The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs has summoned a Kadoma resident, Believe Guta, to clarify his petition seeking mandatory DNA testing before men are asked to pay maintenance or child support.
In his petition, Guta has asked the Parliament of Zimbabwe to consider amending the Maintenance Act [Chapter 5:09] to require confirmation of the biological parentage of the alleged father before maintenance is imposed.
Guta, in his petition’s prayer, specifically calls for the amendment of Section 23 of the Maintenance Act through the insertion of his proposed subsection. The petition, in line with the provisions of the Standing Rules and Orders of Parliament, was referred to the relevant committee, which is the Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee.
In its letter summoning Guta, the committee states that it wants him to give clarifications to committee members as Parliament considers his petition.
‘’The abovesubject matter refers.
‘’The above-mentioned Committee is currently considering your petition submitted to Parliament. As a follow-up to your submission, the Committee invites you to a meeting on Tuesday, 16 September 2025, at 1015 hrs, in Committee Room No. 4, First Floor, at the New Parliament Building.
‘’The purpose ofthe meeting is to afford Members ofthe Committee an opportunity to seek clarification on someofthe issues raised in your petition,’’ read part of the letter.
In Zimbabwe, citizens have the right to petition Parliament on matters they are dissatisfied with or wish to see addressed, as long as the matter falls within the scope of Parliament’s authority. The right to petition Parliament is provided for by Section 149 of the Constitution.
Section 149 states: “(1) Every citizen and permanent resident of Zimbabwe has a right to petition Parliament to consider any matter within its authority, including the enactment, amendment or repeal of legislation.”
Guta said his petition was necessitated by the number of men in Zimbabwe who have been imprisoned for defaulting on maintenance orders in cases where paternity was either in dispute or later disproved by DNA testing.
Several Zimbabwean men have received the shock of their lives upon discovering that the children they were raising were not theirs, through the popular web series The Closure DNA Show hosted by Tinashe Mugabe on YouTube.
