Contempt application against Miles Sampa dismissed

THE Lusaka High Court has refused to cite Lusaka Mayor Miles Sampa for contempt of court in a matter where his ex-wife Mwika Mwenechanya had wanted the court to punish him for breaching a court order for payment of child maintenance.

The court said Mwenachanya’s application for contempt of court had been overtaken by events Earlier, Mwenechanya had asked the Court to cite Sampa for contempt of court for allegedly failing to comply with the court’s order dated April, 2019, to be paying maintenance for the child of the family. Judge Nicole Sharpe-Phiri, however, said at the time Mwenchanya filed the application to have Sampa committed for contempt Deputy Registrar of the High Court had already granted her request for an order for attachment of Sampa’s earnings, where the Lusaka City Council (LCC) was to make monthly payments in respect of the court’s ruling. The Judge said the order also acknowledged Sampa’s alleged default in paying maintenance for the months of May and June 2019 as well as the sum outstanding on the school fees and ordered that the money was to be paid by the LCC. “It is clear that at the time of filing this application for an order for committal against the alleged contemnor, on June 25 2019, the applicants counsel had filed an earlier application for attachment of earnings which was granted on July 19 2019, several weeks before this application was heard before me. “It is also clear that the alleged contemnor has also filed an application for variation of the said maintenance order,” said judge Sharp-Phiri. She stated that Mwenechanya’s application had been overtaken by events in view of the attachment of earnings order issued by the Deputy Registrar against Sampa. The Judge, therefore, dismissed the application and made no orders for costs. In this matter, Mwenechanya had asked the court to order LCC to be paying K7,000 every month out of the mayor’s earnings for child maintenance. She had said that since the presentation of the petition for the dissolution of the marriage, Sampa had declined to make any financial contribution towards the child’s monthly needs and also declined to pay her school fees. The Court had ordered Sampa to be paying maintenance for his daughter of K7,000 monthly. Further, Sampa was ordered to pay the balance of US $13,000 outstanding school fees at the American International School. He was also ordered to be providing a driver to pick up the child from school as well as putting the child on council medical scheme to which he was entitled to by virtue of being a mayor.