Online Reporter
Takudzwa Mangrozah
Herald Reporter
A man has been ordered to pay child maintenance after the court ruled that a parent cannot evade responsibility towards a minor.
Tendai Mhembere approached the court seeking US$200 per month in maintenance from the father, Brighton Bopoto, for their 18-month-old child.
She told the court that she works at a tuckshop, earning approximately US$50 per month and intends to use the maintenance money for the child’s medical bills, rent, food and clothing.
Mhembere further alleged that Bopoto works as a driver and mechanic and earns around US$900 per month. She added that he does not have another family to support.
Bopoto denied the allegations, telling the court that he is currently unemployed. When asked by the magistrate how he was managing to survive, he responded, “I am being supported by a friend.”
The court questioned whether he expected his friend to also take responsibility for the child’s maintenance in the absence of his own income.
Mhembere disputed Bopoto’s claims, insisting that he was not being truthful and alleging that he lives where he works.
“He left me after I informed him that I was pregnant,” she told the court.
In her ruling, Magistrate Johanna Mukweshe ordered Bopoto to pay US$50 per month in maintenance, noting that the respondent had not been entirely truthful and emphasising that the child’s needs must still be met.
