harare24dmin By Harare 24 News Reporter
Child maintenance as we know it must go. For years, men have carried the financial burden while being sidelined in decisions about their own children. This outdated system has turned equality into a one-way street – benefitting women while disadvantaging fathers.
The world is changing. Just today, the Constitutional Court of South Africa ruled that men can legally take their wives’ surnames. That’s equality in action.
But what about a father’s right to fair treatment in Zimbabwe? Why is equality only celebrated when it benefits women, yet ignored when men demand the same balance?
A growing movement is calling for Parliament to draft a New Bill on Parental Responsibility one that will finally abolish the unfair maintenance system.
Under the proposed law, the parent who has custody must shoulder the responsibility of raising the child. If they cannot afford to do so, the child should be surrendered to the parent who can. Men should not be in prison for maintenance when they are denied custody. If he is not good enough to stay with the child why should his money be good enough to send him to jail? When you send a man to jail over maintenance will that make him care about the child if he doesn’t care ? The system is biased and definitely not worth it.
Equality must cut both ways. Why should a father be forced to pay maintenance for a child he doesn’t live with, while being denied equal access and authority?
South Africa has taken bold steps towards true equality. Zimbabwe must do the same. It’s time to scrap outdated maintenance laws and recognize that fathers matter too.
We saw General Chiwenga and Frank Buyanga fighting for their rights as fathers but the laws were already stacked against them. Some are now using children as traps demanding ridiculous amounts for child support yet the child’s upkeep would cost way less. Maintenance is now a business and as such maybe it should be taxed.
No DNA test no maintenance that’s a positive step how about us saying if you can’t afford the child then you have no business staying with the child. Simple and straightforward.
