Shamwari Yemwanasikana has welcomed the decision by the High Court to allow fathers to access and obtain birth certificates of children abandoned by their mothers.
The court ruling asserts that having a child together does not necessarily have to end in parents being married.
However, parents and relatives should make decisions that are in the best interest of the child.
In response to the ruling, Shamwari Yemwanasikana said children have suffered the consequences of mothers abandoning them, leaving them with no forward address, making it hard for fathers to obtain birth certificates for their children.
“As Shamwari Yemwanasikana, we are currently running the #IDoMatter campaign as a way of raising awareness on the importance of birth registration and obtaining national identity documents. We have had people coming forward asking for assistance, presenting cases whereby their mothers have abandoned them and they had no relationship or contact with their maternal relatives.
“This hindered them from birth registration and obtaining national identity documents. With this judgment that limits the discretion of the Registrar General we are hoping for the implementation to be flawless and an increase in children who have birth certificates,” said SYS Director, Ekenia Chifamba.
She highlighted that the implementation will be determined by the Registrar General and has the discretion to decide on how this will be handled in accordance with the court judgment.
“We are hoping the implementation not make it difficult for the fathers to obtain birth certificates for their children,” she added.
The landmark ruling gives fathers the power to obtain birth certificates without having to deal with maternal relatives.
“We have had relatives from the maternal side of the children manipulating children and using them as bait in fighting “wars” or disagreements that happened between the mother and father of the child. In these “wars” it has always been the child that suffers the consequences of the disagreements. Therefore, the landmark ruling gives fathers the power to obtain birth certificates without having to deal with maternal relatives. It puts an end to having lobola as a requirement for obtaining a birth certificate for their children,” she added.
Shamwari Yemwanasikana further urges the government to impose penalties on those who interfere or hinder fathers from obtaining birth certificates for their children because of unrelated reasons or disagreements.
The Birth and Death Registration Act [Chapter 5:02] allows unmarried fathers to register for birth certificates of their children if the mothers of the children are dead or have abandoned or deserted them.
