By Robert Mutasi 
Drama is unfolding in an Eldoret Court where a Senior Principal Magistrate has ordered police officers at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) to arrest a Kenyan nurse working in the United States the moment he lands in Kenya, over failure to pay child support.
Senior Principal Magistrate Cherono Kesse issued the warrant of arrest against Noah Kibet Mutai, who is accused of contempt of court after he allegedly ignored orders to support his three-year-old daughter.
The court had on July 17, 2024, directed Mutai to be paying Ksh 20,000 every month to his estranged wife, Nancy Jemutai Samoei, for the upkeep of their daughter. But according to court papers, Mutai has never honored the order, leaving Nancy to struggle alone.
In her affidavit, Nancy told the court that she got married to Mutai in December 2020 and their union was blessed with a baby girl, identified in court as A.M, born on August 16, 2023. She said trouble started when her husband left the country for the US for greener pastures as a nurse without her knowledge.
Left with no support, Nancy said she was forced to move out of her matrimonial home and go back to her parents’ home in Kapseret, Uasin Gishu County, where she has been raising the child alone.
“Despite being aware of his parental responsibilities, the respondent has totally ignored and refused to cater for the financial needs of the minor and other related expenses as ordered by the court,” Nancy told the court.
The case became more complicated when Mutai denied that the child was his. To settle the dispute, the court ordered a DNA test in 2024. The results confirmed that he is the biological father of the child.
Mutai, however, disputed the results, claiming they were doctored. He has since filed a fresh application asking the court to allow a second DNA test under the supervision of the court to determine the true paternity of the minor.
The court heard that Mutai had briefly returned to Kenya in an attempt to reconcile with his wife, but the talks broke down and he flew back to America.
Fed up with his disobedience, Magistrate Kesse has now directed the OCS JKIA to arrest Mutai on arrival and deliver him to her court for punishment for disobeying a lawful court order.
The court will give further directions after he is arrested and presented in court.
The incident adds to a growing list of child support cases where Kenyan courts are forced to involve airport police to arrest diaspora parents who abscond parental duties.