Justice was surely served at the Milimani Law Courts last Friday after a woman who had sued her estranged husband for $3,000 (Sh307,020) monthly upkeep was advised to find a job.
Milimani Senior Principal Magistrate Agnes Ndunge Makau said the complainant – Senegalese national Ms Hebret Lakew de Oliveira – had a good educational background.
According to the magistrate, Ms Hebret Lakew de Oliveira – a fashion designer and holder of a political science degree, could secure employment in the United States or the United Kingdom if she wanted to.
Magistrate Ndunge further said the petitioner had extensive networks in the fashion industry.
The court dismissed the case with costs, saying Ms Hebret Lakew de Oliveira was out to extort money from Mr Thiery de Oliveira, who works with the United Nations Environment Programme (Unep).
In her petition, the woman said her marriage was irretrievably broken and that she had moved into her sister’s small house. The amount she was seeking included Sh180,000 for rent, Nation.co.ke reports.
“She has not filed evidence to prove she is entitled to the $3,000 yet she told Immigration she is disinterested in renewing her work permit. As such, I find and hold her to be aiming at extorting money from her husband,” Ms Makau ruled.
She, however, noted that the court can only intervene where one of the spouses is too old to work or unable to secure employment.
The woman reportedly closed her fashion and design business in 2006 after writing to the Immigration Department saying she was not interested in renewing her work permit.
The magistrate also noted that Thiery, an Ethiopian national, pays school fees of $9,000 (Sh921,060) per term for each of their two children who study at high-end schools in Canada and England.
The court added that Thiery also pays for their upkeep and that Ms Hebret had been receiving $530 (Sh54,240).
The estranged couple got married in New York in 1996 and later moved to Kenya where Thiery continued to work with Unep.
