adminDaniel Nemukuyu Investigations and Special Reports Editor
THE number of women applying for maintenance for children in civil courts countrywide has declined 20 percent, a development legal experts and gender advocates believe is a direct result of paltry amounts being awarded that do not reflect the cost of living and so are not worth seeking.
A research by The Herald revealed that new maintenance applications fell from 27 018 in 2018 to 21 688 last year, translating to the 20 percent decline.
Applications for upward variation of maintenance orders in the same period rose from 6 807 to 7 263.
Harare Province was the busiest countrywide after receiving 7 438 maintenance claims in 2018, which fell to 5 589 last year.
The same province recorded 2 110 applications for upward variation in 2018, but the figure increased to 2 457 last year.
Mashonaland West recorded a decline in maintenance claims from 2 484 in 2018 to 1 807 last year, while the upward variation request rose from 244 to 452 during the same period.
Midlands Province received 2 480 maintenance claims in 2018, but the figure fell to 2 069 last year, while upward variation requests increased from 478 to 708 cases.
Manicaland recorded 4 607 new maintenance claims in 2018 and 3 647 in 2019.
Upward variation applications recorded in Manicaland during the same period fell from 2 072 to 1 912.
In Matabeleland North, the courts received 720 maintenance claims in 2018 and the figure went down to 689 last year.
Upward variation applications in Matabeleland North during the same period rose from 125 to 174.
An analysis of the statistics show that claimants, who are mostly women, are being discouraged from suing for maintenance because awards are well below the rate of inflation.
On the other hand, applications for upward variation of already awarded maintenance figures are on the increase, with the litigants seeking to have the amounts periodically reviewed to match the rising cost of living.
Maintenance orders, according to legal experts, are awarded based on the income of the parents, which are not in sync with the constant rise in the prices of goods and services.
Some are still paying as little as $50 per month for a child, which can only buy a 2kg packet of sugar or two loaves of bread, while the bulk of the operational maintenance orders range between $100 and $250 per month.
Approaching the courts on a monthly basis for upward variation of the orders is not practical considering that salaries are not always being reviewed due to economic challenges.
The amounts, the experts say, are quickly eroded by inflation, forcing women to regularly approach the courts with upward variation applications.
Most women are now opting for out-of-court settlements, whereby arrangements are made to decently support the children, while others have simply given up on the claims.
Legal expert Mr Wellington Pasipanodya of Manase & Manase Legal Practitioners said suing a man for maintenance was costly and the costs were not covered by the sums awarded by the courts.
“The reduced number of claims for maintenance is a sign that the monetary maintenance amounts being awarded by the courts are far less than the expenses that custodian parents require for the upkeep of the children as the cost of living adjusts every month,” he said.
The women, he said, were ending up opting to negotiate and settle between themselves for a more favourable amount in an out-of-court settlement.
Ms Jacqueline Sande concurred with Mr Pasi.
“The awards will not be commensurate with the cost of living and maybe the women feel it’s pointless to go to court and only get a token amount, she said. At the same time, those with existing orders have to keep going back to court and get upward variation in order to keep up with the cost of living.”
Gender activist and lawyer Ms Jessie Majome said the decline could be a result of the growth in informal employment, where establishing the income of the father was difficult for the courts.
Online Reporter