A Kadoma resident has petitioned Parliament to amend the Maintenance Act, arguing that men should not face criminal penalties for defaulting on child support without verified proof of paternity.
Dr Believe Guta, a litigation specialist, submitted the petition to the Speaker of Parliament on 8 July.
In it, he calls for changes to Section 23 of the Maintenance Act [Chapter 5:09], which currently allows for the prosecution and imprisonment of individuals who fail to meet maintenance obligations, regardless of whether paternity has been legally or scientifically confirmed.
Dr Guta wants the courts to require paternity confirmation, via voluntary acknowledgment, court declaration, or DNA testing, before initiating any criminal proceedings against someone presumed to be a father.
The petition cites multiple cases in which men were jailed for defaulting on maintenance orders, only for subsequent DNA tests to prove they were not the biological fathers.
“Numerous men in Zimbabwe have been imprisoned… where paternity was either in dispute or subsequently disproved by DNA testing,” the petition reads.
Dr Guta argues that affected individuals have suffered “irreparable harm,” including loss of liberty, reputational damage, psychological trauma, and unjust criminal records.
He also cites Section 49(1)(a) of the Constitution, which protects the right to personal liberty, warning that the current law risks violating that right in the absence of proper legal safeguards.
The petition proposes a new subsection to Section 23 of the Maintenance Act:
“No proceedings under this section shall be instituted unless the paternity of the child concerned has been established by voluntary acknowledgment, a court declaration, or a DNA test conducted in accordance with the law, where paternity has not previously been admitted or is disputed.”
Dr Guta also recommends the establishment of a statutory review mechanism to reassess past cases where individuals may have been wrongfully imprisoned or penalised under disputed paternity claims.
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