A woman has filed a child support case against a former State House official, alleging that he has abandoned his parental responsibilities over their three children.
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Ex-State House official in Sh413m child support case
A woman has filed a child support case against a former State House official, alleging that he has abandoned his parental responsibilities over their three children.
The woman, identified in court papers as Ms AK, is demanding a monthly maintenance of Sh2.7 million.
She demands that the money should be paid by every fifth day of the month as from June 5, 2023, to cater for the maintenance of their three children.
She says the money will be used to cater for food and monthly shopping, shelter, entertainment, utility bills, staff salaries for the nanny, housekeeper, chef, driver and security guards.
In the alternative, she wants an order directing the man to deposit a sum of Sh413 million as maintenance costs to cater for the monthly and occasional expenditure of the minors until they turn 18 years.
The woman says the respondent “is a wealthy man” who “runs various businesses across the sectors of the economy and is a man of means with a liking for a luxurious lifestyle and a taste for high-quality standard living,” she says.
She adds that she married the man in 2015 and three years later, in 2018, he abandoned his family and his responsibilities.
Since then, she adds, the minors have been relying on their grandfather.
The minors have not been getting formal education since 2020 and are currently being home-schooled, she claims.
“From 2015 to 2018, Mr JG used to maintain the three minors as their father and he introduced them to a high standard of living while living in Runda.”
“In an unexpected turn of events and for no apparent reason, he began to systematically drop all support for the three minors in 2018,” says Ms AK.
According to the court papers, the man, who holds a dual citizenship of Kenya and England, is the biological father of two children.
He also assumed parental responsibility for the woman’s teenage daughter from a previous relationship, the suit papers indicate.
In seeking child maintenance, she says an amount of Sh600,000 monthly will be used for subsistence (food, toiletries and personal effects and grooming for the three minors).
Another Sh250,000 will go to utility bills, including internet subscription, educational games, Wifi, Microsoft Xbox subscription, water bill, cooking gas, electricity bill, back-up generator fuel and car fuel.
Entertainment monthly provision
She also wants a monthly provision of Sh900,000 (Sh300,000 per child per month) for entertainment — outings, extra-curricular activities during weekends, library membership, STEM club, horse riding at a reputable riding school as before, tennis and golf clubs and golf course.
For clothing and specialised sports garments, she wants Mr JG to pay Sh300,000 for every child per quarter of the year.
She also demands another Sh60,000 to buy age-appropriate toys and games per child.
To celebrate birthdays, she wants Sh1 million per child annually and a Sports Utility Vehicle to be on standby to be used by the minors on a need basis.
“Ms AK and Mr JG were in a romantic relationship for about five years from 2015. At the onset of their relationship, Ms AK had a daughter aged five years at the time from another relationship. Mr JG accepted the child and hence assumed parental responsibility by taking care, bonding and supporting her as one of his children,” says her lawyer Peter Wanyama.
“Although they were living separately at the time, the woman used to pay for the child’s clothes, toys, shoes, transport expenses, holiday trips as well as her general upkeep. The man also started paying (the teen child’s) school fees in 2016,” he adds.
The name of the school is withheld for legal reasons.
Blessed with twins
On June 30, 2016, Ms AK and Mr JG were blessed with twins, after which they moved in together and started living as a family in an upmarket city estate.
The house was spacious, fully furnished, had seven bedrooms and a back-up generator.
“It was situated on half an acre piece of land, in a gated community in one of the United Nations diplomatic zones. The house was in a very secure area since it shared a compound with an embassy.”
“In addition, the house was surrounded by a perimeter wall installed with an electric fence and an alarm system that was manned by police officers and a security company 24 hours.”
“This is the kind of luxurious lifestyle that Mr JG exposed and maintained the three minors,” Mr Wanyama says.
The man wanted a certain level of standards maintained for the home and the three minors.
As such, he employed an array of skilled and qualified nannies, housekeepers, security guards, chefs, drivers to chauffeur and security to pick up and drop off the child at school (she was the only one attending school at the time).
The staff also used to take the minors for errands on a need basis.
“The man used to pay Sh555,555 (in rent) per month at the time, security, a majority of the staff salaries, family holidays, medical cover for all the three minors and utility bills.”
“To maintain the high standard of living, he used to provide money for good quality food during weekly outings and even ensured that all the three minors [wore] designer clothing,” says Mr Wanyama.
On the other hand, the woman would offset some of the other bills such as food, toys, clothes, excursions in Nairobi, supplement salaries and food for the housekeepers, the drivers, guards and other staff.
But in an unexpected turn of events, he says the man began to “systematically” drop all support for the three minors in 2018.
First, he stopped paying the firstborn’s school fees entirely, which resulted in her being kicked out of school.
The firstborn is currently being home-schooled.
Withdrew support
The man then withdrew support for all workers, nannies, chefs and security.
Eventually, he stopped visiting the minors despite promising to do so numerous times.
“As a result, the woman and the three minors were evicted from their home and they were forced to seek shelter in a small home with manageable expenses.
The woman is demanding a monthly maintenance of Sh2.7 million. She demands that the money should be paid by every fifth day of the month as from June 5, 2023, to cater for the maintenance of their three children.
“The sudden shift of lifestyle greatly affected the minors psychologically,” court papers indicate.
At the time of being evicted from their home, the lawyer adds, the twins had joined a school in an upmarket city estate, but they also dropped out and started being home-schooled.
She wants Mr JG to pay school fees for the firstborn at Sh632,285 per term and Sh414,028 for the other two children.
A few years ago, the woman lost her job and since then, she does not have a regular income.
“The three minors are used to a certain kind of lifestyle and that needs to be maintained to ensure their emotional needs are not compromised.”
“In an attempt to maintain the level of lifestyle which the minors were used to and to ensure that they do not fall into depression, the mother has been taking loans.
“She has been supporting the minors single-handedly through loans, the limited help she gets from her family, friends and the minors’ grandfather through the family trust,” says Mr Wanyama.
The family trust is operated by the minors’ grandfather and comprises various companies that take care of the various needs of the grandchildren, including the three minors.
Some of the companies that the woman has interacted with include two in Kenya and one registered in the UK.
Although the family trust is run by the minors’ grandfather for their benefit, it is alleged that Mr JG takes advantage of provisions in the trust to abscond his parental responsibility.
Upscale estate
The woman accuses the man of enrolling the twins in a school in an upscale estate without consulting her.
She says the man only began to show interest and commitment towards the maintenance and care of the minors after he was issued with a demand letter early this year.
“After the issuance of the demand letter, JG enrolled (the two children) to a school in April 2023, with the exception of one, who is still being home-schooled, and paid school fees although he did not pay for extra-curricular activities.”
“Mr JG has also visited the minors twice in the month of May 2023,” says the lawyer.
According to the court papers, Mr JG is a dual citizen of Kenya and England and holds a diplomatic passport.
It is alleged that he is withholding the original birth certificates and passports of all three minors and has refused despite numerous requests to grant the woman access to the documents.
She is apprehensive that the man may have intentions to permanently relocate any time from Kenya together with the minors without her knowledge given that he is in possession of their original documents.
She further demands that Mr JG should provide a sport utility vehicle, preferably a Range Rover, that they were using since birth, to cater for their transport needs.
The hearing is on July 11.
