenance fee from the former Regional Affairs Minister but in reply to the suit, Mr Gumo dismissed allegations of cohabiting with the said woman for five years and sought the test to settle paternity of the minor.
The case is ongoing.
