17 Aug 2020

 Men have been urged to familiarise themselves with the Children’s Act of 2008 and other related policies in order to become good fathers.

This was said by assistant district commissioner for Maun Administrative Authority, Mr Ramogaupi Gaborekwe during Tsogang Banna seminar organised by Love Botswana in Maun last week.

For the feat to be achieved, Mr Gaborekwe said men needed to read the law and be knowledgeable and only embrace the right cultural practice.

“It is disturbing that some men failed their children due to lack of pertinent information and knowledge, hence they end up in the courts of law,” he said.

He thus advised men to learn the law and do the right things, adding that it was every government’s intention to have a stable society, hence the promulgation of several legislative instruments.

Mr Gaborekwe also called on families of conflicted parties to refrain from putting unnecessary pressure on couples to do things against their will as doing so could only worsen the situation.

Also, according to Mr Gaborekwe, the Children’s Act recognises only three parties namely; the mother, the father and the child. Giving a word of advice, the assistant district commissioner urged men to always agree to formulate co-parenting agreements with their partners even if they were no longer together so that they could continue taking care of their children up to the age of 18 .

This, he said, would safe them the embarrassment of being dragged before the court of law for violating the Children’s Act.

The same, he said, should be the case if couples wanted to divide their property. “Couples should make a will through a lawyer or the district commissioner’s office and deposit it at the high court,”

Legal Aid Botswana station manager for Maun, Ms Boitumelo Seroba concurred that some men found themselves in the courts of law because they did not know their rights and stressed the need to be knowledgeable.

Ms Seroba also explained that the Children’s Act stipulates that every parent has the right to see and take care of their child; something she said had to go on even when the parents’  relationship had turned sour.

She stated that some men confused the issue of access to the child with maintenance and advised them to continue with maintenance even if they had no access to the child.

Maintenance, she said, was not all about wanting money, but it focused primarily on meeting the needs of the child.

The gathering was also drilled on issues of legal adoption processes, will drafting and rights and custody over the child in the event the mother got married.

 The workshop themed; Building a Generation of Involved and Informed Fathers, attracted men to discuss issues that distracted them from playing meaningful roles in the upbringing of their children. ENDS