Who is the father of the Child?

By Dickson Jere

WHO is the father of the child? This was the question that confronted the High Court for Zambia in an interesting case involving the sharing of assets of the deceased “child” who died intestate. It appears the case is the first of its kind in Zambia and the High Court had to borrow authorities from the US jurisdiction to solve the puzzle.

You see, a man fathered a child whom he did not recognize or support throughout his life even though the birth certificate carried his surname. But when obtaining the NRC, the mother of the child changed his surname to hers because the father of the child was nowhere to be seen. In short, the biological father disappeared!

At 35 years, the “child” died and left some property forming his estate. The biological father reappeared and demanded for his share in line with the Intestate Succession Act of Zambia. Parents are entitled to benefit from the child estate under the Zambian law.
So, the man sued in the High Court demanding for his share of his son’s estate whom he did not support in the first place.

“Child support is a factor because parents or a parent as a matter of duty is lawfully and naturally expected to support his/her child,” High Court Judge Charles Zulu said in his judgment.

But the question that the court needed to answer was whether such a father who abandoned his child can benefit from the estate of the same child on account that he was a biological father.

“The Applicant cannot now make a U-turn and unjustly enrich himself from the estate of the child he unceremoniously disowned and deserted,” the Judge ruled.

“Fishing out documents evidencing that he was recorded as the biological father, does not negate his paternity denials…” the Court further held.

I agree with the decision of the Court on this matter. To be a father, one has to prove beyond just being biological. More must be adduced.

This latest case can be contrasted with another one involving a Kenyan man who died Intestate in Zambia but had a longtime girlfriend whom he was looking after. She sued under the Intestate Succession Act claiming to be entitled to the share of the estate as a “dependent” and the High Court ruled in her favour. (See Oparacha case)

Anyway, to avoid such drama, just write a Will!

Read the full judgment in the case of Nicholas Quintino Chavunga v Stephanus Roos and Janet Roos – 2020/HPF/519

(Mwebantu, Wednesday, January 26th, 2022)

THE Lusaka Magistrates’ Court has sentenced a 28-year-old woman of Kalikiliki Township to four years simple imprisonment for stealing a 4-month-old baby boy from a church premises.

Doreen Mwansa was charged with one count of child stealing and she pleaded guilty.

She stole the baby on October 23 last year in Lusaka.

According to facts which she said were true and correct, Mwansa wanted to deprive Mary Sikazwe of her baby Jackson Sikazwe, a child under the age of 16.

It was heard that on the material day, the baby’s mother went for a crusade at Bauleni School in Lusaka.

While she went outside to change the diaper of the baby, Mwansa came to help babysit while the mother went to get another diaper.

When the mother to the baby returned, she did not find Mwansa and looked for her but to no avail.

The matter was reported to police and ZNBC with pictures of the baby revealed.

On 26 October, 2021, the grandmother to the baby received a phone call from a good Samaritan who informed her that the neighbors suspected that Mwansa had a stolen baby after hearing the baby crying.

The residents locked the house and asked the accused to identify the
baby and she failed.

The residents waited for the baby’s mother to arrive and when she did, she retrieved the baby and reported the matter to Bauleni Police Station leading to Mwansa’s arrest.
In passing sentence, magistrate Hamaundu found her guilty of the offence upon her own admission of guilt.

The magistrate sentenced her to four years, saying this will operate as a lesson to other would-be-offenders.

(Mwebantu, Wednesday, January 26th, 2022)

SOME traders at Lusaka’s Soweto Market have been picked up to help with investigations into the selling of ‘dead’ chickens to the community.

This was after Lusaka City Mayor Chilando Chitangala led a team of councilors and members of staff under public health department to Soweto market for a fact finding mission.

The mission was in relation with reports that some women order dead chickens which are sold to unsuspecting people in the community.

Council chief whip Patrick Salubusa said in a statement that the chickens commonly called as mortality chickens, are allegedly distributed in most of the restaurants within Soweto market.

He said some people have since been picked up to help with investigations.

“The operation ended with some people being picked up for further interrogations at civic center but the mayor did not leave Soweto market without doing some shopping and interacting with both traders and customers amidst as she talked about the importance of having a clean, green and healthy environment,” he said.

(Mwebantu, Tuesday, January 25th, 2022)