By Anyway Yotamu
A Kadoma man has petitioned Parliament to amend the Maintenance Act, calling for mandatory DNA testing before men are compelled to pay child support.
Appearing before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs chaired by Masvingo Central MP Edson Zvobgo Jr on Tuesday, Believe Guta argued that the law unfairly disadvantages men in paternity disputes.
He proposed that the Government should cover the costs of DNA testing in maintenance cases likening it to the State’s responsibility for funding post-mortems in murder cases or medical reports in rape trials.
“The State should provide facilities for men to defend themselves, just like it does in other criminal and civil matters,” Guta told the committee.
Guta’s petition, lodged under Section 149 of the Constitution highlights what he described as a major legal and human rights gap in the current Maintenance Act [Chapter 5:09].
He criticised Section 23 which allows for the imprisonment of men who default on maintenance payments even in cases where paternity has not been scientifically verified.
He argued that the lack of mandatory paternity verification has led to men being jailed based on disputed or later disproven parentage.
The petition calls for amendments to Section 23 ensuring that no maintenance proceedings can begin without proof of biological parentage—either through voluntary acknowledgement, a court declaration or DNA testing in disputed cases.
