adminMr Lazarus Murendo encouraged recipients of maintenance orders to take the council to task by applying for garnishing orders. Mr Murendo said this while reading a judgment in a case in which a council employee defaulted on maintenance resulting in arrears accruing to US$450.
“The court has taken into consideration that the accused has not been receiving his salary for seven months, hence recipients should apply for garnishing orders so that the court deals with the local authority directly.
“While these courts do not condone failure to comply with maintenance orders, one cannot help but sympathise with the accused for being a victim of circumstances,” he said.
Mr Murendo bemoaned the surge in maintenance defaulters among council workers.
“The courts should not be seen as an indirect scapegoat by the local authority to downsize its manpower by dismissing those who would have been sent to prison for failure to comply with the orders,” said Mr Murendo.
He said this after the accused person had told the court that their previous workers’ committee team was expelled after they lodged their discontentment with their superiors.
Online Reporter