Chief Mangwende, a traditional leader, has expressed concern over the increasing number of couples seeking DNA tests and the significant toll it takes on the mental health of the children involved in these disputes.
He lamented that children often suffer emotional and physical abuse during the process. Said Chief Mangwende (via H-Metro):
We have noted with concern some emotional and physical abuse suffered by children being taken for DNA tests.
Some children are left emotionally damaged after being taken through paternal tests. These children are affected by these disputes.
When elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.
In the fight fight between the couples, the children are the ones who are most affected and we must consider their protection for a better future.
Chief Mangwende explained that, traditionally, African culture had mechanisms in place to protect all children, including those born out of illicit relationships. He said:
According to our tradition and culture, our elders used to safeguard the children, even those who were born out of wedlock.
Ndosaka mainzwa vakuru vedu vaiti gomba harina mwana (That’s why our elders would say that a lover has no child).
It was a way of protecting life of the children.
According to Chief Mangwende, traditionally, nature had its own ways of punishing women who cheated on their husbands. He said:
The woman suffered greatly during childbirth. She would experience more pain upon giving birth until she confessed to having cheated.
Vakuru vaikanda zviyo mumoto zvikaputika vaibva vaziva kuti anemumwe murume waakafambidzana naye. (Our elders would throw grain into the fire, and if it popped, they would know that someone was involved with another man’s wife).
The cheating wife would confess. Protection of children during that time was always the priority.
The rising demand for DNA testing in Zimbabwe is largely due to paternity disputes. Many men seek DNA tests to establish paternity, particularly in situations where they suspect infidelity from their wives or girlfriends and consequently question the biological parentage of their children.
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