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Botswana: P75 for Maintenance
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The Voice (Francistown)
22 April 2008
Posted to the web 22 April 2008
Chevula Thabano
Francistown
On Monday, Benson Chakalisa pleaded with Masunga Magistrate Moyo to reduce his maintenance fee from P150 per month to P50 a month as he said he could not afford it. Chakalisa produced his advice slip which showed that his net pay was P531. He told the court that with that meager amount, he had to take care of his six children aside from the one in question. He put to the court that one of those children was in junior school which, therefore, meant that he was paying school fees. He pleaded with the court to heed his cry, as life was really tough for him as he also had other debts to pay aside from the upkeep of his children.
When asked to comment on what her ex lover had said, Unangoni Fani angrily responded saying she was wondering what Chakalisa wanted her to do with the proposed P50. "Ene P50 yo a mmuang yoo o lekana paletshe ele nosi jaanong ke ipotsa gore a ene ngwana yo wa gagwe ga a apare e bile ga a tlhape? Nna kare e bile a duele P300 ka P150 a le monnye fela thata. (The P50 he is talking about is just enough to buy a bag of mealie meal. Does it mean his child goes around naked and does not bath? I feel, instead, he should be paying P300 as even the P150 is too little)."
The magistrate then told Fani that she had to be realistic and not try to settle her personal vendetta with her ex, as the court was not the right place to do that. She asked her how she could demand such an amount when it was clear from the pay slip that Chakalisa could not afford it. But Fani seemed not to hear the magistrate as she continued to say she would not accept anything less. On several occasions during the proceedings, the magistrate had to warn her to try and change her attitude when answering questions, as this was not helping her or the court in any way. These warnings, however, fell on deaf ears as Fani continued to display her anger until the end of the hearing when the magistrate ruled that Chakalisa should now start to pay P75.
Fani's response as she stood from her witness chair was "ga nkake ka tla ka a tsaya nna madinyana ao! (I will not take that small amount)."
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