The ruling by High Court judge Justice Hlekani Mwayera that children born out of wedlock should be able to benefit from the estate of their deceased parents has been welcomed by different sections of society.
BY SILENCE CHARUMBIRA
Zimbabwe has for a long time been grappled with cases of surviving spouses who block children born out of wedlock, thereby leaving several of them destitute.
Justice for Children Trust director Caleb Mutandwa yesterday welcomed the ruling, saying it was not the fault of any child of a deceased spouse that they were born out of wedlock.
He said if anyone had to be punished for anything, it had to be the deceased spouse and not the children.
“We welcome that decision because it is in line with the International Convention on Children’s Rights that Zimbabwe is part of,” Mutandwa said.
“It is a very progressive ruling as it points out Zimbabwe’s obligation. It takes us where the children should benefit from their parents.”
Legal expert Alex Magaisa said the judgment demonstrated the courts were taking a progressive approach towards implementation of the Constitution in view of the fact that government was taking too long to realign legislation with the constitutional standards.
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“The lawyers and judge in this case must be commended. When we wrote the Constitution, we inserted those words specifically in order to achieve this end and I am glad the court has interpreted it true to the original intention,” Magaisa said.
“It is not the fault of children that they are born out of wedlock. They should not suffer for the sins of their parents and must be treated equally with other children.”
Cephas Zinhumwe, chief executive officer of the National Association of Non-Governmental Organisations, said the issue remained contentious due to the implications on Zimbabwean society.
“Our Constitution is clear that no child should suffer because of where they were born. What governs us is the Constitution, but there is a lot of emotion around the issue,” Zinhumwe said. “A husband and wife should communicate so that when one leaves whether due to divorce or death, there will not be problems. Sometimes people end up saying let’s go for tests and all, but that comes with a lot of torment.”
