18 Jan 2021

 Francistown South MP, Mr Wynter Mmolotsi has appealed to mothers to include fathers on their children’s birth certificates. 

  He noted that failure to include them denied children parental support from fathers.

Addressing a kgotla meeting at Phillip Matante Ward in Francistown recently, Mr Mmolotsi also said it was illegal to exclude father’s from their children’s birth certificate. He added that including them protected the best interests of the child.

He noted that many fathers did not appear on their children’s birth certificates.

The Francistown South MP also noted that the Children’s Act required that both parent’s details appear on the birth certificate of the child. He said the exclusion of the father’s name meant that he had no parental obligation or legal rights over the child.

“The consequences of this are that a father does not have any legal rights over their child unless the mother permits. If a father has their name on the birth certificate, then they will have the same parental rights as the mother and will be able to make key decisions about the child,” he said.

Mr Mmolotsi urged fathers to make applications for declaration of parentage if they had been excluded on birth certificate in order to enable them to have parental responsibility over their children.

 The MP said cases of inheritance were increasing at an alarming due to improper handling by some parents.

He said in some cases parents promised properties to all the children, but gave the property to one child.

He said according to the law the child whose name appeared on the certificate was the sole owner of the property.

Mr Mmolotsi said such issues caused misunderstandings between siblings, as circumstances surrounding the matter would be unknown resulting in the property being awarded to one child.

On other issues, the MP warned residents to always observe COVID-19 protocols, adding that failure to do so would prompt President Mokgweetsi Masisi to impose a lockdown.

“We are still in a state of emergency. Let us obey the protocols,” he said, noting that COVID-19 had disrupted many economies across the globe.

Mr Mmolotsi explained that the disease was spreading like wild fire and that Francistown and Maun were registering more and more cases. He described Gaborone as the epicentre of the pandemic.

He warned that if proper control measures were not taken, the disease would cause catastrophic consequences, especially for the elderly who were vulnerable to the virus than the youth.

The MP told Francistown residents that government  used a lot of funds to control the spread of the disease.

He noted that when the disease started, government popped out P2 billion to buy COVID-19 equipment such as masks and ventilators.

The MP also briefed residents on some bills that were passed in the last Parliament session. 

Some of the bills he mentioned were the Constitutional Amendment Bill of 2020, commonly known as ‘floor crossing bill.’ 

In his welcome remarks, Kgosi Pogisego Mosarwa warned that the fight against COVID-19 would not be successful if people continued to disobey protocols.

Kgosi Mosarwa said school children were prone to disrespecting COVID-19 protocols, saying the lack of wearing masks by pupils was a serious matter that needed attention.

He also said the other sector that did not obey the protocols was the taxi industry. He said passengers did not wear face masks.

Kgosi Mosarwa also said Batswana were still on denial that the disease existed, saying that people should always adhere to COVID-19 protocols. Ends