By Catherine Sasman
Namibia’s new Maintenance Act was passed in 2003. But feedback from mostly women shows that the Act, which was supposed to enable beneficiaries to receive adequate and realistic maintenance payments quickly, is far from being implemented in reality.
So claims the Gender Research and Advocacy Project of the Legal Assistance Centre (LAC).
“The resources allocated to courts are not enough, otherwise they would be able to cope better,” said training coordinator of the gender research desk at the LAC, Anne Rimmer. “Although the Maintenance Act is a good law, many women sometimes give up because it just takes too long to have their claims processed and pressure could mount from families not to pursue a case against the father of their children.”
The NGO claims that a significant problem experienced by mothers seeking maintenance for their children from absent fathers is ‘disappearance’ of the errant fathers, or non-disclosure of assets.
“The system is very slow. The LAC has received reports that it takes months to deal with arrears,” the organization claims. “Falling into arrears is a habitual practice for some fathers. It is important to recognize the effect of this on mothers and their children – when the father does not pay, the children still have to eat, school fees and rent must still be paid.”
According to Chief Maintenance Officer at the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court, Willem Nathinga, professional and non-professional women are equally affected by non-paying fathers.
The Windhoek-based magistrate’s court hears about thirty new maintenance cases every week. This translates roughly into an average of 1??????’??