FRANCISTOWN: A Briton has told the Francistown High Court that he cannot pay P300 monthly to maintain his child because he is financially embarrassed. David Adamson told Justice Zibani Makhwade he has been convicted of failing to pay maintenance though he informed the trial magistrate that he is impecunious. He said his 2008 divorce from the mother of his child was a 'twisted affair' followed by a conspiracy by his ex-wife to get him convicted for failing to pay maintenance though he had explained his poor financial state. He said his conviction was unmerited, as he was not given a chance to explain his pecuniary embarrassment and even when he did, his submissions were not taken into consideration. He suggested that his trial and conviction was a conspiracy between his wife, the police and judicial officers. He told the judge that he had explained at magistrate's court in Maun that he could not pay maintenance because his ex-wife had taken away his company. "I would not be here if my ex-wife had given me my company back because even one magistrate told her to return my company so that I could make money and be able to pay child maintenance," he said. He asserted that when he finally got his company back, he discovered that it was in debt and cannot generate money. "I told the court that I take care of my daughter; I pick her up from school and on school holidays I stay with her but as for paying monthly child maintenance, I was unable because I did not have anything," he said.
He said that when he came to Botswana, he was well-off but at the finalisation of his divorce, he had to sell his house and most of his belongings. "At the moment I do not have anything. I had to sell an oak table and some other things to make it to court today," he said. He said that his ex-wife, Janet Adamson had made his life a living hell during the divorce proceedings. "At one point, she falsely accused me of attempted murder. Then she wrote letter to the Department of Immigration denouncing me as a criminal. I have been arrested and I have been fined," he said. Adamson's divorce was granted in 2008 when he was ordered by the High Court to pay P300 per month in maintenance but he has failed to do so because he says he does not have money. He told the court that he managed to pay some money after he was bailed out by relatives in the United Kingdom but he is still owing. Justice Makhwade said that it is clear the appellant had shown the magistrate that he would not be able to pay because his company was not operating and that this should have been taken into consideration. He advised Adamson that he should have gone back and applied for a variation of the court order. He said he would deliver his ruling on the matter on April 10
