Paternity test negative as man maintains child for 16 years

A man from Chivi breathed a sigh of relief when paternity tests proved that a child he has been paying maintenance for since 2000 was actually not his.

The boy is now in form three.

Cuthbert Damba who now stays in Mucheke got the results of the paternity tests on Tuesday this week and these were presented to him in court by Magistrate Victor Mohammed after he contested paternity.

Damba said he developed high blood pressure as a result of the case.

Damba who was given jail sentences on several occasions for failure to pay maintenance said he was convinced that the child was not his because the date of birth of the child and courtship did not tally.

Elizabeth Makamure the mother of the child said she thought Damba was the father of the child when asked for a comment by The Mirror.

Makamure is a foreign currency dealer who works around Victoria Hotel in Masvingo while Damba was a teacher in Chivi and is now involved in small scale business in Masvingo.

"I actually thought he was the father. I really don't know what happened," said Makamure in a telephone interview with The Mirror before her phone went off.

"She apologized to me right from the time we left the court. Her apologies are not important because I know she knew that the child was not mine and all she wanted from me was money.

"I am going to sue her to recover all the money I spend on the child including the $350 I have paid for paternity tests.

"I met her in July and in January I was called to court to answer to a maintenance case. This thing ruined my marriage and it caused serious problems in my family. No one including my parents believed me when I said that the child was not mine," said Damba.

Damba has been paying $60 in maintenance every month.

"...Incompatibility with paternity was found at two markers. paternity of individual Mr Cuthbert Damba is excluded with a high degree of paternity...," reads part of the paternity test report prepared by Doctor Jean Emmanuel who is the Medical Director at Unistel Medical Laboratories which carried out the tests.

Makamure and Damba met in Chivi in 2000 when Damba was a teacher at Tokwe Primary School and the two had an extra marital affair for three months.

"We met when I was a teacher at Tokwe Primary School and I became a victim of circumstances after we had a sexual relationship for at least 3 months.

"I believe she chose me because of all her partners I was the only one who was employed.

"I had a hard time because of this issue, my wife and relatives did not believe that I had not fathered the child and since 2001 I have been taking medication for High Blood Pressure which has ruined my life," said a bitter Damba.