The Harare High Court has sent a divorcing couple back to the drawing board after their unusually detailed 10-page co-parenting agreement was rejected as unenforceable.
Justice Sylvia Chirawu-Mugomba struck the matter off the roll, ruling that Zimbabwe’s laws do not recognise standalone parenting plans. The plan in question sought to regulate everything from brief WhatsApp messages and school pick-ups to screen time, bedtimes and the timing of introducing new partners to children.
The judge questioned how clauses such as a rule against speaking negatively about each other in front of the children or a 15-minute car-park handover could be policed. If a parent arrived at 3:10 pm instead of 3 pm, would that be contempt of court, she asked. The ruling noted that unlike South Africa, Zimbabwe lacks a statutory framework involving family advocates or social workers to support such plans.
Justice Chirawu-Mugomba said only enforceable agreements on custody, access and maintenance can form part of a consent paper. She described children as not commodities to be exchanged under such rigid terms. The couple, Ceileigh Hook and Nathan King Hook, will need to rework their agreement before the divorce can proceed.