A man who has failed to pay maintenance fee for his three minor children without any lawful excuse was this week arraigned before Maun magistrate court to answer for 59 counts of default.
Olebogeng Doi who left his children’s mother, Thato Maitshoko to support his children without his assistance for the past four and a half years has finally come to face the wrath of the law.
Prosecutor on the matter, Inspector Paul Basupi of Botswana Police services has explained that in December 2012 Maun Magistrate court ordered Doi to pay P450 monthly maintenance fee for his children, an order he has since failed to comply with.
Doi’s failure to pay the ordered amount caused the money to accumulate to the current P26550.00, Basupi had explained.
“He has defaulted for many months and the money has now multiplied, but that is a debt that has to be cleared,” noted Basupi.
However the matter was postponed to September, 17th 2020 as Doi preferred the case to be conducted in his mother language, Kalanga and the court had to find time to arrange for a Kalanga language interpreter.
Seemingly aggrieved by Doi’s request to engage a Kalanga Interpreter, the baby mama, Maitshoko expressed her disappointment in a brief interview outside court.
She accused Doi of merely playing delay tactics, ‘’I am failing to understand why he did that because he is very fluent in Setswana, he just wanted an excuse to get out of court.”
The frustrated Maitshoko went on to narrate her hardships and struggles of raising children as a young, single and unemployed mother, “I am unemployed but I always find a way to fend for my kids, I cannot do anything for my self because the little I earn goes towards them”.
She added that, “I used to do piece jobs to support my children while he does nothing, it has even been years since he visited. I wonder what he thinks these children are eating! You can’t make babies and live without considering their welfare.”
Asked why she waited this long before taking the matter back to court, Maitshoko explained that the man was on the run and illusive for a long time, and that it was only until recently that the police traced him.
