Ntchisi LAB office building
The Legal Aid Bureau (LAB) office in Ntchisi has registered a breakthrough in child maintenance cases, following sustained advocacy aimed at ensuring fair and realistic support for children.
Since its opening in February 2024, the Ntchisi office has repeatedly encountered cases where Courts awarded maintenance amounts too low to meet even children's most basic needs, sometimes as little as K25,000 per month. In response, the office, led by Principal Legal Aid Advocate Janet Mkomera Kamoto, embarked on a deliberate campaign to push for adequate and practical child maintenance orders.
Child maintenance or child support primarily arises when parents or guardians cannot reach an agreement on financial support for a child.
In August 2025, the office recorded a milestone when two judgments were delivered in its favour. In the first case, the Court ordered the respondent to pay K100,000 monthly. In the second case, the order was revised from K10,000 per month (set in 2023) to K60,000 per month.
According to Ntchisi-based Legal Aid Officer Tisunge Mataka, these rulings represent meaningful progress and demonstrate the impact of persistent legal aid advocacy in protecting children's rights and welfare.
To register the success, the team gathered detailed information on children’s needs, covering school fees, food, transport, and medical care, to present realistic monthly budgets. Counsel Kamoto also consistently argued for maintenance amounts of not less than K50,000, stressing the best interests of the child and grounding submissions in both law and financial reality.
In Ntchisi’s rural, matrilineal context, Courts often defaulted the burden of care to mothers; hence, LAB dutifully contested this perception, underscoring the legal obligation of both parents. LAB further adopted a firm stance against symbolic or minimal orders such as K10,000, instead demanding amounts that genuinely reflect the cost of raising a child.
The initiatives were made possible through engaging the judiciary and emphasizing teamwork and consistency.
These landmark rulings provide immediate relief for the children involved and signal a gradual shift in how Courts in rural areas like Ntchisi approach child maintenance.
- 10 views