Court orders Mombasa man to pay Sh900,000 rent to estranged wife
Mombasa Law Courts.
A man has suffered a blow after being directed to pay more than Sh900,000 in rent for his estranged wife despite protesting that their children no longer live with their mother.
The rent covers 40 months from August 2016 to February 2020, when the senior civil servant allegedly defaulted on rent payment.
“In the circumstances, I do hold that the respondent is in arrears of rent for the 40 months, making a total of Sh820,000 plus interest at the court’s rate of 12 per cent, and costs making a total of Sh926,000 as the outstanding amount,” said Mombasa Family Division Judge John Onyiego.
The order was issued though the man protested that his salary is less than Sh140,000.
But the court maintained that he had had enough time to pay the debt and should have come up with a reasonable proposal to pay the outstanding amount without further delay.
Justice Onyiego also noted that if the man convinces the court that he did pay the rent for the period of July 2016 to May 2017, and that the woman indeed received the money, that amount would be deducted from the total he owes.
“Otherwise, as it stands now, the amount of Sh926,450 should be paid within 30 days [or] in default one-third of his salary shall be attached to recover the debt,” he said.
The ruling stems from a dispute that started in 2014, when the woman moved to the court seeking several remedies, including a declaration that the properties listed in her court document were matrimonial and acquired jointly when the two were still married.
She also sought interim orders for the status quo to be maintained regarding the properties.
The man was initially directed to pay the woman a monthly sum of Sh20,000 to cover alternative accommodation for her if he was transferred to a different town.
He was subsequently transferred to Nairobi and the directive took effect. The man attempted to have the directive reviewed but his request was rejected.
He then defaulted on rent payment, prompting the woman to return to the court to compel the man to remit the rent as directed.
She sought payment of rent arrears of Sh922,000, the cost of filing the case and interest. If he failed to pay, one third of the man’s salary would be attached.
By April this year, the woman had amended her court documents and was demanding Sh942,000.
In response, the man said he had failed but not refused to pay the arrears, explaining that he had heavy family and financial obligations, including paying fees for their two adult children, one of whom was living and studying abroad.
“The woman is staying in her own house, hence she is paying no rent. I am solely bearing the burden of paying school fees for the children,” he said.
But he said he was still willing to pay Sh762,000 in instalments to cover rent arrears up to February 2020. He maintained that the woman was financially stable as she was a business woman, owned an apartment and was benefiting from other plum contracts with a government parastatal.
“The applicant has since divorced hence she should pay her own rent now that the children no longer stay with her,” he said.
The man claimed he survived only on his salary, which he spent on paying school fees for his children.
But the woman objected: “The respondent has other sources of income like allowances when serving on missions,” she said, denying that she had any other source of income.
She added: “He is still bound to pay rent as directed since I am still regarded as his wife taking into account that [the] children do visit me.”
She also asked the court to ignore the issue of divorce proceedings, terming it immaterial in tabulating the outstanding arrears. She added that the man had sufficient resources but had decided to circumvent paying the rent arrears by overloading his payslip with loans and leaving himself a small balance in his net salary.
The court found that the man had defaulted on rent payment from August 2016 to February 2020 and dismissed the divorce claims.
“Why would the respondent pay rent for December 2020 to December 2021 yet dispute the period of March 2020 to October 2020 on the grounds of divorce? I do not find any convincing reason," the judge said.
Justice Onyiego concluded that the order directing payment of rent had not been reviewed or set aside and was deemed to be valid.
