Kadoma-based entrepreneur and litigation expert, Believe Guta, has petitioned Parliament, calling for mandatory DNA testing in maintenance cases, saying no man should face jail for defaulting on child support before paternity is proven.
Appearing before the Justice and Legal Parliamentary Portfolio Committee, chaired by Masvingo Central MP Edson Zvobgo (Jnr) on Tuesday, Guta urged lawmakers to amend Section 23 of the Maintenance Act [Chapter 5:09] to require confirmation of biological parentage before prosecution.
He argued that many men in Zimbabwe had been jailed for defaulting on maintenance orders only to later discover through DNA tests that they were not the biological fathers of the children in question.
"Section 49(1)(a) of the Constitution guarantees the right to personal liberty, which should not be arbitrarily deprived," Guta said. "Yet under the current law, numerous men have been imprisoned in circumstances where paternity was disputed or later disproved."
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Founder of Big Brains Legal Aid Trust, Guta said the current system had caused irreparable harm, including loss of liberty, reputational damage, and psychological trauma.
"There is no ministry responsible for men, yet we have one for Women's Affairs. The plight of men has been neglected. Many are suffering in silence," he told the committee.
He proposed the insertion of a new subsection to the Maintenance Act: "No proceedings shall be instituted unless the paternity of the child has been established by voluntary acknowledgement, court declaration, or DNA testing where paternity is disputed."
Guta further suggested that Parliament introduce a statutory review mechanism to reassess past cases where men were imprisoned without conclusive proof of paternity.
Citing statistics, he said the African Institute of Bio-Medical Research found that 32% of maintenance-related disputes in 2019 revealed non-biological fathers, while Global DNA's data indicated up to 72% exclusion rates in tested cases
